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| Hi I am fairly new to gardening and am trying broccoli for the first time this year. I have premium crop broccoli in raised beds and I am in zone 7. The broccoli is already producing heads some of which are 3 inches in diameter. How long will it take from this point to get to the 8-9inches it needs to be for harvesting? Also I know broccoli can bolt pretty quickly anything specific I should look for to know it's going to bolt? And even if the broccoli had bolted does this significantly alter the taste like it does when lettuce bolts? And after it had bolted are the smaller shoots still edible? And last question how long will it continue to produce smaller shoots? Thanks for the help! |
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| 3"? From this day forward, keep a daily eye on them. Don't look for 8-9" heads -- you may not get them. Look for the florets starting to separate. Just a bit of separation, harvest it. Don't cut TOO low on the main stalk as the nodes below the harvest cut is where the sides shoots will form. Once they start to separate, that's it -- it's actually a little past it's prime. So, from there, you know that you want to harvest the other heads just a bit sooner. Once separated, they'll start to bolt. .I've never noticed a drastic change in taste on bolted broccoli, but the stalks will become woody. Flowers? Well past picking time. The smaller shoots are just like the main head. They do tend to bolt quicker, so every few days, go out and harvest or check. After a while you get the feel when a head or shoot is ready. Nice and tight--- good. Separation--- bad. Side shoots will continue. Just harvest before separation. I've had broccoli go all summer and fall with side shoots. Water well and mulch heavily when it really heats up. Kevin |
This post was edited by woohooman on Tue, May 6, 14 at 12:58
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| Broccoli needs to be harvested when the individual florets start to separate and before they start looking like they're going to split open. Don't wait for them to reach a specific size. That way lies bolting. The taste of broccoli depends on the weather. Heat will make the heads and sprouts strong-tasting. Production of side shoots depends largely on the variety. The plant should start to produce side shoots, if it does, after the main head is cut. Production will fall off in the heat of summer. If you leave some varieties until fall, they start up again. |
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