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Purple sprouting broccoli
Tootles
Posts: 1,469
in Fruit & veg
hello
my purple sprouting broccoli seeds have germinated in the greenhouse. Are they too small to be put straight into a raised bed outside? Should I pot them on? Thanks for any advice.
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Wait utill they have two true leaves and pot them on plant them out when they are about four inches high.
Thanks Barry. When do you think they will be ready to eat? November??
I always found that they weren't ready to eat until March that's why I don't grow them anymore, they were delicious but took up the ground for such a long time. I grew calabrese last year and due to the cool conditions had a super crop during july august but neglected to protect them from the cabbage whites which got into the heads and put my wife off of them when she found a caterpillar on her plate, this year I intend to get some debris netting to cover them with.
Hi
My purple sprouting is just now giving off produce which will provide me with brocali spears for the next month. Gardeners favourite pigeons are also looking at them so have devised some deterants in the form of canes and some used CD discs
I have had a good return for th epast four years with a good stock also frozen for later consumption
I have the space to plant this veg and acknowledge it could be a problem with fellow gardeners with smaller areas to plant
Summer green sprouting brocali is also amazing and last year ahead of going on holiday i asked one of my friends to look after and water garden in return for free veg/fruit when ready to pick
I reurned from holiday having seen at least 12 brockali heads cut however i knew that these plants gave a greater return in brockali sprouts from August to October which was amazing
If you have the space plant it as its returns are excellent but understand with any growing space you would want to maximise and use for succesional planting year on year
photograph of PSB to follow
Happy gardening
Thanks. I have a 1m X 1m raised bed allocated for it. Will that be large enough? Do I need to do anything to it (first time having a go so sorry for all of the questions)? Does it need stakes? Covering? Anything need doing to it over winter?
thanks
You will need to cover it. As we head into winter 2016/17 (!) and there is nothing much else about, the pigeons will decimate PSB. They got the first crop of mine this year through the netting. Grrr. But I'll get a secondary crop.
I agree about the space requirements - they clog up the allotment all winter - but I grow them for the fresh green veg about now when there is little else to go on.
The crop is over when you have picked all of the spikes fresh ones won't replace them, if you want a crop for this time of year I always grow dwarf green curled kale, as you pick the fresh new leaves over winter new ones will replace them to give a long harvest.
Oh dear! Anyone want any brocolli seedlings?! I might stick them in my gorilla garden then.