GYO editorial assistant with a growing question for you to answer!

[Rose C]

Hi Growers,

It's the editorial assistant from Grow Your Own with another growing question for you to answer. This month i'm thinking about broccoli. What's your advice for growing a great crop of broccoli? Is it a crop you grow lots of? As always, answers might be featured in the magazine!

Rose

[veggiechicken]

Which broccoli are you thinking about, Rose?
Summer broccoli aka Calabrese or overwintering Sprouting broccoli?

[nickdub]

Purple sprouting broccoli is easy as long as you have the space - I've already sown the seeds for next years crop. Give it a bit of room and keep the birds off it.

Calabrese is a bit of a different story as it grows on n the Summer mostly so needs watering when the weather is dry - end also caterpillars get stuck in to it and can be difficult to deal with short of spraying .

[Teds Mum]

I've had more success with purple sprouting than with Calabrese. I can get sprouting going every year, I have managed a rather small head of broccoli on only two occasions.
I like growing broccoli more than other brassicas because even if the birds and caterpillars eat the plant I still get a harvest. I expect that if I were to net them they would do better, I just don't like the appearance of netting and it feels like too much work.

As others have mentioned they are big plants that take up more room than you might suppose. I usually only have perhaps half a dozen plants because I need room for all the other things I'd like to grow!

[rary]

I have only grown calabrese as the sprouting broccoli takes up too much room and time for a small harvest

[1Bee]

Purple sprouting broccoli is, frankly, delectable, so I always make space for it on my plot. I'm northerly, so sow in April/May, plant out in June/July. Brassicas like firm soil, so I dig the bed and tread down the dug soil as I go. Clubroot is here and there on our site, so I grow on the plants as big as I can in pots before planting out, and lime the planting hole, too. Firm in well and stake, then it's just keep weed free, net against butterflies and birds, and give a bit of a feed in early spring. Voila.

Oh, and I usually only have 2 or 3 plants, which is plenty.