PSB - what am I doing wrong?

[1Bee]

First year on the plot, I bought PSB plants from the GC, planted them out, and they cropped as expected late winter/early spring the next year.

The last two years, I've sown the seed myself, followed the packet instructions for timings, potted up, potted on, planted out.... and they've gone ahead and sprouted in summer the same year.

Can someone talk me through what they do with theirs, with rough seasonal timings, please? I can't see where I'm going wrong.

Thank you.

[Zelenina]

I have a couple of thoughts about it, although no practical experience of growing it yet. First, there are different varieties of PSB that sprout at different times of the year, from autumn through winter to early spring. And there are now also one or two that are meant to sprout in the summer. Do you know which variety you sowed?

I'm also wondering whether your very long summer daylength in such a northerly location, followed by a more rapid shortening after the summer solstice, would have stimulated them to sprout earlier than usual. So maybe you need specific advice about timing from northern gardeners. The packet instructions are probably based on a more southerly location.

[1Bee]

I can't remember the exact variety, but it would have been a 'crops the following year' one because that's what I wanted, and because I would have been watching the packet instructions about sowing/planting out/harvesting quite closely because of the failure last year.

You make a good point about day length... interesting.

I wouldn't mind so much, except the yield is just a few spears, rather than the glorious gluts we had first time round....

[bario1]

One thing I've noticed about PSB is that it doesn't like a check in growth, so it's good to get it in the ground as soon as possible... perhaps you left it in pots that were too small for too long, where the availability of water and nutrients can vary wildly?
Or perhaps as Zelenina suggested, you grew a summer sprouting broccoli by accident?
How big were the plants when they sprouted?

Sorry, just read your reply re variety...

[1Bee]

Ah, that might be it, bario, they probably did linger in pots a bit too long... They're good, big plants mind, exactly the size I'd expect from them.

[Snoop Puss]

Mine are behaving oddly too. I took it that a few cold nights was enough to set the sprouting process in motion.

[bario1]

Hmm if they're big then my suggestion probably doesn't hold up.... hope mine don't suddenly start sprouting too!

[Snadger]

Rudoplh is quite a common PSB. I'll let you guess when it matures!

[Mr Bones]

A few years back our Rudolph produced lovely spears in September. Maybe they stressed due to inconsistent watering.

[Zelenina]

When does everyone sow their sprouting broccoli? I found this report of a variety trial in Oregon and Washington USA http://varietytrials.eorganic.info/s...al-results.pdf where they say:

" The nine varieties included in this trial were seeded the first week of August 2014 and transplanted in the field the first week of September 2014."

Has anyone here tried sowing it that late?

[Zelenina]

And here's another trial in the Northeast USA where they sowed it even later and got a successful harvest in spring. Survival and Yields of Fall-planted Winter Sprouting Broccoli Grown in High Tunnels for Spring Harvest in the Northeastern United States

"Plants were seeded in 128-cell trays on 2 Sept. 2008 for Spring 2009 harvest and 19 Aug. 2009 for Spring 2010 harvest."

The winters there were colder, down to -28C in the first year and -19C in the second. And they grew the broccoli under high tunnels, with row cover as well during the coldest months.

[Penellype]

I sow mine (Early Purple) in late May or early June and pot them up into 3.5 inch pots when they have the first pair of true leaves. I then plant them out into individual 30 litre pots in July. I've never had any problems with them disliking being potted on, although they do really dislike being too wet.

Mine tend to produce the first harvestable heads between February and April, depending on how mild the winter has been and how much sun they have had.

On one occasion I sowed a few seeds in mid July, which didn't really have a home and were kicking about in 1 litre pots in November before being planted into a raised bed in total shade for the winter. I dug these up and moved them to a different part of the garden in February, and noted in June that they had "produced a small crop"!