For those who have already planted cauliflower in their garden, growing broccoli in open ground will not be a very difficult task. Exactly according to the same principle, you should choose a well-lit area during daylight hours, with low soil acidity, and planting and care will please you with the absence of a large number of nuances and secrets. In order to grow broccoli in central Russia, it is not necessary to pile up greenhouses in the fall - harvesting, without losing its quality, can take place at temperatures down to -5 0WITH.
Peculiarities of growing broccoli include the length of the vegetative process - the plant’s yield does not end with the removal of the main fruit inflorescence. Before the time for final maturity comes for cabbage, small but fully formed inflorescences manage to form on the stepsons.
Growing broccoli in a greenhouse is not much different from growing broccoli in open ground, so this article will not address this topic separately. We will discuss the agricultural technology of growing broccoli from the moment of choosing the right seeds to the conditions for proper storage of broccoli at home.
How to choose seeds for planting
The rules for growing this cruciferous vegetable allow you to use both purchased seed material and those collected from your garden during the harvest of the last broccoli harvest. Growing from seeds purchased in a store does not exclude the possibility of seedling diseases later, so it is necessary to treat them in the same way as seeds from your own garden bed.
In total, breeders call about two hundred types of broccoli cabbage, the cultivation and care of which is possible in the central zone of our country. In other words, in order to optimize the choice and settle on one or two suitable varieties, you need to clearly understand what planting time suits you, whether the broccoli will be planted in open ground or indoors, sown with seeds or after the seedlings reach a certain maturity.
The first stage of systematization is the division of cruciferous varieties into ripening periods:
- An early ripening vegetable grows until the head is fully ripened in 65 to 90 days. Seeds are sown in seedling boxes on March 7-15, and transplanted into the ground 40-45 days later.Early ripening broccoli from the garden is not recommended to be canned or subjected to complex processing - it is ideal for eating raw. Among the best varieties are called Tonus, Lord, Monaco;
- The characteristics of mid-ripening cabbage, compared to early-ripening cabbage, are more optimistic - this variety can already be pickled, but from the moment of sowing to harvesting you will have to wait 110-130 days. It is often necessary to harvest mid-season broccoli cabbage after the first frost on the soil. There are varieties Gnome and Fortuna;
- Late ripening cabbage is planted in the second half of May, on thoroughly warmed soils. Grown cabbage is usually harvested at 145-150 days, and the shelf life of this species is simply incredible - about six months. Varieties that fall under this description are Marathon, Agassi.
In addition to the simplest division according to the ripening period of broccoli, the characteristics of cultivation also depend on whether the seeds were processed in a factory before going on sale. Among the inscriptions on the packaging indicating this fact, you can read three types of clarification:
- Ordinary - that is, requiring processing;
- Instructed – protected by a special polymer layer;
- Dried seeds are large, artificially rounded and seemingly encapsulated seeds.
The latter type of seeds greatly simplifies the care of broccoli during the germination period.
Ordinary seeds can rarely be introduced into a hole one by one due to their small size, and subsequently, broccoli in the garden or in a seedling box has to be thinned out. Coated granules eliminate this inconvenience due to their convenient shape, and they do not require a replanting stage, since they are introduced directly into open ground.Growing and caring for broccoli does not depend on the type of seeds, as long as all instructions for planting broccoli are followed.
How to prepare seeds
How to grow broccoli from ordinary planting material? It is dangerous to plant untreated seeds immediately - most likely, the grains will die from fungus or pest activity, and they also need to be hardened and stimulated. The actions of a competent gardener can be arranged according to the following algorithm:
- Initial sorting, soaking in pale pink potassium permanganate and washing twice - after bathing in a manganese solution, the seeds may turn red - this is not a problem;
- Contrast bathing: first, the seeds are immersed in hot water for 20 minutes (50 0C) water, then, for 5 minutes - very cold. After this, the seeds in a saucer with water are placed in the refrigerator, where they are kept for 8-12 hours;
- After hardening, future broccoli is prevented from pests. The seeds are soaked in one of the solutions, the dilution of which must correspond to the instructions attached to the preparation. These are: “Epin”, “Albit”, “Agat-25”.
Gardeners who deny chemistry in growing vegetables, possible cabbage diseases prevented without the use of purchased products - for example, by keeping the seeds for 24 hours in the juice of medicinal aloe vera.
How to grow seedlings
How to grow broccoli from seedlings? There are two options - at home and in a greenhouse. The second option (greenhouse planting) is more optimal, since you can get much more plants, and they will be much better prepared for environmental factors than “homemade” kids.Seeds are planted in the soil from the 20th of April to the first half of May, and after a month most of the seedlings have 6 leaves, which means they are ready to be transplanted to a permanent place. Most often, this method is used for mid-season varieties.
Before planting broccoli at home, you need to prepare a box filled with soil to a depth of at least 25 cm. The soil should be loose, breathable, sprinkled on a thick layer of drainage. How to plant seeds? - into grooves spilled with water or individual holes, also moistened. The main thing is that the distance between the grains is at least 3 cm.
The temperature until germination is maintained within 18-21 0C, after green appears 10-13 0C. Air humidity should be constant, at least 60%.
Is it necessary to do a pick? - obligatory, and in disposable cups or peat pots. After the procedure, the plants are given several days to get used to the new state and then fed with gentle liquid fertilizers, which include boron.
The vegetable is transplanted into the ground when the leaves become stronger and there are at least five of them. This happens approximately 37-43 days after planting the seeds.
Planting broccoli in open ground
The preparation of the bed for seedlings is taken care of in advance and, first of all, by measuring the acidity of the soil and reducing it as much as possible if the test result is positive. The optimal pH level for cabbage to grow without pathologies is from 6.7 to 7.4 units. Over-acidified soils are one of the main reasons why cabbage growth stops and leaves turn red or yellow.
It is advisable that the seedlings be planted in open ground in the evening, maintaining a distance of 30 cm between sprouts and 50 cm between rows. Fertilizer with mineral substances is applied to each hole before the seedling appears there; then the plant is covered with earth without touching the lower leaves. It is necessary to prepare a film so that in case of frost, you can immediately cover the beds.
In the first two weeks after planting, broccoli cabbage increases sensitivity to cold and even at a temperature of -1 0The plant suffers and dies.
If planting is done by seeds, then special microclimatic conditions should be created in which the sprout will be comfortable. An optimal microclimate is achieved using a plastic bottle with the bottom cut off, which is immersed with the cut into the soil, thus enclosing each seed. Further watering and, if necessary, treatment of plants, as well as feeding broccoli, occur through the bottleneck. Remove the protection after the formation of the third leaf on the seedling.
If there is accidentally more than one sprout in one hole, the extra stems will have to be removed. You cannot pull the plant out of the ground, since the root system of the “extra” seedling will pull the desired sprout with it - we pinch off the weak sprouts, leaving the strongest ones.
Caring for seedlings in open ground
How to grow broccoli? There are no new procedures for how to grow this crop - the cabbage will need to be hilled several times, periodically loosened the soil 6-8 cm deep, watered and, which is not necessary for cauliflower and cabbage crops and important for broccoli - irrigated frequently in hot weather leaves and inflorescences of the vegetable from a spray bottle.
In fact, generous spraying can replace 70% of all watering - with this method of moistening the soil, loosening will be needed much less often, and water consumption will be less. This can be done daily, on cloudy, rainless days - once every 36 hours.
Feeding vegetables with manure is possible only after diluting the latter to a slurry state. If you do not maintain a dilution concentration of at least 1:4, then almost immediately you will notice burn symptoms on the cabbage leaf. It is better to make the first two feedings with a solution of mullein (on the 13-14th day from planting) and nitrophosphate (4 teaspoons), diluted with 2 grams of boron in a bucket of water - this is done already when the head is formed. The specified amount of liquid is distributed over 5 bushes.
The last fertilizer is applied in August, and the largest bushes are given exactly the same amount of fertilizing water as the weakened ones. Dilute in a bucket of water: 0.04 kg of superphosphate, 0.02 kg of saltpeter, 0.01 kg of potassium sulfate.
How often you need to hill up cabbage depends on the levelness of the bed, the looseness of the soil and the method of watering. Before the first procedure, the lower leaves can be completely removed to prevent them from rotting, but otherwise the owner independently determines the need and frequency of strengthening the stem. With drip irrigation, for example, the soil collected around the stem does not wash away for a very long time, but when watering with a hose, the roots are quickly exposed and the cabbage often has to be treated for pests that quickly invade the base of the plant.
And finally, it is very important - is it necessary to remove the stepsons and carry out the so-called “stepsons” procedure on the vegetable? We explain - the third feeding is carried out at a time when the broccoli is planned to be harvested in just a couple of days.This is done in order to activate the growth of small cabbage inflorescences on the lateral shoots, and therefore, it is simply illogical to tear off the stepsons of broccoli.
Of course, it won’t be possible to harvest the same harvest a second time, but why not allow the vegetable to grow further if the taste of the small inflorescences is no worse than the main ones?
When to harvest broccoli depends on the choice of variety and, accordingly, the planting period. The latest varieties are harvested after frost. They are also the most resistant to storage. Early species are completely unsuitable for these purposes - after 10-15 days of lying down, the inflorescences will begin to rot, so it is better to sprinkle them with water immediately after collection and freeze them.
Heads of cabbage collected in the intermediate autumn period - at the end of September, beginning of October - may well remain in the refrigerator until the New Year. For gardeners who love to grow this easy-to-care vegetable, it is better to master different types of preservation - and then tasty and healthy broccoli will delight you all year round.
