vegetable

Broccoli

Two harvests from one plant. Cut the central head at two to three months, leave the plant in, and the side shoots keep coming for weeks after.

Broccoli seedling
Seedling
Mature Broccoli
Ready to pick
Thrives
10–21°C
Water
High
Difficulty
Intermediate
Ready in
60–90  days
Spacing
40cm apart
Containers
Yes

How to plant it

  • Plant 35 to 50cm apart. It gets big, and crowded broccoli makes small heads.
  • Add compost and lime before planting. The lime is what keeps club root out of your brassicas.
  • Rotate it. Do not plant broccoli where you grew cauliflower, kale or cabbage last season.
  • Keep it moist always. Broccoli that gets interrupted buttons up into small heads and never recovers.
  • Cut the central head while the beads are still tight and green. Leave the plant in and the side shoots give you a second run.