Start harvesting early varieties - second week of February. Start harvesting late varieties - fourth week of February. Prior to planting in their final position, the ground can be used for other quick maturing crops such as lettuce and radish.
Consider carefully how many plants are required, there is little point in growing a large number of plants if the crop is too large for you to harvest. For two adults and two children, five or six plants is all that is required for a plentiful crop. They can stay in these pots until they are ready for transplanting to their final positions. Sow early varieties of purple sprouting broccoli in third week of April and sow late varieties in fourth week of April.
There is little to be gained by sowing earlier than this date use our free date adjustment feature to get the timing exactly correct for your area.
In fact sowing the seeds too early will result in much larger plants which are then more liable to frost and wind damage. Multi-purpose compost can also be used but you will need to remove or crush many more lumps in the compost. Make small holes in the compost about 1. Cover each hole with compost without firming down the compost. Although purple sprouting broccoli can withstand very low temperatures when established, the seeds germinate best and quickest when the soil temperature is in the range 21C to 27C 70F to 80F.
The seeds will germinate in total darkness if you want, but immediately they germinate and you see green shoots they should be transferred to a position with lots of light. When the seeds have germinated they require lower temperatures to grow on than for germination. If the temperature does drop, bring them inside until it rises again.
Almost all good quality potting composts and general purpose multi-purpose composts have sufficient nutrients built in for the first four weeks after sowing the seeds or transplanting. The key advantages of sowing in seed beds is that the seeds will germinate when the ground is warm enough to support germination.
The seedlings will tend to be more cold weather resistant compared to growing them under cover. The disadvantages are that as soon as the seedlings emerge they may well be attacked by pests. Pigeons and other birds can pull up a whole bed of broccoli seedlings in a day. Slugs and snails can decimate them in almost the same time frame.
My own personal experience is that sowing purple sprouting broccoli in a seed bed is a recipe for disaster! As far as soil goes, purple sprouting broccoli prefers a neutral to alkaline soil. If you have acidic soil it is possible to add lime to make it more alkaline, however, it will be an uphill battle. Heavy soils, light clay to heavy clay is ideal, help to anchor the plants down and also retain moisture, so vital to the success of this vegetable plant.
Light soil can be improved by the addition of well rotted organic matter such as compost. Similar to sweetcorn, purple sprouting broccoli thrive on a water retaining soil. Even though our soil is moderately heavy clay we mulch the soil heavily for both sweetcorn and broccoli. This reduces the need for hand watering very considerably in even almost drought conditions.
Our method, soon after the plants are planted in their final final position, is to line the soil all around and in between the plants with cardboard. This is readily available for free near the exit at almost all large supermarkets and hardware stores. Over the cardboard place lots of mulch - we use woodchip because it is readily available to us.
Also be sure to remove any flower clusters that may appear before they bloom. Allowing your purple sprouting broccoli plants to flower will prevent your plants from producing more shoots.
Around the time your plants begin to flower, a central cluster should be visible. Cut this cluster off at an angle to prevent damaging the stem. Removing the central head will increase the growth of side shoots. The shoots are ready for harvest after they grow to be about six inches long. Regular harvesting of the shoots will also increase yield. As mentioned, the leaves, flower clusters, and even the stems are all edible, so your plants should offer plenty to eat through the winter.
Purple sprouting can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days, just like traditional broccoli. You can also extend the shelf life of your harvest by blanching the florets in water and freezing. Yet once you get your first taste, these purple beauties will likely end up going straight from your garden to your plate. Adding a layer of mulch to the topsoil can also help prevent weeds from growing around your purple sprouting broccoli plants.
Keeping your plants covered with a fine mesh screen can also help protect plants from insects and birds. Broccoli is within the same family as cabbage, so common pests and diseases that affect cabbage can also plague your broccoli.
This includes pests such as the cabbage white caterpillar. To combat the cabbage white caterpillar, check the underside of your leaves for the yellowish eggs of the cabbage white. An application of an organic Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt-based insecticide , can handle most pests.
One of the biggest concerns for purple sprouting broccoli plants is wind. These plants have shallow roots and can grow up to three feet in height, so be sure to plant in a place protected from the wind. This vegetable grows to over a metre 3ft in height and does take up considerable bit of space in our vegetable patch. After over twelve months of growing , you can imagine how large the leaves and stalks get.
The plants will be ready to move to their ultimate growing positions as soon as they have reached 10—15cm in height. This will be anytime between June and July, depending on when you sowed the seeds and what the spring weather is like.
Sprouting broccoli can be sown during summer or in late winter for a head start on an autumn harvest. Growing advice: Plant sprouting broccoli in a sunny site with compost-enriched soil. If larger plants are top heavy, stake them or shore them up with earth. One reason for a broccoli not forming heads or producing small heads is timing.
As mentioned, broccoli likes to be kept cool. Buttoning will cause the plant to produce tiny heads as will stress — like lack of water or nutrients. You eat the leaves and stalk as well, only discarding any really thick or woody stems.
Eat as an accompanying vegetable to any main dish. Purple sprouting can simply be steamed or boiled. It can also be roasted. Despite the bad press broccoli gets, it is quite edible and nutritious.
Most parts of the broccoli plant can be eaten, from the immature flowers to the stalks and even the leaves. The only parts of broccoli that have been shown to be poisonous are the seeds and roots. Broccoli likes steady moisture to grow fast and produce good heads, so water regularly, applying 1 to 1. You can measure the amount of water with a rain gauge left in the garden. Next up, pour a splash of vinegar into a small pan and place over a high heat. Then grab the broccoli , shake off the water and dip the florets into the hot vinegar, rolling them around until coated and - hey presto - they revert back to purple!
It doesn't continually produce new fruit like many garden vegetables. However, broccoli does have some redeeming qualities. Although you can't harvest broccoli for months on end, you can harvest it several times during the growing season. Don't wait until the broccoli heads become large, though. Your broccoli is described as heading, so I presume it's like calabrese with one main head. Broccoli , a cool-weather crop, produces flower heads at the end of thick, hardy stalks, and roots up to 5 feet deep and 3 feet away from the center of the plant.
Although broccoli stands on its own and does not require staking , proper care of the plant is necessary to produce quality crops. Harvesting purple sprouting broccoli Harvest when the flower shoots are well developed but before the flowers have actually opened.
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