Broccoli

[thesunflowergal]

Hi

This year is my first growing Broccoli. I have just been looking at them, the head of one of them is still compact. But the other has started to seperate. Is it going to flower? How do I know when they are ready?

Thanks Nikki

[thesunflowergal]

Oh and then should I just pull the plants up? Or can you use the leaves for something?

Thanks again.

[inishindie]

Hi

You can munch the separating ones straight away....The others sound like they are ready too. It sounds like you have the early variety calibrese, which are like the type you get in shops, if you pinch the heads off you will get smaller ones growing with small fresh leaves... these will be delicious...Have you the spring type to? The purple sprouting ones are great and give small heads for weeks.

All old leaves can go into the compost and the stalk can be shredded and go in too....unless you have a pet rabbit of guinea pig...

cheers

Ian

[foodinistar]

I don't know what variety you have, all I can do is speak from experience.

In autumn 2007 I bought some young plants at the market, a mix of purple and white sprouting. Not having anywhere much to plant them I put them in, far too close together as it happened, around November. They looked pretty feeble by the spring after the slugs had got at them but then they took off, few of them growing up straight. The white ones were useless - sprouting to flowers in about a day, and the leaves weren't much good either. However the purple ones were brilliant, at least the vibrant ones growing upright. I took most of them out over the autumn and winter 2008 as there was one which was providing all the required sproutings and leaves for veg and stirfry. I took that out late spring 2009, only because I was growing potatoes around it and they needed the light and, because the heights of the potato plants dipped towards the broccoli, I suspected it had drained the ground of nutrient.

After the first year's cropping I had chopped the tops (sawed through rather than pinched out!) of the broccoli and that had the desired effect of making them sprout everywhere! And subsequent "prunings".

I've been given six young purple sprouting broccolis. Unfortunately a caterpillar appeared indoors and munched many of the leaves overnight, but there are still enough - 2 or 3 - for my needs.

I have a question. Variety by variety, how many seasons can broccoli plants (trees!) last?

[thesunflowergal]

Thanks everyone!! I will pinch them out today, and we can have them with dinner yum!!

To tell you the truth I am pretty clueless on the whole thing. I have no idea what variety they are, other than not purple sprouting!! My neighbour gave me her spare seedlings. She did not know what variety they were either lol.

Thanks for your help!!

[Peggy Sue]

I have a question. Variety by variety, how many seasons can broccoli plants (trees!) last?

I think you are 'supposed' to take them up each year as aprt of a rotation- but hey if you grow a couple of plants it's hardly relevant.

I hear there is a variety of white sprouting called nine star which is perenniel so my guess is most white sprouting probably are?

[Flo]

You should remove broccoli plants at the end of the productive period (and compost). This allows you to clear the area and plant a different sort of crop (not any of the cabbage family) as this will prevent pests and diseases.

It's call crop rotation. If you keep the cabbage family in the same bed each year you can end up with cabbage root fly, white fly, and the dreaded club root which will stop you growing the yummy cabbage, purple sprouting broccoli, calabrese and cauliflower for 7 or 8 years.

Sad innit really.

[Peggy Sue]

You should remove broccoli plants at the end of the productive period (and compost).

I've read somewhere you ahve to be careful composting the big chunky stalks as they harbour some pest that is not destroyed by composting- sadly I forget the details as usual!

So I give most of it to my grateful pony and my dog loves ripping the bit right by the root to bits- Fully recycled with pony poo going back to the compost heap!!