I have a broccoli that suddenly became limp and discolored. I could see no evidence of bug activity and the heart of the plant does seem to be recovering. Also, its neighbors seem to be doing just fine. Any ideas?? Sick Broccoli?? Needs a little tlc. ( photo / image / picture from Cassandra_f86's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Cassandra_f86's Garden )
I've been having problems with mine too. The heads are very very small and are staring to turn yellow and not be a tight clump. Is it bolting? Anyone have any ideas as to why this is happening? If I cut the heads off will new ones grow in it's place?
What a curious problem, Cassandra. It really makes me wonder if there is something under the plant. It looks like that first plant is growing in a black plastic pot. is that correct? If so, is it getting enough water?...or for that matter, too much, possibly. My first thought was a rodent under that plant, but if it is in a plastic pot, that wouldn't be likely. There is a disease called, "Clubroot" which can affect Brassicas. I suppose that this could be a problem, although when I have had it, my plants were much older before the signs began to appear. Still...this can't be ruled/out without looking. Fusarium soil fungus is another possible culprit. Sometimes leaves will wilt because the weather starts getting quite hot and the roots cannot take-up enough moisture from the soil to replace the moisture loss during transpiration. It is also possible that the roots have not developed adequately and possible, for one reason or another, may have died off. If this is the case, then even though the soil surrounding the plant may get enough water, the roots are not adequate to take up enough due to their small state. In this case, the leaves would show their unhappiness to this situation by wilting or drooping, and even becoming discoloured (after a prolonged period of time). It seems that you really have a lot packed into that one raised bed, Cassandra. I wounder if there is enough nourishment and moisture to support all of those. Frugal--I wonder if your problem is the same as Cassandra's. It sounds more like purely a heat and hydration thing with yours. Your description of the appearance of the 'heads' seem to indicate that they are indeed preparing to bolt. About all you can do to prevent this is to keep them well-hydrated. The heart, you cannot control so much--perhaps some sort of make-shift shading. But the most common causes of shooting is dryness and heat. There are several types of broccoli and calabrese. I don't know what type you have planted there. The folks that planted calabrese back in the spring are harvesting their heads now (here). There are other types that one plants later to be harvested in the winter, or even in the following early springtime. The broccoli that I planted this year is what is known as "purple sprouting broccoli". There is the type that you harvest during the summer, but the most common type is meant to be harvested during the winter or early spring. The purple sprouting broccoli sends up a number of florets (small), not one large head made-up of tightly compacted florets. Now, if you cut these off, the plant will send up more, to a point. If you lop off the head of a calabrese, usually it will not send up another large head ro replace it. Sometimes it will send up a couple of florets though. As I said, I do not know what kind of broccoli or calabrese that you have, so it can not be said if your plant would send up more florets or not. You could not expect to get another large head though, if you remove the present one in either case.
Coppice: I gave it a tug and other than the stem being a bit deformed, it was firmly in place. Sjoerd: my boxes are 5x8ft and this year I tried square foot gardening so there does seem to be quite a bit growing. However, I have kept to the square foot rules about types and amounts to plant per square foot...although it seems that those rules are not absolute as you can see! All the plants are in the same soil but I have put old grass clippings around the base of the bigger plants to act as a mulch. Also, I made sure that the soil was nice and rich with nutrients before planting since this type of gardening is intense. Also I have drip irrigation on a timer running along the base of the plants. One thing I did not mention earlier that may make a difference: Until very recently I have been keeping a plastic cover over the boxes (thus the hoops) in an attempt to keep cabbage butterflies off the plants if I can. Could it simply have gotten too hot??
I would say that the plastic (if it had no holes in it) could have something to do with the appearance; however, only the one brassica was affected. That is odd. I keep my broccoli covered all the time, but it is with enviromesh--that lets air in but the holes are too tiny for most insects to creep through.
So I cut the heads off all 4 of my broccoli. (they all DID bolt!) Should I removed the entire plant now throw it in the compost and call it a day, or leave it there and see if it forms new heads?
Hi Frugal. I would throw it onto the compost heap...but that's only because I have already tried this many times (in several growing seasons) and have had very little success. Sometimes they sent up some small florets from in-between leaves and stems, but not enough for me to justify letting the broccoli occupy the ground and thus preventing me from using that ground for some other plant. If you have not grown broccoli often, you might want to try and let the plants stand and see if they will send up some small florets--then evaluate for yourself if there are enough and if they are large enough to warrant keeping that patch of ground in use with a flagging crop. Good luck, Frugal. p.s. Should you decide to leave the plant(s) where they are and experiment...be sure to give them plenty of water and keep the ground surrouding the plants weed-free.
Healthy Broccoli picture update Green Goliath ( photo / image / picture from Cassandra_f86's Garden ) The healthy Broccoli plant seen in my earlier picture has resulted in this baby!
After you cut the main head don`t pull up the plant. It will continue producing side shoots for a month or two. Just pick the tiny shoots and cook them. It will just look like 1 floret.
Lovely to see that clalbrese head! That ought to make a couple of meals for you. Will you eat some fresh and freeze the rest? Well, done, you!
Sjoerd: I did enjoy part of it fresh/uncooked (as I blanched the remaining part for freezing!). Simply does not compare to store bought.
