Beginner Gardening: When to plant Broccoli & Lettuce for autumn?, 5 by Gymgirl

Gymgirl wrote:
Hi,
Broccoli, cauliflowers, beets, turnips, carrots, mustard & collard greens, cabbages, kale, are known as the "cole" crops, and they love cool/cold (an average of down to about 42° on a regular basis). Perfect crops for a autumn/fall/ winter garden. And far fewer BUGS!!!!

Temps colder than 30° for a consistently long period would require some protection for the leafy veggies, like a pvc hoop covered with plastic (not touching the leaves - it would burn any leaf touching it), or some sheets or light weight blanket thrown over it.

Depending on your average day- and nighttime temps there now, you could probably go ahead and direct seed some broccoli. If it's too hot (say consistently above 90°, they might stall on you...)

Broccoli & cauliflowers are HUNGRY HIPPOS and WATER HOGS!!! Your growing medium should be fairly rich with organics like composted manure, composted leaf mold, homemade compost, etc. Then, when they're established as teenagers, they'll want to be fed something weakly, weekly. Go for once a week feedings. A balanced fertilizer (13-13-13 or 14-14-14 sprinkled at a rate of about 1/2 ounce per square foot (per plant) of growing area should do it. Water it in, and do your regular, consistent watering in between. Keeping the soil consistently moist is key. Don't dry out too much between watering.

Try a broccoli variety called Arcadia. It is a beautiful plant to grow. Also, Green Magic and Green Comet are good ones. I'd recommend Snowball or Snow Crown cauliflowers.

Keep in touch.

P.S. They do wonderfully well in self-watering grow buckets (eBuckets), because of the built-in water reservoir. As long as you keep the reservoir filled, they can drink at will, which helps if you can't get to watering as regularly as you'd like to. LMK if you're interested in learning how to make an eBucket, and I'll guide you through it. There's an eBucket thread over on the Self Contained Vegetable Gardens forum.

Pic #1 Arcadia Broccoli Head
Pic #2 Arcadia Broccoli Side shoots after picking main head
Pic #3 Broccoli in eBuckets (I grow in raised beds now because I acquired space)
Pic #4 Arcadia Broccoli crown fresh picked!
Pic #5 PVC Hoop with perforated plastic covering for protection. Perforations allow water, air, light through. If it gets too cold, I throw sheets over the plastic. Extreme cold for too long: shove a small space heater underneath the hoop! Just a little heat will do.

Linda