I planted some romanesco broccoli early this spring and the plants are huge but there is no broccoli. What am I doing wrong? I do admit I have not been watering or fertilizing my garden much so maybe that has something to do with it?
Broccoli plant not making any broccoli
If it has not flowered, it may still head. If it has flowered, you can use the leaves like kale, but it it finished as far as heading is concerned. The "head" is actually a mass of flower buds. Some the romanesco types have relatively long maturity.
Broccoli likes cool weather, like all of it's relatives. So it should still produce a bloom. I love broccoli and grow it from seed I gather from spent plants. But one they produce their first flower bud spike and you cut that off to use it, keep taking care of the plant, because it will put out more. Smaller ones yes, but allot of them. Just keep cutting them off. Where I live, I can keep broccoli plants producing for up to two years. Then I let them bloom and I have to be careful not to water them, or the darn things just keep going. I have to plant a new crop elsewhere and pull up the old ones.
Romanesco is a little different from regular broccoli. it has many of the habits of cauliflower and is sometimes sold as cauliflower. Pretty unique plant, but no side shoots. It can take up to 100 days to head from transplant.