Anyone grow broccoli?
 

Hey all,

I had a question about growing broccoli. I'm in Chicago and usually do ok
with cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet peas and bell peppers every year. Same with
other minor herbs and spices. Some total failures with other things.

The broccoli falls in the middle.

I tried (from seed) some in the ground, some in a planter.

All of them seemed to come up very well, a few of the ground ones probably
got to over 2 feet wide, healthy leaves, good solid stalks.

The problem is, never got anything edible out of them.

They all sprouted like one (and I mean one) thing that looked like a peice of
broccoli (single peice) in the center of the plant, but it would of been
barely a mouthful if you picked it.

I figured it would expand out into a clump, like you would get from the
store, a bunch of them.

But shortly after those single serving peices showed up (maybe 3 days), they
all flowered and basically started growing these stalks/shoot things that
just flower and nothing else.

Maybe it was just bad seeds since the ones in pots were in the Miracle Grow
potting soil and the ground ones were normal good soil with fertizers (both
well watered and enough sun) and they both came out the same (except in
size).

Did I miss something somewhere?

-bruce

Anyone grow broccoli?
 

On Sun, 01 Nov 2015 14:16:55 +0000, Bruce Esquibel wrote:

Hey all,

I had a question about growing broccoli. I'm in Chicago and usually do ok
with cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet peas and bell peppers every year. Same with
other minor herbs and spices. Some total failures with other things.

The broccoli falls in the middle.

I tried (from seed) some in the ground, some in a planter.

All of them seemed to come up very well, a few of the ground ones probably
got to over 2 feet wide, healthy leaves, good solid stalks.

The problem is, never got anything edible out of them.

They all sprouted like one (and I mean one) thing that looked like a peice of
broccoli (single peice) in the center of the plant, but it would of been
barely a mouthful if you picked it.

I figured it would expand out into a clump, like you would get from the
store, a bunch of them.

But shortly after those single serving peices showed up (maybe 3 days), they
all flowered and basically started growing these stalks/shoot things that
just flower and nothing else.

Maybe it was just bad seeds since the ones in pots were in the Miracle Grow
potting soil and the ground ones were normal good soil with fertizers (both
well watered and enough sun) and they both came out the same (except in
size).

Did I miss something somewhere?

-bruce


Broccoli needs a good soil (potting soil + Miracle Grow isn't it). Think
compost and good mineral balance. Ideally many hours of sun (how many
did yours get?). In my northern area, fairly wide spacing. And the right
seed. I still don't get the huge heads that I sometimes see in some
markets, but the taste and the long lasting side-shoots make up for it!