Cauliflower / Broccoli / Etc

[jal_ut]

But, I must respectfully say that I think Broccoli grows differently for a lot of the rest of us, than it does for you in Utah.

Right on. Not only with broccoli, but all crops I am sure. We live in two different worlds. Each area has its unique characteristics and problems.

We get 90 degree weather too in August, yet the broccoli keeps on giving. I let it go to flower for the bees. It will continue to bloom even after frost.

My point on the broccoli was, and is, that you can't have flowers before having blossoms. Since its the blossoms we want to eat we need to pick them before they open no matter how large the cluster.

If your broccoli doesn't get ready by the time you get 90 degree weather, may I suggest you need to plant it earlier? It is only a 60 day crop and if you need it finished by May, you should plant it early March. Maybe even late February. For sure you can plant broccoli a month before your average last frost date. When is that date for your area? Have you ever tried Pacman? It is supposed to be more tolerant of hot weather.

Broccoli, as with any of the cole crops, is a heavy feeder. Be sure to give it good fertile soil. Soil fertility has a lot to do with the size of the heads.

[rainbowgardener]

My point exactly about starting early. I plant broccoli seeds indoors mid Jan and put them in the ground mid Mar, a month before the last frost date. That way I get nice big heads (it is not ONLY a soil fertility issue, it is also a temperature issue as noted above) and still have time to get some of the side shoots heading up before it gets hot.

Same is true for the other cool weather crops like spinach. If you plant your spinach early, you will have plenty of time to pick spinach leaves before it gets hot and the spinach bolts. If you plant it later, it will still bolt when it gets hot and you won't have gotten as much spinach from it.

But the things like shadecloth can help extend the season some.

[farmerlon]

may I suggest you need to plant it earlier? It is only a 60 day crop and if you need it finished by May, you should plant it early March. Maybe even late February. For sure you can plant broccoli a month before your average last frost date. When is that date for your area? Have you ever tried Pacman? It is supposed to be more tolerant of hot weather.

Broccoli, as with any of the cole crops, is a heavy feeder. Be sure to give it good fertile soil. Soil fertility has a lot to do with the size of the heads.

All good suggestions and comments, thanks.
I moved some Broccoli to the garden the 3rd week of February, this year. But, I think it was "set back" some, because I did not harden it off as well as I should have. I keep "fighting" with Broccoli, and I keep learning, so I'm confident that I will "whip it" one of these days.
Next year, I'm going to stagger several plantings, beginning the first week of February, and see what combination of time and weather conditions give me the best results.

I have tried PacMan in the past (not this year), but I'm sure I made some other mistakes that prevented it from doing well ... so, I will definitely try it again next year.

Broccoli seems to be this biggest challenge for me, but I'm not giving up on it!

[applestar]

I'm still trying with the broccoli and cauliflower too. When Rainbowgardener and I compared weather notes, it seemed like in my area, we have more severe/colder temps until later into the spring, then have more severe/hotter temps earlier in the spring. My 1 month before last average frost would be 3rd week of March. Granted I haven't tried starting the cole crops in mid-January, but that's when we're usually having the coldest temperatures of the year -- -5ºF or so and no higher than single digits and teens for a whole week, etc. There's no way I can grow anything in my garage, even with all the strings of holiday lights we have.

Well, now that I do have a small Indoor Grow Light Area, maybe I'll try that next year, but starting them in 60's+ doesn't bode well for cold-hardy transplants....

With the spinach, they won't germinate any earlier. Rutger's Ag. Extension publication for NJ spinach production notes that the weather is more favorable for fall crop. So maybe I'll just have to get over the weirdness of sowing cool-weather crop seeds in early August and just try it. Possibly, similar weather effects would make fall cole crop more likely, though the difficulty with that is protecting them from the Cabbage Whites, Cabbage Loopers, and Diamond Backs. Another is finding room to grow them in a cluster or a row that can be covered with a netting, when there are mature vegetable plants in full production everywhere. Hmm... possibly the potato patch (for spinach) or the garlic row (for cole crops -- mid~late July seeding) would provide a good succession bed...

[BrianSkilton]

Well I have some very small heads on my broccoli and romanesco plants. Very tiny heads, but I have some under shade cloth, and put grass mulch around the others, and I also gave them some fish and poop organic (that's the name on the label) fertilizer today. I hope I get a fairly decent head. I started my broccoli plants in March, and planted them out in First week of April. They have almost been in the ground 55 days. So I thought I would see much larger heads by now, but I think they were set back when I transplanted them. Anyway, I will post the progressive when and if I get decent sized heads.