non-producing romanesco broccoli

[Tinybu88les8]

Is this common? Ive read other people mentioning romanesco broccoli growing huge but never producing a single head. But keeping them in the garden because they are a beautiful silver green and nice to look at. I have romanesco growing in my garden (3 plants, all grown at the same time from seed) but only one of these plants has a head growing on it. It is actually the smallest of the 3 plants. The other 2 are getting very large and taking up room where I could be planting my tomatoes. Is there hope they will produce or might I be better off pulling them out and making room for my tomatoes?

[DoubleDogFarm]

These are mere guesses, over fertilized or to warm. What are your temperatures in southern Calif

[Tinybu88les8]

lately its been in the 70's to low 80's during the day and pretty chilly at night. We did have a lot of rain this year... Ive had them planted in the ground since about october or so (I think). They are planted in the ground side by side so they all have gotten the same amount of fertilizer. *shrugs*

[DoubleDogFarm]

Tiny,

Almost 6 months seems long. I've grown broccoli and cauliflower, but not Romanesco. One would think culture is the same. Maybe to much nitrogen. If it gets to much warmer, think about shading.

[cynthia_h]

Harvest some of those leaves; they taste absolutely terrific when sauteed in mixed greens! Think chard, spinach, and broccoli leaves. Add kale if you have it. I can't imagine that broccoli is too thrilled about 80 degrees; it's a cool-weather veggie, so start harvesting the leaves--outer ones first if they aren't too tough--and not more than one-third of the leaves at any one time.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[BrianSkilton]

Hmmm, Last year I had quite a few heads of broccoli develop well into the 80's. I made sure I watered them very frequently, also mulching them in will keep the heat away from the roots. I'm trying Romanesco for the first time this year, so I'll tell you how it goes.