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Container Gardening

Weird broccoli situation?

15 years ago

Just wondering if this is odd or not:

Way back in March I planted some organic broccoli seeds in small pots and kept them indoors in a sunny room. This was mostly just a fun experiment.

After about a month I transplanted them into a large tub container and decided to leave them indoors after being warned by a friend about aphids.

The plants grew steadily- crazily- until they were about 30" high. Friends joked that this monster broccoli plant would one day devour me, leaving nothing but my shoes bbehind as evidence. No crowns had sprouted. Some told me that they needed to be outdoors to be pollinated, others said they were self-pollinating. I left them where they were and just enjoyed the greenery.

Then about 10 days ago, at the top of the tallest stem, a crown began to form. Now it's maybe 2" in diameter and getting bigger, and a second crown is forming on another stem.

Is this unusual? I'm just wondering what caused the crowns to appear now. Everyone I know is shocked, and no one can explain it.

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Thanks!

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Comments (2)

justaguy2
15 years ago
Broccoli is a cool season plant that requires zero pollination.

It grows vegetatively and only flowers after it is no longer useful for culinary purposes. The head that is now forming will start to loosen and then flower if left too long before harvesting. It is at this point pollination enters the equation. Since we aren't growing it for flowers or seeds we harvest before it forms flowers.

Why did your plant grow to 30" tall indoors? I suspect lack of adequate light. Plants that get enough light to survive, but not enough to grow 'normally' often grow tall and lanky and take forever to do their business of making us food.

Congrats that you are now getting something to harvest, but watch those heads closely. Right now each part is tight together and looks like one head, but look closer and you will see there are really hundreds of 'sprouts' tightly compressed that make up that head. As the space between those sprouts starts to increase it is over. They will loosen a bit more and then flower and their culinary value is done.

Harvest them at whatever size they are at once the individual sprouts begin to space out and before they flower.
bluezephyr
Original Author
15 years ago
justaguy2,

Thanks so much for all the great information. This is very interesting and exactly what I was trying to understand, and I'll follow your advice about watching the individual sprouts.

I think you nailed it too regarding the lack of light causing the abnormal growth. It only gets a couple hours sun in the morning and maybe an hour more in the late afternoon.

I really appreciate this. Next time I'll have a better idea how to go about this. Cheers!
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