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Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Broccoli
Planting
Broccoli should be planted in a site that gets full sun (6 to 8 hours of sunlight per day). Lack of sunlight may produce thin, leggy plants and subpar heads.
Plant in a bed of moist, fertile soil that drains well. To increase fertility before you plant, in early spring, work in 2 to 4 inches of rich compost (humus) or a thin layer of manure. The soil pH should ideally be slightly acidic, between 6.0 and 7.0.
When to Plant Broccoli
- Broccoli is a cool-season crop, so it should be started in early- to mid-spring (depending on your climate) for an early summer crop or in mid- to late summer for a fall crop. High temperatures will affect the development of the broccoli head (the harvestable part), so the goal is to get broccoli to mature before or after high temperatures are expected.
- Broccoli seeds are capable of germinating in soil temperatures as low as 40掳F (4掳C), but warmer soil is preferred and will greatly speed up development.
- For spring plantings, broccoli may be started indoors or outdoors a few weeks ahead of your last spring frost date. Consult our Planting Calendar to see recommended dates for your area. Generally speaking:
- Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost date.
- Sow seeds outdoors 2 to 3 weeks before your last frost date, or as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring.
- For fall plantings (best in warm climates), sow seeds outdoors 85 to 100 days before the first fall frost, when soil and ambient temperatures are high.
How to Plant Broccoli
- If starting seeds outdoors, sow seeds 1/2-inch deep and 3 inches apart.
- Once seedlings reach a height of& 2 to 3 inches, thin them so that plants are 12 to 20 inches apart.
- If you started seeds indoors, plant transplants that are 4 to 6 weeks old (and have 4 or 5 leaves) outdoors, 12 to 20 inches apart, in holes slightly deeper than their container depth.
- Space rows of broccoli 3 feet apart. (Closer spacing yields smaller main heads but more secondary heads.)
- Water well at the time of planting.
Video Demo of Sowing Broccoli
For those who wish to start sowing in pots, watch Ben in this video show you how it鈥檚 done! See the whole process from sowing to transplanting to broccoli care and harvesting.
Growing
- Plants thrive in temperatures between 65掳 and 70掳F (18掳 and 21掳C).
- Fertilize broccoli three weeks after transplanting seedlings into the garden. Use a low-nitrogen fertilizer, such as a 5-10-10 formula.
- Thin when young plants reach 2 to 3 inches tall. Plants should be between 12 and 20 inches apart.
- Provide consistent soil moisture with regular watering, especially in drought conditions. Water at least 1 to 1 1/2 inches per week.
- Do not get developing broccoli heads wet when watering, as it can encourage rot.
- Roots are very shallow, so try not to disturb the plants鈥攕uffocate weeds with mulch instead of weeding.
- Mulching around plants will also help to keep soil temperatures down.
- Use row covers to minimize pests.
- To promote the growth of a second head after the first has been harvested, maintain an active feeding and watering schedule.
Harvesting
- Harvest broccoli in the morning, when the buds of the head are firm and tight, just before the heads flower.
- If you do see yellow petals, harvest immediately, as the quality will decrease rapidly.
- Cut heads from the plant, taking at least 6 inches of stem. Make a slanted cut on the stalk to allow water to slide away. (Water can pool and rot the center of a flat-cut stalk, ruining the secondary heads.)
- Most varieties have side-shoots that will continue to develop after the main head is harvested. You can harvest from one plant for many weeks, in some cases, from spring to fall, if your summer isn鈥檛 too hot.
- Learn more tips on harvesting broccoli.
How to Store Broccoli
- Store broccoli in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- If you wash before storing, make sure to dry it thoroughly.
- Broccoli can be blanched and frozen for up to one year. Learn how to freeze broccoli.
Cooking Notes
One ounce of broccoli has an equal amount of calcium as one ounce of milk. Learn more about the amazing health benefits of broccoli.
Catherine Boeckmann
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It's a bit tricky to start broccoli from seed. After the seeds germinate, place the containers in a sunny area or under lights in a spot where the temperature is between 60掳 to 65掳F. Keep the soil moist but not wet.
My husband and I have beautiful plants growing and cut three heads this morning. Two of the three heads had gray like mold on some of the inter florets. It started at the top of the stem and only effected two or three florets in each head. Inside the inter most floret the gray turned to a lime green...I think you got the idea. We have had very cold weather for our area(north central Florida), but also moist and overcast days. Should I be harvesting the rest (approx. 16 heads) prior to full growth? Help.
Oh, dear.
This could be aphids, or it could be something more serious like sooty mold infection that inhibits photosynthesis (thus, the lime color). Here is more detail: http://cals.arizona.edu/crop/public/docs/Azbroccoli.pdf
You might find some advice here: http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/pests/pdf/hgic2202.pdf
Our advice would be to harvest what might be edible.
And, we would ask, do you rotate your crops? Moving plants around, not growing in the same spot year after year, is one of the easiest/best ways to avoid plant pests and disease.
Best wishes鈥
Ok so I planted my broccoli seeds on August 24th outside and its still getting around the low to mid 80s where I live (on the Eastern Shore of Virginia), do you think its going to still be too hot for the broccoli to grow correctly or should I just start a completely new set of seeds indoors?
Why didn't my plant seeds didn't come up? I planted the seeds correctly and water them every day.
Hi, Enlal: There could be any number of reasons. Take a look at the planting and care tips above to see if you did or didn't do something that affected your seeds' success. That's the best way to start. Good luck!
Lots of good questions, but no answers.
how about a frequently asked column with the answers. As in what to do after
brocolli bolts.?
Why don't you just look a question or two down--and there is your answer. Jeez. It's a free page and up to the community to comment. I see a lot of contributions actually. Why don't you make one?
I planted broccoli plants, not seeds, in a community garden plot during the first week of June. I chose broccoli because the season had been so cold and wet that there weren't many seedlings to choose from at the closest garden center. From what I've read here, that weather was not so bad for broccoli. I had prepared the plot by adding in a large bag of composted material before planting. About three weeks after planting I applied a 20-20-20 fertilizer. Since the 2nd week of June the weather has been a lot hotter and we've had very little rain. The plot is small so we water with watering cans filled at rain barrels. I go down to the garden almost every day and water it. I'm not used to growing vegetable plants but I didn't expect to do so poorly. The broccoli seemed to be fine, no discolouration, no wilting or curled leaves, all bright and green and happy-looking. But it's been just about 6 weeks since planting and the plants never grew more than an inch or so in height beyond what they were at planting and the heads began to develop. Now having not grown it before I had no clue what to expect. The height concerned me within a couple of weeks... and then once the heads developed, they simply didn't grown beyond the size of one small crown you'd find on a regular sized plant. The whole head was the size of one crown. Then within less than a week some burst into flower! I was astounded... and I have no idea what happened. I can tell from here that the warmer weather probably affected the quick flowering but why didn't the plants grow more? why didn't they do better before the warm weather occurred? I would have thought they'd have grown before the heads developed. Is it possible that the seedlings were waiting too long at the garden store? Would that account for the lack of growth before the weather warmed?
Hello! I work on a vegetable farm in williamsville il. We have planted and produced broccoli at a huge rate this year. I'm telling you this because we've had success due to a lot of research of different strains. The ph In the soil has to be right. At my farm we use a rich mushroom compost that has been composting for years. And give a lot of space in rows when planted. Certain bugs in the soil could also be a problem. Take notes of the things you notice and research bugs you see. Good luck and if you have any questions feel free to ask
