Broccoli

I planted a few broccoli plants, and they are growing well- massive leaves, but no sign of broccoli bits yet- neighbouring gardens that went in at similar time, have broccoli that's already going to seed, but I've yet to see any flowery bits forming- just very large healthy leaves- was I supposed to do something to the plant that I didn't?
I'm wondering if I should pull them and use the space for some of the other things I packed in too closely, but don't want to jump the gun if they might still come... Thanks!

Give the poor things time. Why do all home gardeners want to pull things up just because the neighbors are different.
I bet you will have better broccoli than they did!
Our plants stand close to 2 feet high. Getting heads 6 to 8 inches across!

sandyinAB - maybe you have collards and not broccoli? They are in the same family. They leaves of both are edible.

sandyinAB - my heads started forming really small in the center of a big cyclone of leaves. They are hidden, just look to the center of all the leaves and you might start seeing what look like teeny florettes starting. They don't flower at all until the broccoli has already produced and gone to seed! I hope that helps! Don't give up! My plants got huge before I saw any broccoli!

I started with a 6 pak each of broccoli and Brussels sprouts at the end of March. I put a couple of each into my straw bales and those are only now just starting to grow. The others are in pots and not exactly prospering but have "harvested" a couple HANDFULLS of little broccoli heads. LOL! Sprouts started forming on one plant at the end of June. Thing is, these are supposed to be fall/winter veggies and we are just now heating up to our 'normal' very hot, 100+, days. We were blessed with and unusually pleasant spring and early summer. I also have had to fight off bunnies, bugs and something else making leaves onto Swiss cheese.

Courntrygardens, youi sound very skilled in your vegetable gardening. How long have you been gardening & where did you learn these skills.

I was born in 1943. As long as I can remember we have had a garden. We lived on a small farm & almost everything we ate was home raised. Now it is called homesteading. Then it was living off the land. Same deal, no fancy name.
Last 25 years we have been doing a market garden & selling at farmers markets.

Amazing!

Countrygardens, I guess after gardening for 40 years, & more, you must know everything there is to growing vegetables. What do you enjoy growing the most? Tomatoes? or is there another favorite?Please stay with this site. You have all kinds of valueable information to help us.

Our tomatoes are lots of work. We grow them indoors, so lots of pruning & tying up of plants.

Favorite is watermelon by the way.

When you mention pruning, does that mean you prune off the suckers or the dead leaves. Also, it looks like you have black plastic around the plants. What does the plastic do for the plants.

Behillman,
I believe that black plastic is the ground cover placed to keep weeds and other stuff from growing up around the plants.

Country,
I can only wish for the day I get ONE tomato plant covered with tomatoes like I see in your pic. For some reason, my vines just will NOT produce more than 3-5 tomatoes, if that many....Only the very first two seasons I grew them did I get more than a few on each vine. Huge indeterminates, too. But not again since...

Maybe I just need to start all over, huh?

BTW, I grow in patented Earthboxes and in homemade eBuckets...I tried that bare naked lady pruning method this season and ended up with just a few china ball size maters on most of the plants, and a whole congregation of Leaf-Footed Stinkbugs...

This is before I pruned the plants.

This is AFTER I pruned the plants.

help me, please....(Use that teenie, tiny, Vincent Price voice from the man caught in the spiderweb in the movie, "The Fly")

All suckers are removed. Bottom leaves come off as needed. No leaves can touch the ground. When the plants get up to 7 feet, the twine is lowered. By November these plants will be 15 to 20 feet long.
The black is heavy duty landscape fabric. Watering is done with T-Tape right along each row. Picked about 30 lbs of tomatoes yesterday. Always pick Mon, Wed, & Friday.

Countrygardens: By looking at the picture you posted, it looks like the tomatoes are at the bottom of the plant. As you prune, the plant gets taller, & adds flowers, so you keep on pruning & the plant keeps on growing. How do you reach the fruit when the plant gets 20 feet tall.

I'm STILL trying to figure out how to properly prune, after 4 growing seasons!

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH.....

We let the whole thing down. Stems lay along the ground.
This is September last year.

Ok, Country,
I'm seeing that "bare naked ladies" theme in your stems. So, what's the process?

Is it something like "after the first cluster of blooms appear" you start trimming off everything above? below? it? I get taking all the suckers off. I'm not seeing very many "leaf" segments on your vines. You take off even the leaf clusters, too? Keep in mind, you're growing inside with no direct sunshine cooking your tomatoes. I'm growing outside with direct sunshine. I read that the leaf segments formed a natural protection over the fruit clusters to protect them from sunscald.

Please explain. Thanks for that pic, too!

All the leaves on the main stem are there. Only leaves below the bottom cluster of tomatoes are removed. About once a week the plant is lowered so off comes another set of leaves.
If you look close, you can see the wire thing the twine is on. There was about 30 feet of twine on there to start with.

So, when you "pruned" you were cutting off shoots and additional stems only, right? Keeping only ONE main stem and all the leaf branches along just that main stem?

That's a cool set up you got there Bernie! I've seen pics of your gardens on the Market Growers Forum - amazing!

Yes.

Almost done getting ready for tomorrows market.
Have Glads to cut & bunch + some minor things like Kale & Swiss Chard.
We are shooting for $1500.00 in sales tomorrow.
Last week just before market opened.

That looks like a great market and sounds like you do well there! That's awesome!

Countrygardens: Do you have watermelons planted also. Are they out in the field? Do you do any pruning on them?

In the field, no pruning.

Countrygardens: How many hills do you plant, & what month do you plant watermelons.? Do you irrigate or let the rain water your melons? I guess a person really has to have patience with the watermelon. It takes its sweet old time.

Plants are started in the greenhouse. About 600 this year. We are able to irrigate them but so far not had to. 1½" of rain last night. This is called "God's Country" & he takes real good care of us.
Only the very sandy areas around here are irrigated for farm crops. Old timers say never a crop failure from drought!

Countrygarden: Do you grow green peppers? Inside with the tomatoes?

We grow everything from A to Z.
Most outside.

Countrygardens: I bet you don't grow yellow squash. Nobody can grow them with success.

I bet SHE can...

Piece of cake! Just got done washing today's picking. 1 bushel of yellow, pail of Cousa, & big box of Zucchini.
Gotcha, don't know what Cousa squash is do you?
Bernie

Right there in front of the family.

Whats in those plastic bags at the front left. I'm sorry to have doubted you Countrygardens. You absolutely must have a bee hive on your farm, to get all your squash to pollinate. You have a beautiful family.

The ones on the end of the table are pickling size cucumbers. The others are Kale & Swiss Chard.
No domestic bees, but lots of wild bees of all kinds. They do a way better job anyhow. I saw a small bumble bee like one the other day, but it was solid black. Some bees are very tiny. When Alyssum is in bloom, they swarm around it so thick it looks like fog.
Cucumber beetles also do lots of pollinating. No problem as long as they don't get overcrowded!

Picked first muskmelon today.

Bernie

Countrygardens: Do you think the high humidity in Texas could be affecting the fruit-producing of my summer squash, cubes, & watermelons? Or not enough bees, or the soil is lacking phrosperous.