bcallaha
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Location: Chandler in SW Indiana

Broccoli and cold temps

Has anyone had experience with broccoli nearing maturity and getting a cold spell below freezing? We've had nightly lows in the upper 20's now for almost a week. Two days ago we got 3" of snow. Neither the temps or snow is typical for this time of year. I've cut some main heads, but still have around 25 plants that have smaller heads than I would normally cut, so they are in the snow and cold. I checked the plants before the snow, and the plants were a little wilted looking. Should I cut the remainder of the heads, or wait to see if the plants will rebound? I've heard that broccoli plants can take a freeze, but I don't know if they can withstand this kind of weather, or not. Any advice would be appreciated!!

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rainbowgardener
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Broccoli is exceptionally cold hardy. I sometimes plant some in October. It starts growing and then goes dormant and just sits there through the whole winter and starts growing again.

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applestar
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Juliuskitty
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Thanks Applestar. Great link- saved to favorites.

Gardener_Wes
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Broccoli loves cold weather. In the summer, they'll bolt though if your not good about controlling temps.

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applestar
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This thread gave me a forehead-slapping moment -- Broccoli is REALLY cold-hardy!

...yes I KNEW that, but did I REALLY REALLY stop to think about what that meant? No.

So I started my broccoli seeds. I had some that I started for fun, intending to see if I can grow them inside since the indoor temp will be mostly in the 60's with occasional "heatwave" that won't get any higher than mid-70's and occasional drops when the outside gets down in the teens, single digits and negative single digits, with wind howling to rob the house of any thermal insulation.

But hey, WHY NOT PUT THEM IN THE GARAGE V8 NURSERY once they have true leaves? It's will be very rare for the temp to get below mid-20's which means broccoli seedlings should be OK out there. They can have the space until tomato seedlings outgrow the indoor seed starting areas and need to move out to the V8 Nursery. I think this succession/musical growing spaces will work out.

So I have the Limba broccoli seedlings with a pair of true leaves that I separated out from the KFC Bucket of Sugar Sprint peas. I can't separate the Soltice broccoli seedlings from the other more advanced KFC bucket, I started some more.

I need to start one more variety... Probably tomorrow, and I think I'll start some cabbages, too. :-()

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shadylane
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Very interesting applestar. I didn't know the facts of the matter in broccoli. I thought of it more difficult and with that never put them on the list of veggies. A new dawn has begun :)

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Gary350
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I know for a fact Broccoli does good down to about 20 degrees. One year 17 degree temperatures killed my broccoli.

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applestar
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Solstice broccoli are up! Instant (almost :wink: ) gratification. :()
image.jpg
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND BROCCOLI AND CABBAGE, ARUGULA, TOO, AS EASY SEEDS TO START WITH FOR PEOPLE NEW TO GROWING VEGS FROM SEEDS. COLD/COOL SEASON.



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