Anyone grow [winter] broccoli?

I've grown broccoli twice here in N. Texas with somewhat disappointing results. I basically just get one dinner's worth -- about 4 small crowns - from about 5 plants. I thought that once you harvested that a new crown would grow...and that SORT OF happens. Just real small and in general the plant looks kind of ugly.

I have to mention that we've had some extreme cold weather this year...so maybe that's what' up..??.. Dunno... just wondering if anybody else is more excited about their broccoli than I am.

Hi there...

A couple things might be going on - mainly when did you plant and what kind are you growing?

In my zone I plant broccoli in September (direct seeded) and transplants through early December. If you get very cold weather while the plants are still small they will "button". Here is an older thread with some good info...

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/802722/

Once the main head is harvested, you will get side shoots depending on the variety you planted. Some do not produce side shoots or so few and small they are not worth it. Personally, I have good luck with Early Dividend (a hybrid) and Di Cicco (an Heirloom) - both are fairly early with good sized main heads and prolific side shoots. I hear decent things about another hybrid called Pacman though I have never grown it myself. Biggest disappointment? Calabrese two years running does not perform well for me...

Hope this helps.

Kelly

Just a thought..
whed did you plant.. north texas - is that zone 7?
I am gouing on a limb that you planted too late ( not to mention not nearly enough)
broccoli will take frosts and some freezing, but in my ezperience, the heads must be full or near full at that time.
I plant carrots, peas, and broccoli late in the season and broccoli can usually be harvested up to christmas qad carrots into late jan... again, they more or less just store out there rather than continue growing. if you do not have covers for them.


-hope this helps some-
-joe-

i plant broccoli in late sept. early oct. it always does great, unless i plant against the moon, then it don't grow

When did I plant the brocolli..??... Hmmmnnn...now that's a good question. Ha! I think I planted these 'transplants' in Sept / Oct. ???.....and I have no idea what variety they are.

I was wondering if they needed any additional care... as in special fertilizing etc. Because basically, I just planted them and didn't do much else. I did cover them with our freezes...but only with a cloth that's offers protection to 20d.

Geeez -- Dunno... I just love this homegrown brocolli so I'll probably continue to experiment. I just steamed the crowns for 5-10min and it tastes so wonderful...hardly need anything else except maybe a little salt.... and MAYBE a little butter....but really just the salt is enough for me.

Hmmm - only thing I can think is it was still too warm when you planted or maybe they were small when it got cold and they were stunted (buttoned). I know the weather has been weird all around. They can take it pretty cold once they are good sized plants. I fertilize every two weeks with fish poo; they love it. Once I harvest the main head I give 'em a nice shot of poo again to stimulate side shoots. Don't give up - home grown broccoli is the best! Maybe experiment with some different varieties? What you can get in the stores for transplants is limited. Maybe start your own from seed? That's what I do...

Good morning - I was wondering the same thing Jannz. My broccoli is still the same size it was when I planted it in October, about three - four inches tall. Never grew at all but hasn't died. Should I just leave it and see what happens or pull it up?

locakelly - are you talking about fish emulsion - is that the same thing?

Hi Ems...

Yup - fish poo = fish emulsion.
One that I use is actually fish poo and bat guano. It's really called Fish 'n Poop - lol...

If they haven't grown at all I would pull 'em and plant something else. Maybe you had some cold weather and they got stunted? They can handle cold when they are good sized plants; not so much when they are tiny guys...

Also, you may just be dealing with inferior plants (through no fault of your own).

I planted my broccoli seedlings out November 11th, waaaaaaaay later than I planned to (September next time...) They were approximately 5-6" tall. The 1st pic shows my broccoli on December 11th.
The 2nd pic is the same broccoli on January 21st, 2 days before I picked and ate it.

I sprinkled 1 Tbsp. of Bloodmeal into the top 4" of potting mix, since broccolis are eaten for what's ABOVE the ground (there's a rhyme). Just picked and ate my head 3 weeks ago. It was about 6" diameter.

I grow mine in self-watering eBuckets.

I agree with Kelly. If it hasn't done anything by now, either pull it, or pull it...

Linda



This message was edited Feb 4, 2010 12:47 PM

2nd pic on January 21st.

Thanks locakelly and gymgirl and of course jannz for starting this thread. Will try again next fall and hope I have better luck. gymgirl - yours look great - congrats!

Mine actually got pretty big / tall -- but I think maybe I should have fertilized them to produce more. It just seems like with that many plants - 6 - they should have produced more than just 2 dinners worth. ??

I'm just going to leave them in until I do my Spring cleanup and see what else happens. They're looking pretty sad though. We need some sun here in N. Texas!!

Yes... thanks for the responses.

This is the first time I've raised broccoli in several years and it wasn't very successful. Got one small mess out of it and that was all. First really cold weather killed it.

I got one huge crown that I cut off about 4 weeks ago. I left several small side shoots growing and almost cut them last week wne the temps went up and they looked like they were going to seed. Well lattie dah! The weather dipped again late last week and I left them uncovered. Today the small side shoots have grown almost as big as the original crown and they stopped bolting! In fact they're tightening up nicely. I believe Cole crops really do need the sustained cold weather to properly do their thing.

Jumping in here, I've been sitting here looking at a single crown (I guess that's the term? one little bunch thingie anyway -- it looks like 1/10th of what gymgirl's second picture looks like). Now there are several small side sprouts further down the stem. So if I leave it, does it all fill in and produce something like gymgirl's? (I should be so lucky, I know!). But do the side shoots produce and meet up with the one bigger one? Or are they all on different schedules? I'm not expressing myself well. I guess I just want to know if side shoots have anything to do with the main head. Color me clueless!

Lise - the main head comes first. Once you cut it the side shoots will start to grow bigger. Depending on the variety you may get side shoots for a while, or not. You want to pick the main head while it is still fairly tight...

Thanks, locakelly. I had two plants that were in the state I described above and cut one a couple of days ago (delish!!), then thought I'd better check before lopping off the other plant. Now I can have broccoli tonight! -- a little, anyway! And see what the side shoots do eventually.

Just FYI, on two of my four broccoli plants, I used an "agriform" fertilizer pellet and on two, I didn't -- just occasionally watered with a liquid fertilizer, but not that often, since we had a lot of rain.

Anyway, the plants without the Agriform produced a smaller plant but they have already produced the broccoli (again, a small one).

The plants with the Agriform have grown twice the size and although for the longest time I was disgusted because it looked like it was going to be all leaves and no head, I am finally seeing the start of a head -- which I am hoping will also be nice and big!

Anyway, I'm a newbie so not sure if this is a useful comment for anyone, but I thought it was interesting.

Most of my veggies I foliar feed with fish emulsion every two weeks; every week for heavier feeders like tomatoes and broccoli once they start producing fruit...