When do i pick my broccoli

Avoid using sawing motions or cutting with multiple hits, which can decrease your broccoli harvest. Cut below the heads at a slant.

Cutting at an angle will allow any moisture to slide down the side, whereas cutting flat causes water to pool on top and rot the center. Remember the side shoots. Trim these at an angle, too, using either your knife or a pair of sharp clippers. More, smaller side shoots will grow over the next 2 to 4 weeks. Collect your broccoli harvest. Bring a bucket, basket, or bowl to collect your broccoli in after you have picked it. This will help keep your picking organized and allow easy storage later on.

Throw away any any broccoli that has gone bad. Broccoli heads that smell pungent, is a vivid yellow color, or feels limp to the touch may have rotted before picking. Part 3. Don't harvest your entire broccoli plant at once. If you harvest all the heads and pull your plant at the same day, you will not get the most out of your plant. If you cut at an angle, your plant will grow more side shoots within a few days.

Because fresh broccoli needs to be eaten within a small window, you may want to harvest over the course of a week rather than all at once. Preferably, plan on harvesting before your plant shows yellow streaks. If it already has, harvest as much as you can immediately but check the stalks in several days for more shoots. Picking over several days can seem inconvenient, but you are less likely to waste your harvest.

Re-pick several days to a week later. Two to 4 days later, you may notice 1 or 2 smaller heads growing where you cut the first heads.

If you do not see any additional shoots, the first harvest may have caused too much damage to the plant. After a week of no shoot growth, pull the plant and compost it. This process should continue over the next few weeks, with the heads becoming smaller and smaller each time, until the end of broccoli harvesting season for your climate. Store your broccoli indoors. Wash and dry your broccoli before storing to remove any dirt or potential insects.

Store your broccoli in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Blanch or freeze your broccoli if you plan to use it later, as it will wilt after a week. Because your refrigerator is dry, put your broccoli in a perforated plastic bag in your crisper.

Frozen broccoli can be stored in your freezer for up to a year. If you had a heavy broccoli harvest and cannot use all your broccoli in a weak, freezing is your best option for long-term usage. Pull your broccoli plant and put it in the compost. After the first frosts in your area occur, pull your broccoli plant before it begins to rot. Make sure you pull the broccoli plant from the roots to ensure it has been fully removed.

If you have created a compost pile , you can add the broccoli plant to the pile with other carbon- and nitrogen-rich materials such as leaves, egg shells, coffee grounds, and grass clippings.

You can then mix or layer it into your garden when planting later for richer soil. Did you know you can get expert answers for this article? Unlock expert answers by supporting wikiHow.

Lauren Kurtz Professional Gardener. Lauren Kurtz. The leaves are healthy and I have mulched the plant How do I get them to produce the broccoli head. Most broccoli plants produce heads in cool weather; only a few produce in temps over 85F.

Additionally, the folks at the Missouri Cooperative Extension Service suggest that broccoli that is planted too late in the spring will experience heat stress and flower early. Transplanting an oversized transplant will often result in premature flowering.

Other causes of early flowering include nitrogen stress too little or overhardening. I live in Upstate NY, Zone 5. Since then the weather has gotten quite warm, degrees for several days. I have left the plants in the garden - is there a chance I will get side shoots once the weather cools off?

The plants don't look stressed or have pests. I have in the past, gotten a-lot of side shoots as late into November, but I don't remember having the plant being "dormant" no shoots for so long. Appreciate your insight. Perhaps it depends on the weather. Broccoli is a cool-season crop, after all. We planted seeds after last frost. We have greens that have come up but no green heads.

What went wrong? I live in Ontario Canada and have the same problem. Leaves only after 8 weeks and taller than tomato plants. I had to pull them out so tomatoes get their share of the sun.

First time trying to grow Broccoli. I also planted from seed. Not all plants, even those in the same family, grow at the same pace. My broccoli plants have gotten about 18" in height but haven't gotten a head on them. Any ideas? Broccoli likes to be kept cool.

Or, is it too cold? Another reason for lack of heading is a lack of nutrients or water. Is your soil nutrient-rich? Spread some some nitrogen such as fish emulsion. Another issue can be watering. Water the broccoli plants deeply and infrequently, about 1 to 2 inches of water per week.

I have planted my seeds in a burpee starter container 4 days ago and they have sprouted, if I wait weeks before transplanting them outside after hardening them it will be around June 3rd here in Massachusetts our last frost is around the first week of May. I don't want to transplant them in June if that's bad timing and they won't grow. Thank you! Read the information above, Franciele. Broccoli likes cool weather. Conditions in different parts of Massachusetts as anywhere can vary widely.

While we do not write seed packet directions, that time range is suggested to give the grower a wide window of opportunity to get seed started. Ideally, you should have started the seeds six to eight weeks before the first week of May.

I have killed indoor plants, so I never thought I would be able to maintain a vegetable garden. For the past 4 years, with the help of your site, tips and the email sowing reminders, I have a garden and am able to provide fresh, pesticide free vegetables to my family, neighbors and others!

Thank you to the people who maintain this site. This year we add broccoli! I live in Amarillo texas. Hyde Hall Essex. Rosemoor Devon. Wisley Surrey. Bridgewater Greater Manchester. Environmentally friendly gardening. Plant health. Take part in our research. Meet the team. Shop plants rhsplants.

Shopping with the RHS. RHS Christmas gifts. Help us achieve our goals Make a donation. Join the RHS today and support our charity Join now. Save to My scrapbook. Jobs to do now. Sow Sow indoors Seeds are generally sown between March and June. Broccoli is somewhat of a factory plant like kale and collards, which keep producing all season long.

We inevitably let our broccoli go to flower every year to keep the pollinator population happy. Cut the center head with a sharp knife of pruning shears below the top sets of leaves. That will encourage side shoots to form. Store your harvest in plastic bags in the crisper, or in glass lock-lid containers in the fridge. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Skip to content. Rosalind broccoli ready to harvest.