My first BROCCOLI of the FALL VEGETABLE garden are ready

Well the variety I am growing does mention that you can get heads as big as 8" or 10", and in an article I read the fertilizer does help get bigger heads.

Fish Emulsion is good.
I use: Roots Organics HPK liquid bloom booster is a specially extracted natural source of phosphorus and potassium.
Bat Guano, which is renowned as an unparalleled source of available natural phosphorus was combined with langbeinite, which is a natural source of potassium mined from ancient sea beds in the desert of the American Southwest.
I buy it here: http://www.texashydroponics.com/shop/product.php?productid=2936&cat=398&page=1

Given my eyesight and glasses that darken in the sun, I think I spotted my first TINY broccoli yesterday. Reminded me of Tom Hanks and that little ear of corn.....

Purple broccoli takes a little longer than the green. It also prefers cooler weather to get a good head.
For big heads of broccoli, try Pac Man (not my favorite, the beads are too large) or Belstar (love this one, nice big heads, large side shoots and small beads) more heat tolerant also.

I love broccoli Cala so I sure will try the ones you mention. The one that I am growing right now is Early Dividend, don't take me wrong I am getting big size heads maybe 5 to 6" which I don't think is bad at all. Last year I grew De Cicco and I really did not like it because I got hardly any head at all very small for such a big plant.

I'll have to keep an eye on my purple one, never grown or seen one before so for me this is just a novelty crop.

I also grew Di Cicco last year, the heads were okay, but not like Belstar. Sometimes the weather has a lot to do with the quality. Last year I grew Green Magic and was not happy with the heads. This year I gave it one more try. Wow! they are nice! I planted Pac Man because I had a couple hundred seeds left from last year, they sell well at market but not my personal favorite.
I ordered Marathon from Johnny's, it is growing but isn't old enough to have heads yet. I'll keep everyone posted as to how well it does. Johnny's seeds are bad about having other varieties mixed in with them. I have three broccoli plants in the patch that are the calabrese kind(lots of teeny side shoots, no main head).
We grow about 1000 broccoli every year so I get to try all kinds.

I've never grown any broccoli and picked up organic "green sprouting calabrese" to try. Maybe one 'o these days I'll get a head...

It is sooooo easy ... ONLY if you plant them in the FALL in our area.
Good luck!

I have a question, how long does it take for the side shoots of the broccoli plant to form once the main head of broccoli is cut? How many times will broccoli plants produce side shoots?

I cannot tell you how long it takes, but I harvest lots of little shoots.
I will keep my broccoli in the ground untill mid march, after that the tomatoes will take their places.
That is why I love to plant the broccoli in the fall.

I suppose I should go ahead and harvest my broccoli, right? I keep waiting for nice, lush, picturesque heads like drthor's and Ray's but I think that is not going to happen this time around. Still, this crop seems ok and I can already see lots of side-shoots forming up and down the main stem. I always wondered how the side-shoots appeared.

Am I harvesting too late since I am seeing side-shoots concurrently with the main head?

thanks drthor, I had no idea you could broccoli in the ground for that long.
John, mine were about the same size as yours when I started collecting them, mine do not have side shoots so hopefully I did not harvest too early. Some of my heads of broccoli were starting to separate and so I had to pick them up or they would bolt.

John your broccoli are ready. I can see the flowerets are starting to open.
If you have side shoots also ... you are lucky

I see the difference between my pic and yours, drthor. I would suppose that the flavor from my harvest would be somewhat diminished as a result of the flowerets beginning to open, huh? But yummy nonetheless I am sure.

I went ahead and harvested my broccoli crops. I read somewhere that this will store well in the fridge, correct?

John your broccoli looks amzing. Good job.
You just don't want to eat the broccoli when they are flowering .. that's all .. ah ah
I normally harvest the broccoli just before dinner ... that's why it is so much fun to grow your own food.
You can keep them in a refrigerator, but make sure to cover them with paper towel.

I was thinking of trying this broccoli/kale cross from Burpee next fall:

http://www.burpee.com/vegetables/brokali/brokali-apollo-hybrid-prod001617.html?catId=cat440024&trail=&_requestid=1138976

drthor-did you mention what type of Broc you grow? As of now my winter garden sucks, sorry no other way to describe it. I'm watering but I think that the lack of rain, wild temp changes, and late plant out have something to do with it. Last year was great even tho it was really cold but the plants seemed to love that rain water. This year the stuff that hasn't died is just sitting there.

Here a few varieties ... the ones I remember:
Pacman
Gypsy
Romanesco
Di Ciccio
Broccoli Raab (not really sure I like them - too sharp for my taste)
Calabrese

Actually 1lisac ... the fall /winter garden is my favorite. So many greens and not to much to do .... just eat !!!
Last year I planted everything too late and I was not so happy. I transplanted my broccoli at the beginning of september,. I startefd the seeds indoor at the beginning of August.

I have started my tomatoes, peppers and eggplants seeds indoor last friday and a few of my tomatoes have started to germinate today .... so exciting

Wow drthor when do you transplant your tomatoes, Peppers outside? I usually don't start them until mid to late January. Last year I started them in Beginning of January and I had to wait forever to transplant them outside.
I agree fall/ winter is great! no pests around at all, in the hot summer days I have tons to worry about, especially the darn stinkbugs with I still have not been able to defeat.

Here's a picture of my broccoli, I still have purple sprouting broccoli that has not produced just yet, for what I read it takes a little longer to produce and grows very slowly during the cold winter months.

I was just wondering the same thing about drthor's tomatoes. Do you just keep them happy under lights until early March and then transplant? They must be pretty big by then, which must give them a huge head start, huh? I think you have another thread around here that might explain further so I'll have to go find it...

Nice pic of your broccoli, Carmin.

I plant out my broccoli on March 15th (or near this date - depending what the "moon" says).
I am prepared to cover them in case we have a freeze. The tomatoes guru here in Dallas put them out on February 11th .... but to me it is too much work to keep them protected from the cold ... even if I have those wall o'water.
Starting them in mid march really give a head start to the tomatoes and they will produce earlier before they stop for the heat of the summer.
I don'r have a green house, but just a light and a shelf in my laundry room. The tomatoes plant don't grow too fast and by mid march they will be big enough to sustain any pest problem I have outside.
My big problem in March/April are PILL BUGS. They are mosters !!!
If my plants have a very soft trunk, the pill bugs will eat them ....
Anyway, in this way I have truly millions of tomatoes here in my zone 8b



This message was edited Dec 14, 2010 4:29 PM

I too hate pill bugs and have found no means of control or elimination -- a neighbor swears by DE but I didn't find it did much.

Sluggo Plus will kill sow bugs! Be sure it's Sluggo Plus, the plain Sluggo will not kill them. I buy mine here:

http://wormsway.com/results.aspx?t=prod&search=sluggo+plus&cat=all

My pill bugs dine with Sluggo !!!
MaryMcP : Yes, I plant out my tomatoes plant on march 15th

do you know the soil temp at that time? Do you think it's an important factor?

Yes, I always monitor soil temperature.
My tomatoes seem to love going out in March. Last year they even where under the snow (off course all covered up) and I swear they really loved it !!


This message was edited Dec 15, 2010 12:09 PM

hmmmmm

Signed:
McRe_Thinkin'_Things

Been lurking. Now I speak...

Last year I winter sowed tomato seedlings outside in one gallon milk jugs on January 9 and January 16th. They were the best seedlings I've ever had. Gave most away to friends who planted with tremendous success.

Mine on the other hand, didn't get planted out until the end of March. Waaaaaaay to late for my 75-120 day indeterminates.

This time round, I'm winter sowing my tomato seeds right after the Winter Solstice (Dec 21st ). My sowing dates will probably be December 27-29th. I will be shooting for a stagger plantout each weekend beginning February 12 and ending by March 19. I'll use hoop houses and Christmas lights for any nights that dip toward freezing....

I'll be sowing my bell pepper seeds mid-Feb for plantout mid-April. I also started them on January 9th, which was waaaaaay to soon and had to keep them inside under lights until it was warm enough to put them out.

This will be yet another scheduling adventure!

Hugs!

Linda ^^_^^

This message was edited Dec 15, 2010 12:57 PM

Gymgirl - the other day I tried to fill in a small hole that some varmint (or the dog) had made in my garlic bed, but the ground was frozen solid!

I'm not sure your planting method would work here in NC.

I had wondered about removing the bottom of milk jugs, sowing seeds as you suggest, and covering them - like a little greenhouse. Do you think that would work?

Last year I was very early to start my tomatoes, I think I started either in dec or beg of Jan time frame by the time I could plant them outside they were monsters and I had a hard time keeping them inside because of lack of space in my light system. I think I will be playing it safe this year and start them much later, either the last week of Jan or Beg of Feb, same with peppers.

This spring I noticed sweet peppers took two weeks longer to sprout than tomatoe seeds. It took until September to get ripe, pest free fruit. When the first frost came along in October, the plants were loaded with small fruit. It was very sad to see them die from the cold.

I'm going to set seed much earlier this coming spring!

I also must find an organic approach to keeping the caterpillars from boring their way into the young peppers.

Any suggestions, please?

HoneybeeNC,
The planting timeframes are relative to our growing areas. Work with your growing temps there. We can still share the growing processes and pool our collective knowledge, albeit at different times in our relative time zones!

Hugs!

Linda

C,
I'm making adjustments to my sowing timeframes. Still trying
to perfect and zero in on my optimum growing window. It still amazes me that I have DG friends right here in town who don't plant at the same time because of our different microclimates.
L

"This spring I noticed sweet peppers took two weeks longer to sprout than tomatoe seeds"

Honebee, your best tomato transplants will be about 6 weeks old, especially if you up-pot, 8 weeks should be acceptable also depending on light source and room temps.

However, peppers really need bottom heat to germinate quickly (80º) as well as warm room temps to maintain good initial plant growth. I tend to start pepper seeds a good 12 weeks before planting out date. Basically, start your pepper seeds 3 to 4 weeks before you start your tomato seeds.

As far as an organic solution for your pepper worms, Bt is you best bet. It's sold as brand name "Dipel" (powdered form) or as "Thuricide" (liquid form).

Hope this helps.
Shoe (off to a pot of beef/veggie stew...!)

Horseshoe thanks for reminding me about the pepper plants, yes last year I planted them and game me a lot of peppers but they took forever to get to a good size for transplanting, in which case I'll have to start them way sooner than the tomatoes.

Horseshoe - thanks for the tips. I have made a note to sow the sweet pepper seeds indoors 12 weeks before set-out date.

Yes, you are right Bt should take care of the caterpillars. When do you think I should dust the peppers? The caterpillars seem to get into the peppers when they are still very tiny. I assume once the caterpillars are inside the pepper, the Bt will not work.

I might have some Bt around here somewhere...

carminator1 : I agree with you. Also my peppers and tomatoes took longer to grow since I don't have a GH. That's why I already started them

Howdy, Folks! Bear with me, I had a wonderful day "shopping" w/my daughter (turning 17 next month) and we both ended the day exhausted from it all. Well, at least I did, she's off at a sleep-over w/one of her "BFF's"! *grin

Dogs/Petunia (love that moniker!), you hit the nail on the head regarding the warmth from the lights. Ambient/room temperature is and important factor when using those fluorescent lights for helping to germinate seeds. A quick example before I go on...

I used to use those heating cables in my greenhouse, laying them out on a table then putting trays of seeds on them. Those cables have a built-in thermostat that is designed to warm your soil to approx 70º or so BUT the room temperature must be around 60º or so in order for them to properly work. If the room temp drops to 50 or less the cables just don't generate enough heat to keep the soil in your seed flats warm enough.

Keeping that in mind, the same is true with the fluorescent fixtures, they'll generate a slow heat but in a cold room it is easily dispersed elsewhere and not to your seed flats. However, there is a way around that. Ta-dahh ♫

In my greenhouse I have heat mats (pretend they are your fluorescent light source). Since it is more economical for me to heat the soil in my seed flats than it is to heat the air temp in a 1500 sq foot greenhouse I made what I refer to as "heat cabinets". Those of you with light systems/set-ups can do the same.

Here is a pic of a set of shelves I built years ago with some heat mats on them. The two ends/sides and the back are wrapped in plastic. The top and front have a separate piece of plastic (I call them curtains). At night and/or on cool days I close the front curtains and the heat from the heat mats (or in your case your light fixtures) is contained within the plastic environment. This keeps the temperature of your seed flat soil more consistently warm. Keep in mind, you may want to stick a thermometer in there to see exactly how warm, especially for peppers, then decide if you should move on to the next easy (or fairly easy) solution to your problem.
(Note: if your house is cooler at night than during the day, you could run your lights at night instead of during the day, utilizing that heat at the coldest part of the 24 hours that way.)

Before I forget to post it, here's a pic of my "heat cabinet":
Shoe

And a quick pic of the same cabinet/table with curtains down:

Shoe