My broccoli bolted... now what? :(

[Lianne]

I followed a planting guide that advised to put broccoli in during the first two weeks of Feb, which is what I did. Just two weeks ago, they were starting to grow nice little heads. It got unbelievably warm unbelievably fast and over the course of a week the heads shot up on long stalks and bolted. now 4 of my 8 broccoli's have flowered even though the plants themselves are still really small.

is hope lost for those 4? should I just remove the plants and give up, or could I expect them to lay dormant for a while until it's cool this fall and receive broccoli in the fall/winter? Since it's warm now, I could use the space for something that will actually produce, like a tomato, if it's not sensible to keep the broccoli plants just sitting there...

As for the other 4, they're in another bed and haven't shown signs of much growth at all, though very tiny heads have started to develop. do you think the warm weather will catch up to them too, or do I still have a chance of harvesting some broccoli at the end of this spring?

thanks everyone

[jal_ut]

With broccoli you need to watch the size of the individual florets in the head. If these little florets start to get buds near the size of the head of a match, pick it. The size of the whole head is not a good indicator of when to pick it. So many variables on the head size. Broccoli will usually send out some side shoots in the leaf axils after the main head has been picked. Some varieties are more prone to do this than others. It is also going to depend on your weather. You can (1) let these go to raise you some seed, (2) prune the flowers off and see if they will make some side shoots, or (3) pull them and try again in the fall. In your country it may be getting a bit too warm for broccoli? I suspect this is the case since they bolted so quickly. I would plant new plants for a fall crop, not try to save these for that.

[DoubleDogFarm]

I will just add, even after bolting broccoli is delicious. Mix the flowers into tossed salad and stir fries. If you like this kind of thing try growing flowering brassicas.
https://www.kitazawaseed.com/seeds_flowering_brassica.html

Eric

[Lianne]

Thanks, everyone!

Jal-Ut, that was helpful in understanding my options. I think I'll let some of them go to seed and see if I can start some seeds indoors this fall and transfer them outside when it's cool again.

good to hear from another texan also! I couldn't believe how hot it was this week. I have some jalepenos doing really well right now in this weather, so trying another variety of peppers is a great idea.

AND I had no idea the flowers were edible...maybe I'll give that a shot..maybe

[DoubleDogFarm]

Yep, Eat the flowers.

A photo from last year
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20%20%20Fruits%20and%20Vegetables/HarvestJune18th2011001.jpg[/img]

Eric