I planted broccoli along with everything else this season and while the plant is huge, the florets are very small and only take a few days to burst into flower. I realized my mistake early on with regard to broccoli being a fall crop, but I let it go just to see what it would do. The trunk on that bad boy is 1.5" in diameter! It's HUGE! It's got a ton of little florets on it but they are all turning into yellow flowers rather quickly after the florets form.
Questions: Can I get seeds off of this plant and if so, how do I go about it? There are some small florets that are about the size of chopped frozen broccoli. Can I eat these even though I grew this in the summer?
I also planted romaine lettuce (Paris Island Cos), but the plant is totally different than I had expected. It is about 36" tall at this point. It has a slender smooth stalk with lettuce like leaves about every inch up the stalk on all sides, but they offset as you go around it. In other words, there are not 3 or 4 leaves every inch up the stalk, they are offset but about 1" apart along the same side of the stalk. The leaves are about 8" long. The top has started to flower a bit and is actually branching into more stalks at the crown. I cut some of the buds off a couple days ago and I don't really know why I did it. I guess I thought I could get it to bush more...
I found a pic, taken on 7/31 but I think you'll get the gist of it, the 'romaine' is the row on the left, there are maybe 3 plants that are growing, the rest of the row (closer) was planted later and never germinated:
[img]https://jtnewton.com/Images/Garden/07312011011.jpg[/img]
Note that it's now 10" taller and you can kinda see the beginnings of the bud thingy on top, and it has since branched into several 'stalks' - there is about 5 of them that are capping and flowering.
Questions: Do I just pluck/cut the leaves off and eat them now? What do I look for to recognize it's harvest time? Can I get seeds from this plant, and if so, how? Why does this plant look like a stalk rather than a bunch like we all associate romaine lettuce to look like when we buy if off the shelf at the grocery store? Is it too hot to grow this now?
Thank ye all in advance!
It's too hot for those plants right now in the south. I grow romaine, along with several other types of lettuce and only do so in the fall and very early spring. When my lettuce gets leggy like you are describing, it is ready to go to seed (bolt) and I find the leaves get quite bitter and not worth eating.
Matter of fact, I just checked my seeds for the start of my fall planting. I got the garden soil turned over yesterday and will do so one more time and make my rows so I can start getting some things in the ground early next week.
I just checked with the local nursery and they won't have things in like broccoli, brussels sprouts or other cabbage family crops for another few weeks. I'll start much of what I'm going to grow by seed this weekend.
Matter of fact, I just checked my seeds for the start of my fall planting. I got the garden soil turned over yesterday and will do so one more time and make my rows so I can start getting some things in the ground early next week.
I just checked with the local nursery and they won't have things in like broccoli, brussels sprouts or other cabbage family crops for another few weeks. I'll start much of what I'm going to grow by seed this weekend.
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!potatoes!
- Greener Thumb
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- Location: wnc - zones 6/7 line
it's growing up because the weather has it convinced that it should be flowering, and it can't do that if it stays a short little rosette.
to collect seed, you'd need to wait for it to flower, and then wait for it to make seed, and then collect seed in the little window of time between the seed coming to ripeness and dispersing to the four winds.
to collect seed, you'd need to wait for it to flower, and then wait for it to make seed, and then collect seed in the little window of time between the seed coming to ripeness and dispersing to the four winds.
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
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Your lettuce and broccoli are bolting (going to flower, then seed) because it is too hot for them. Lettuce when it bolts gets very tall and slender as you described. I have some in my garden that I let go to seed. I'm trying to see if I can encourage it to come back on its own.
All parts of the broccoli are edible, the leaves, florets, flowers, etc (probably not the roots!).
All parts of the broccoli are edible, the leaves, florets, flowers, etc (probably not the roots!).