DETAILS
Overview
Enjoy beautiful, smooth, medium-sized heads of blue-green broccoli. Plants are compact and grow quite well in containers. Don’t pull them once you’ve harvested the head, though, as plants will continue to produce lots of side shoots that are just right for snacking or sautéing. This variety has excellent heat tolerance, too. Plant in late summer for a fall harvest.
Sun Exposure
I need at least 4 hours of afternoon sun but can go all day
Growing Season
Dimensions
Height: 24”
Width: 12-18”
Spacing: 18-24”
Matures
- 57 Days
Maintenance Notes
Broccoli forms the best heads when temperatures are between 65 and 80 degrees. Excessively small heads result when plants experience prolonged low temps (40º F or lower) or high temps (above 80º F). Keep an eye out for cabbage loopers, imported cabbageworms, cabbage root maggots, aphids, and flea beetles. Susceptible to black leg, black rot, clubroot, and yellows.
Homegrown heads are often smaller than those found at the supermarket. Judge harvest time by bud tightness, not overall head size. Cut heads that are large and fully developed with tight buds. Once broccoli buds start to crack open, stems and buds lose their appealing texture, becoming mealy and even woody. To harvest, cut stems just below heads. Allow plants to remain in place; buds along stems and side shoots will form smaller heads perfect for salads and stir fries. With baby broccoli, pinch the main head when it reaches 1 to 1.5 inches in size, then harvest the smaller heads that will result once they reach 6 to 7 inches long.