On Sun, 30 May 2010 10:57:56 +1000, "David Hare-Scott"
wrote:

DirtBag wrote:
Billy said

In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

DirtBag wrote:
One of the my Brocolli plants is already flowering?

I purchased it as a seedling. It was rather large and already
starting to bud. Some later reading on the net led me to believe
this plant might not have been the best seedling since it was
already budding. Is this true? Should I cut back on this
flowering bud and await new shoots? Is this plant still viable
for producing food?

Another of the two is similarly budding, but not yet flowering.
Anything I should be doing with it?

Thanks, I'm new at brocolli plants.

Cut the heads while they are still tight and dark coloured, before
the flowers start to open. More will grow from lower down.

David

. . . and mulch like crazy to keep the ground cool.

...makes me think planting brocolli in raised beds might not be a good
idea? I thought early soil warming was one of the "benefits" of
raised beds. Any thoughts?

Raised beds may be important for other reasons. Better to grow it in cool
seasons, it doesn't bolt so quickly and you get a rest from cabbage moth
etc. When your cool seasons are depends on your climate.

David


Where I live, broccoli, cabbage and brussel sprouts get too much
summer heat to grow well. Maybe the same for my radishes which seems
like they want to grow large leaves, send out flowers, and grow little
roots. We are having adequate rainfall, not too much/too little. The
garden soil was ammended with compost this spring, so maybe not
nutrient related.