On Sat, 01 Sep 2007 23:34:58 GMT, "0tterbot" wrote:

"col" wrote in message
news

What fertilizers are good for growing broccoli ?

will get to that in a minute ;-)

Which are the ones trhat don't flower as my last crop flowered when
the plant was only about a foot of the ground if that

they all flower - the green buds we eat are flower buds :-) if they bolt to
flower too soon, it means they're not happy for some reason. alternatively,
perhaps you just weren't ready for it, even though the plants were, & the
flowering caught you off-guard before you had a chance to pick it...?

ime, broccoli planted in winter (which i have done) probably just wants to
bolt when spring comes, so don't do that - it's just too late.

I planted the broccoli just as winter was coming but its been a weird
winter here in Perth where we have had spring days for a week or two
in the middle of winter with temps in the mid 20's. The fig tree is
confused too as its bringing up figs now when in years gone past the
figs are ripe around late March into April. Last summer though we had
figs around December to January which was an odd year too.

I think the area I planted thr broccoli wa sto shaded so this time
have it in a more open area where the cabbage are which are growing
really well.


the broccoli i put in last spring lasted most of winter (it just went on &
on!) & i took the last one out last week (the sprouts were just getting too
small to be bothered with, but they were still coming). the broccoli i have
in currently, i planted in autumn, & we're picking it now in droves. n.b:
these autumn plants are _much_ smaller (only about knee-high as you have
said) but the heads & sprouts are good. they WILL flower when the buds are
ready, though, so it's up to you to pick them before they flower.

They are flowering when they are only a few mm wide. Too tiny to eat.


I've planted a second batch of seedlings down with blood and bone.

that sounds good.

Using pot ash once a week and so far about two thirds are dying and
the left over looks ok for now.

if 2/3 are dying, something is wrong. i feel potash once a week is just far
too much & might be the problem. i'd water it out & leave things for a
couple of weeks, jmo.

Thanks for the advice. I'll do as you suggest.


i put my veg (in general) into manured mulched & composted (when i have
enough) soil. in my own case, the soil isn't that good yet, & needs more
organic matter (but then, all soils do). however, this practice means the
stuff rots over the lifetime of the plant & feeds it as it grows, too.

the other thing i do for the brassicas (in fact, most of my veg) is use poo
stew or weed stew: in a smallish receptacle of some kind, fill with either
weeds/comfrey/other green stuff, or old poo (any kind). fill with water &
leave for 2-4 weeks. it will need straining & will smell ghastly until the
3-5 week mark (but you can use it before it stops smelling, any time after 2
weeks - just try not to get it on your hands ;-). put about a litre of
strained liquid into about 8-10 litres of water in the watering can, or at
any rate dilute until it's quite a light colour. apply every 2 weeks (or in
my case, when i realise i haven't done it for ages ;-) either onto the
plant's soil, or you can use it for foliar feeding (apply directly to
leaves). it's very simple & is free & brassicas love it. because brassicas
are flowering plants, you don't want too much nitrogen but equally, you
don't want too much of anything else, either. blood & bone, or weed stew, or
just very healthy soil with lovely organic matter breaking down in it
continually, should be the limit of what you're doing re fertilising. i
think you've overdone it with potash, in this case. they love their feeding
& watering but ime not quite enough feeding is far better than too much -
they won't die of underfeeding (they just might not perform as well), but
they will die of overfeeding.

hth! broccoli can be a bit weird at first ime, but quite simple once you get
a grip on what to do & how long they take; when almost ready, they need
watching so you catch them before they flower.
kylie

Thanks so much for the detailed reply. I'm only just starting to get
into growing my own food as local prices are getting out of control
plus never know what you're eating with chemicals these days on foods.

I've enjoyed my fig tree in the last 5 years with really nice big
large red figs which are so sweet and great for jam. We get buckets
load of figs off this one huge tree and have cuttings which are
growing really well since I placed an organic seaweed fertilizer on it
a couple of weeks ago which so far as really made the cuttings grow
much faster than using pot ash. I may try it on a few broccolie plants
later on.

Anyway thanks for the great reply.