You didn’t know broccoli could be beautiful, did you? 
I discovered that I did NOT have beautiful broccoli in my Square Foot Garden this past week. So, I went on a research hunt to find out exactly what I had done wrong so that I could do it right next growing season. In this article, I’m sharing the secrets I discovered so that we can all enjoy some great broccoli salad very soon!
The Secrets Of Great Broccoli
What NOT To Do
- Do not plant your broccoli late. Broccoli does not like hot temperatures and will mature much too early if subjected to temperatures higher than 80′s.
- Do not plant your broccoli early. Broccoli also does not like temperatures that are too cool. (Broccoli is
The Broccoli You Get When Following "What NOT To Do" Advice!
starting to sound pretty human to me!) You will have the same early maturation in cool temps as in hot temps.
- Do not let the soil get dry. Broccoli likes moist soil. If it has to endure dry soil, you will get a tough and stringy veggie come harvest time.
- Do not wait too long to harvest broccoli. Your window of opportunity is about three to four days once the head matures. If you wait, it will get tough. Better to harvest early than late.
- Do not forget the second harvest. The secondary heads that grow will equal the amount given by the first head, so don’t forget to keep watching your broccoli for the additional veggies.
What To Do
- Do start your broccoli plants inside. If you are starting from seeds, you’ll want to get them planted indoors so that the plants are ready when the temperature is.
- Do prepare the soil. The broccoli head grows so quickly once its ready that the leaves don’t have time to gather enough nutrients to feed it. So, early on in its life, the plant stores lots of nutrients in the leaves in order to sufficiently feed the growing head. You must be sure you’re soil had adequate nutrients right from the start to aid this process.
- Do keep the soil moist as mentioned above.
- Do check the temperature trends in your area. Since broccoli is so finicky about temps, you’ll want to make sure that the plants so all their growing between 65 and 80 degrees.
- Do cut far down into the stalk when harvesting. This will prompt the remaining nodes to send out better and faster subsequent heads.
- Do soak harvested broccoli in warm water with some white vinegar added. This will make sure to kill any little “friends” that have hidden in the florets.
- Do freeze any broccoli that you aren’t able to eat the day it is harvested. Blanch the broccoli, then submerse in cold water. Cut into bite sized pieces and freeze separately on a tray or baking sheet. Then, put the frozen pieces in a bag for storage. This way, you can grab small or large portions easily – not everything is frozen solid together.
My broccoli was growing really well. Then, it stalled after the heads had gotten about half as big as they should. I went out there to check them and they were discoloring on the top and one had a little flower growing out of the top. After my research, I realized I had planted my “cool crop” veggie too late. I planted in early March. Since Florida has two growing seasons, I’ll try planting after the heat of summer passes in late October.
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