growing broccoli - from sowing broccoli to harvesting

(Full Latin name: Brassica oleracea var. italica)

broccoli is a nutritious vegetable that can be used in many different ways. You can eat broccoli fresh, lightly fry it or use it in stir-fries, soups and pasta or rice dishes. If you follow a few simple broccoli growing tips, growing your own broccoli is not difficult at all. You can read all the tips from sowing broccoli to harvesting it here :)

Introduction

broccoli is a green vegetable that vaguely resembles a miniature tree. It belongs to the plant species known as Brassica oleracea.

It is closely related to cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale , and cauliflower – all edible plants that are cruciferous vegetables.

There are three main varieties of broccoli :

• Calabrian broccoli
• Sprouting broccoli
• Purple cauliflower - despite its name, a type of broccoli

broccoli is full of vitamins, minerals, fibers and antioxidants. The nutritional value of the edible part is according to the Dutch food table per 100 grams of broccoli : 112kJ or 27Kcal.

According to this table, the composition of 100 grams of edible part is as follows:

• Water 92 g
• Energy-providing nutrients:
  • protein 3.0 g
  • fat 0.2 g
  • carbohydrates 2 g.
• Minerals:
  • calcium 38 mg
  • phosphate 69 mg
  • iron 0.6 mg
  • sodium 5 mg
  • potassium 227 mg
• Vitamins:
  • thiamine (B-1) 0.07 mg
  • riboflavin (B-2) 0.11 mg
  • vitamin B-6 0.17mg
  • vitamin C 47mg

growing broccoli : general

Broccoli is a vegetable where you can choose from 4 crops (early crop, summer crop, autumn crop and winter crop). Based on when you want to harvest, you determine when you start the crop. As a rule of thumb, broccoli seeds germinate within 4 to 7 days at ambient temperatures between 7 and 29°C.

• Early cultivation: Sow under glass February-mid March; plant outdoors end March-April; harvest in June
• Summer cultivation: Sow outdoors end March-May; plant outdoors May-June; harvest July-August
• Autumn cultivation: Sow outdoors June-early July; plant outdoors July-August; harvest September-October
• Winter cultivation of broccoli sprouts: Sow outdoors mid-May to mid-July; plant outdoors July - September; harvest: March - April

When sowing indoors, make sure there is enough light to prevent your seedlings from stretching. If long stems do develop, pot the seedlings deeper (up to the first leaves) and then give them more light. Wait to transplant spring seedlings into the garden until the weather is frost-free. Make sure the young plants are hardened off first by gradually exposing the broccoli seedlings to direct sunlight and wind.

Plant the young plants at 35cm between the plant in the row and 60cm between the rows. More space between the plants ensures larger heads in the middle. Broccoli likes full sun. Choose a garden spot with at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight daily.

What does broccoli look like?

The edible part of the broccoli plant is the unopened flower. Ideally, the central head should be harvested when it is fully developed, but before the individual flower buds open into small, yellow flowers.

Signs that broccoli is ready to harvest include a dense head of 4 to 7 inches (10 to 18 cm) with large, dense flower heads. When the flower heads begin to open, harvest immediately. If the plant has bolted (bloomed), it is too late to pick. To harvest, remove the central flower head with a sharp knife. If you leave the broccoli plant in the ground, side shoots (flower heads) may develop. Although they are smaller than the central flower head, this gives us a longer harvest period and therefore a larger harvest.

To maintain the quality of freshly picked broccoli heads, it is advisable to harvest them in the morning and store them in the refrigerator as soon as possible. Unwashed broccoli heads can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days. Blanched broccoli freezes well and retains its quality for up to 12 months.

Getting Started with Growing Your Own Broccoli : Germinating Your Seeds into Seedlings

The cultivation starts from very small seeds. How can they grow so enormously big and strong? That is the magic of gardening, isn't it? No broccoli tastes as good as the one grown from seed in your own garden.

To start seedlings indoors, you'll need a seed tray , seed and cutting soil , and a grow light or propagator with grow lights (or a reliably sunny windowsill).

Step-by-step plan for pre-sowing broccoli indoors:

• Fill your tray with seed and cutting soil, sow two seeds half to half a centimeter deep in each cell and cover them lightly. Place your tray on a base when you are not using a propagator .
• Moisten them with a plant sprayer and keep them moist until they germinate, which should happen within 5-10 days (at a temperature of about 15°C).
• Once they have sprouted, place the seeds on that sunny windowsill or under your grow light for at least 8-10 hours a day, or simply leave them in the propagator . From now on, continue to water the base or propagator . You want to keep 1 strong and healthy seedling per pot. When the seedling(s) are about 3 centimeters tall, choose the strongest and healthiest seedling, any other seedlings you can carefully cut away as close to the ground as possible with scissors.

First come the cotyledons, then come the first pair of true leaves, when you see the second pair of true leaves you can go to the next step.

Transplanting seedlings

Prick out your seedlings into p7 pots and let them grow for about 4 weeks until they are ready to be planted out.

Step-by-step plan for weaning:

• Prick out your seedlings into P7 pots up to 2cm from the top with a mix of 2/3 vegetable garden potting soil and 1/3 perlite granules. Press the soil down firmly with the bottom of another pot to remove air pockets, but don't press too hard.
• Make a hole in the soil with your fingers (I use my ring and middle fingers) that is slightly smaller than the root ball in your seed tray . When pressing, fill the entire hole.
• With hard trays you can push the root balls out of the tray with your finger , with soft trays you can remove the root balls with a spoon . The better the root ball is rooted, the easier this goes.
• Place the root ball in the hole in the soil you made and press it down firmly.
• Fill your pot further with potting soil up to just below the cotyledons, but keep the soil at least 0.5 to 1 cm below the top edge.
• Place a planting label in your pot so you know what you have sown. Write with a permanent marker that is sun resistant.
• Now place your pots in a Danish tray that you fill with 1 to 2 cm of water depending on the humidity of your potting soil . Your plants now have food for 4 weeks. You continue to water in the Danish tray , so that the roots of your plants can drink from below. Weigh your pots individually in your hand to know if your plants are thirsty. The plants on the outside (more direct sunlight and heating) in your Danish tray may need more water than those on the inside.

Planting out young plants, what should you pay attention to?

In between, just mention that you can always buy broccoli plants in our webshop during the season. These are readily available during the planting out periods.

Prevent sunburn, harden off your plants

If you have pre-sown indoors, it is best to let the plants harden off first. Place them outside for half an hour in a sheltered place, away from direct sunlight. The next day, increase the time by an hour. After a few days, your plants will be used to their new environment and you can plant them out with confidence.

If you choose to grow broccoli from plant material, your cultivation starts here.

Location in your vegetable garden

crop rotation

Avoid planting in places where cabbage family crops have been growing for the past 4 years. For cabbages, the general advice is to only grow once every 4 years in the same place. If you have fertile and calcareous soil, you can also grow once every 3 years or perhaps even once every 2 years. It is best to add lime and seaweed lime to your cabbage bed , 100 grams per m² works fine.

Companion planting

Plant broccoli plants with string beans , beets, carrots , celery, Swiss chard, cucumbers , lettuce, and peas . Strong-smelling herbs such as dill , sage, rosemary, basil, mint, garlic , and thyme are also good companions for broccoli . The strong aroma of these herbs helps to repel pests that may attack broccoli .

Soil preparation for growing broccoli

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NByZ1mnvgSg&t=9s

The soil should be loose and well-drained. Loosen your soil well with a spading fork or a spade. You can see everything about soil preparation in your vegetable garden in the video above.

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broccoli plants are quite greedy. They want a lot of food, water and sun. Provide an organic, rich soil and fertilize your young plants to maintain constant growth. Use a balanced fertilizer as food, because too much nitrogen promotes excessive leaf growth and since broccoli is a type of cabbage, we are of course not going for a lot of leaves but especially a lot of fruit. I mainly use universal fertilizer granules when planting out. If necessary, you can add some comfrey manure when planting out. Plant the young plants that are now 4 to 6 weeks old (and have 4 or 5 leaves) outside, 35 centimeters apart, in holes that are twice as deep as the depth of the plant pot. Leave 60 cm between the rows. Choose a location that has about 8 hours of sunlight per day.

Step-by-step plan for planting out

• Make a flat hole with a shovel or a pit rammer of 2 x the size of your plant pot, both in depth and width. Catch the soil in a bucket because we are going to mix that soil with goodies for your plant.
• If you have well-rotted compost available, you can also add compost to the dug-out soil.
• Make sure that each plant gets 1 teaspoon of Magnesium sulphate and 2 handfuls (+/- 50-60 grams) of universal organic fertilizer granules . In poor soil you can also add two handfuls of lava meal (extra minerals) and two handfuls of bentonite (water retaining).
• First, apply a layer of improved soil from your bucket until your root ball in your pot has reached the desired depth.
• Remove your root ball from the pot, loosen the roots a bit and place your plant on the improved soil in your planting hole. Now fill the sides well with improved soil and press firmly.
• Make a ditch around your plant that you can easily water later or that you can place a dripper above if you are using an irrigation system .
• Finally, place a large crop sign next to what you have planted, a small plant tag often gets overgrown

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Watering

Water regularly, as broccoli grows best in moist but not soggy soil. Mulch to help keep weeds at bay and maintain your soil moisture at the same time.

Fertilize

About 3 weeks after planting out, you should give some fertilizer. Your plants have now formed beautiful leaves and the first cabbages are starting to form. If you now sprinkle potassium (also called potassium) around your plant and water it well, you can count on a harvest of +/- 50% larger cabbages. Give 60 grams of vinassekali around the plant and water it well.

5 tips for harvesting at the right time

Harvesting your broccoli is one of the most rewarding moments in the vegetable garden. If you have managed to get your broccoli through the warm weather and prevented it from bolting, you will now have a number of well-formed heads of broccoli in sight.

There are 4 signs that your broccoli is ready to be harvested

Tip 1: Head

The first sign of when to harvest broccoli is the most obvious one: you should have the first head. The head should be firm and compact.

Tip 2: Size of the head

The broccoli head is usually 4 to 7 inches wide when it is time to harvest broccoli , but don't just go by the size. Size is an indicator, but look for other signs as well.

Tip 3: Size of the flower buds

The size of the flower buds is the most reliable indicator. When the flowers on the outside of the head become as big as the head of a matchstick, you can start harvesting broccoli from that plant. The broccoli in the photo above needs to be harvested urgently from the flower buds in the middle of the head are actually already a bit too big, a sign that the broccoli is about to shoot up.

Tip 4: Color

The color of your broccoli florets should be deep green. If you see even a hint of yellow, harvest immediately. It is a sign that the florets are starting to flower or bolt. Harvest your broccoli immediately when this happens.

Tip 5: Harvesting side shoots

After you have harvested the main broccoli , there is another nice surprise. You can now continue harvesting the side shoots of the broccoli . These will grow as small flower heads on the side of where the main broccoli was. You can see when these side shoots are ready to harvest by the size of the florets. Simply cut them off when they are ready.

Potential party poopers

The cabbage fly, the cabbage white and its caterpillars

Cabbages have some natural enemies in the form of pests. The cabbage white butterfly and the cabbage fly, among others, can lay their eggs at the foot of your plants, which is clever because when they become larvae they immediately have food. You can recognize this pest by the small holes on the leaves between the veins. When you see the white butterfly fluttering around your broccoli plants, you know that you will soon have problems with its offspring. For this reason, it is best to apply an insect netting over your crops as a preventive measure. For the cabbage fly and the cabbage white butterfly, you can use a Duranet Insect Netting 0.97mm x 1.54mm 90gr/m2 – 3 meters wide . It is a net of professional quality. For support, I use old electrical conduits with which I make arches to stretch the netting. Make sure that there is no contact between the netting and your plants, as the cabbage white butterfly sometimes dares to lay its eggs on top of the netting where there is contact with your cabbage leaves.

Aphids

Curling leaves can mean that small creatures, aphids, are sucking sap from the plant. Read all about combating aphids on your vegetable garden plants in this article .

Flea beetles

Flea beetles are small, shiny-coated beetles with large hind legs, which allow them to jump like fleas when threatened. They nibble small holes in the leaves of your broccoli plants. In itself, this is not a problem, as your plant will survive with a few holes. The real danger is that flea beetles can spread bacterial diseases (such as powdery mildew) from plant to plant. That is why it is important to consider them as an insect pest.

Clubroot - game over

Clubroot is a fungus that will quickly wilt and eventually kill your broccoli plant. The entire plant, including all roots and root tendrils, should be carefully dug up and removed. If the roots are gnarled and misshapen (and you can almost see little tubers), then clubroot is the problem. Remove the plants quickly so that the fungus cannot continue to live in the soil. Do not compost the plants, throw them in the trash.

Video growing cabbage

In the video below you can see how Tom grows cabbage in his vegetable garden.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAG9tTwUKYk

Finally

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