Broccoli: types, planting and care

For many gardeners, broccoli is especially popular. This is a very useful culture, which contains in its composition a huge amount of various vitamins. Broccoli is an unpretentious plant, so absolutely everyone can grow it in their garden.

Broccoli belongs to the cabbage family and resembles cauliflower. She looks quite appetizing. This plant is native to southern Italy. The taste of asparagus cabbage (this is its second name) is very delicate, slightly spicy. The culture is perfectly absorbed by the body and belongs to dietary products. Asparagus cabbage is unpretentious, it can be grown both in the garden or in the greenhouse, and at home. The culture is quite versatile, you can cook a huge number of different dishes from it: soups, side dishes, it is used as a filling for pies and so on. In addition, broccoli is great for canning.

This plant contains many vitamins and mineral salts. Thanks to this composition, broccoli is a natural multivitamin.

The culture has a huge number of useful properties and is used as a remedy for kidney disease, helps to remove various harmful substances from the body.The plant cannot cause harm, only if a person does not have an allergy.

Broccoli is a plant with narrow leaves. The inflorescences of the culture are eaten, which consist of many buds on delicate stems. The color of the inflorescences, depending on the variety, can be white, green, purple, blue.

Two varieties of asparagus are ideal for growing on a balcony and loggia:

• "Vitamin". Heat-resistant, high-yielding, mid-ripening litter. The plant reaches 90 centimeters in height. The weight of the inflorescence is about 300 grams. Technical ripeness of the plant occurs after 120 days after sowing.

• "Tone". Productive early ripe variety with large inflorescences weighing about 200 grams. Technical ripeness of the plant occurs on the 90th day after planting.

In recent years, a special register of breeders' achievements has been compiled. The leading places in this document are occupied by five varieties of asparagus cabbage:

• Mid-season grade "F1 Fiesta" from Dutch breeders. Technical characteristics: increased resistance to adverse weather conditions and diseases, long blue-green leaves, practically does not form stepchildren. The yield of this crop is about 3.5 kilograms per square meter.

• Early ripe variety "Tonus" from Russian breeders with small bluish leaves.The inflorescences of this plant have a dark green color, the weight of the fruit is about two hundred grams.
• Late-ripening variety "Continental" from Dutch leading breeders. A distinctive feature of this variety is its high yield - about 2.5 kilograms per square meter, and a large head weighing about 600 grams.
• Mid-season variety "Linda" from Czech breeders. The leaves of the plant are gray-green in color, elliptical in shape. The crop yield is up to 4 kilograms per square meter.
• Mid-season variety of asparagus cabbage "F1 Arcadia" differs from Japanese breeders by increased resistance to low temperatures, has medium-sized blue leaves.

Among the popular varieties, one can also distinguish "Marathon" and "Tonus".

Broccoli seedlings should be planted in mid-May. The optimal time of day for planting asparagus seedlings is early morning on cloudy rainy days. The distance between individual plants should be at least 35 centimeters, between rows - about 55 centimeters.

Before planting broccoli seedlings, it is necessary to prepare the soil and containers, dig holes in advance. Each hole should be thoroughly moistened and put a little fertilizer into it. Then it is necessary to thoroughly mix the fertilizer directly in the hole with a small amount of soil.

Next, seedlings should be carefully placed in the prepared pits and covered with a small amount of earth. To protect seedlings from frost, it is necessary to provide additional protection for plants. It is enough to use ordinary glass jars.

The most popular and widespread cultivation of broccoli seedlings according to a certain scheme. This option is rather time-consuming and painstaking, however, it can significantly reduce the ripening time for vegetables.

Strong seedlings can be grown both in a greenhouse and at home. To do this, you must first prepare the seeds. They need to be placed for some time in warm water, the temperature of which should be about 50 degrees. To disinfect planting material in water, you need to dissolve a small amount of potassium permanganate, but you can do without the use of this substance. After 20 minutes, you need to remove the seeds and move them to a container with cool water. After one minute, they are taken out and subjected to treatment with special means aimed at stimulating the growth and development of the plant.

Then you need to prepare the soil for planting seed. To do this, you can use the usual garden soil with the addition of ash. This will help provide the seedlings with nutrients and significantly reduce the acidity of the soil.

Seeds before planting are recommended to soak and germinate on a cloth or paper towel. To do this, the base should be thoroughly moistened and the prepared seed should be placed on it. Then the seeds need to be covered with a plastic bag. After two days, germinated seeds can be transplanted into separate containers.With this method of planting, diving and thinning of seedlings is not required.

You can plant plants in a common container, leaving a distance of about 5 centimeters between them, or in separate pots. The optimum air temperature for growing seedlings is about 20 degrees. Caring for asparagus cabbage consists in periodically moistening and loosening the soil around the plants, timely application of root dressing, treatment from various harmful insects and diseases.

Planting broccoli seedlings in open ground is recommended on the 35th day after emergence. By this time, as a rule, seedlings have five full leaves. With appropriate care and compliance with all the rules of agricultural technology, the plants become strong by the time of planting, with a powerful root system.

Broccoli belongs to cold-resistant crops - the plant perfectly withstands small frosts down to -7 degrees Celsius. Therefore, you can plant seed immediately in open ground. To do this, after sowing the seeds, it is necessary to cover the ridges with a special covering material or plastic wrap. This will help ensure greenhouse conditions and protect seedlings from various pests. Shelter should be removed after the seedlings are fully established.

Sowing seeds is recommended to be carried out in the first decade of April. Around mid-May, the seedlings will be ready for transplanting. This method allows you to grow hardened seedlings that take root perfectly in outdoor conditions. At the end of summer, you can harvest the first crop, until October additional inflorescences will grow on the plant.

To get a good harvest, you need to choose the right place for planting the plant. Broccoli does not like too much sun, so you should choose a slightly darkened place for planting it.

Despite the fact that broccoli is quite unpretentious, it is necessary to observe the correct crop rotation when growing it. This will help you get a good harvest. You should not place the crop in the beds where plants belonging to the cruciferous family were grown last season.

In autumn, you should prepare a site previously planned for growing asparagus. It is carefully dug up, fertilized. For optimal growth and development of the plant, as well as the fruiting of the crop, not only organic, but also mineral fertilizers should be applied.

It’s not scary if you didn’t manage to prepare the beds in the fall. All the necessary substances the plant will be able to get in the form of timely top dressing. Broccoli should be planted in deep holes. The holes must be well watered before planting. The optimal distance between plants should be 40 cm, between rows - about 60 centimeters.

In each hole, you first need to add a little ash and humus or compost. Only after that seedlings are planted in the holes. It is not recommended to expose the roots of the plant, so the seedling must be removed from the container or from the greenhouse with a small clod of earth.

It greatly facilitates the care of the crop by mulching the soil under it. Mulch helps retain moisture, helps protect seedlings from the hot sun, and helps prevent weeds. To avoid the death of young seedlings, it is necessary to provide reliable protection of seedlings from the scorching sun. For this purpose, old buckets and coniferous spruce branches are perfect. Shelter should be left for about a week, during which time the seedlings will have time to take root well.

Culture is easy to care for. It is enough to perform a number of simple manipulations that are known to any vegetable grower. It is necessary to water in a timely manner, fertilize, remove weeds, carefully loosen the soil, hill seedlings.

There are several simple secrets to high yields of broccoli:

• frequent and abundant watering;
• timely application of all necessary fertilizers;
• watering should be done in the evening, after the heat subsides;
• in the process of formation and development of inflorescences, soil moistening should be repeated once every two days;
• in hot, dry weather, it is necessary to moisten the soil abundantly in the early morning before the heat and in the late evening after sunset.

The rest of the time, broccoli should be watered once every seven days. Humidification should be plentiful, while it is necessary that the soil is saturated by at least 15 centimeters.

For planting asparagus cabbage in a greenhouse, seedlings are used, and seeds are sometimes sown directly into the ground. In this case, it is necessary to pay special attention to the landing rules:

• Sowing seeds is carried out from the beginning of May to the last days of June.
• Using the seedling method of growing broccoli in a greenhouse, sowing seeds should be done about forty-five days before a certain date for planting seedlings in a permanent place. For this, early varieties are used.

Caring for planting in a greenhouse will not cause much difficulty. It is enough to cultivate the soil in a timely manner: moisten, loosen, fertilize. In this case, a certain humidity and temperature regime should be observed in the greenhouse.

The initial feeding of broccoli is carried out fourteen days after planting the seedlings in the greenhouse. To do this, use organic fertilizers.

Very often, asparagus seedlings are grown at home right on the windowsills. Approximately 30-40 days before planting seedlings in a permanent place, the seed is sown in special containers, observing a certain distance.

The air temperature in the room should be about twenty degrees. On the sixth day after germination, it must be reduced to fifteen degrees. Then the temperature is again raised to 25 degrees. The picking of seedlings should be done during the period of cotyledon leaves.

In the third decade of April, seedlings are planted on loggias and balconies. In this case, it is necessary to provide additional protection of broccoli from low temperatures. During this period, the plants should have six true leaves. With proper care, seedlings will be strong, strong with a powerful root system.

Seedlings are transplanted into separate special containers with a diameter of at least forty centimeters or large boxes with prepared soil. Drainage is laid out at the bottom of the containers. Next, pots with seedlings are placed on pallets, into which water is regularly added. This is due to the fact that the culture prefers moist soils. In addition, the humidity in the room should be about 80%.

In the process of growing asparagus cabbage, regular care should be carried out: watering, loosening the soil, top dressing.

Harvesting begins when the central head reaches seven centimeters in diameter. This will speed up the formation of additional side shoots. Harvesting should be done early in the morning or late in the evening. At this time of day, the content of nutrients in the plant is maximum.

Harvesting asparagus cabbage has its own nuances. We must not forget that this vegetable must be harvested before the flowers open. Therefore, you need to carefully look after the cabbage.

Experienced vegetable growers note several important signs that will tell you that broccoli is ready for harvest:

• mature plants have heads of cabbage with a diameter of about 14 centimeters;
• the color of the head of asparagus cabbage with fully closed buds is dark green.

If the buds of the vegetable began to turn yellow, it is urgent to start harvesting, otherwise it threatens to lose all the useful substances and taste of broccoli.

From the moment of emergence of seedlings to the harvest of the first harvest, it takes about two months. At the same time, the collection continues until almost mid-September. It is necessary to have time to harvest the entire crop before the first frost.

It is very important to remember that you need to harvest broccoli while the head is green. The vegetable overripes quickly and for this broccoli will need only a couple of days, so you should pay maximum attention to it at this time. If the moment is missed, the head of cabbage will be covered with small buds, which will very quickly turn into flowers. This vegetable is strictly not recommended for consumption.

The collection of asparagus begins with the removal of the main stem with a sharp knife. By the time of maturation, it reaches a length of ten centimeters. Then you can start cleaning additional inflorescences located on the stepchildren.

Harvested in the middle of autumn, asparagus inflorescences can be stored in a cool place for about three months. It is enough to put them in the refrigerator or basement. However, even after broccoli has been removed from the ground, it grows and is able to form new buds. Therefore, it is possible to remove bushes of asparagus from the soil directly with roots and place on the surface of the ridge.After about thirty days, the last inflorescences will appear, which can be cut.

At the moment, broccoli is not widely used among amateur vegetable growers, but special attention should be paid to this plant. In terms of the content of nutrients, broccoli ranks among the leaders, it is very beneficial for human health, you can quickly and easily cook many delicious dishes from it.

Caring for broccoli is easy. You can grow this vegetable not only in the garden, but also at home, on the window, balcony or loggia. This will allow you to get the most useful inflorescences throughout the year.

Asparagus cabbage is practically not afraid of frost, it is very rarely attacked by pests, and it tolerates high humidity very well. Therefore, in order to grow tasty and healthy inflorescences, it is only necessary to moisten the soil in a timely manner and apply top dressing.

There are many different ways to store asparagus, both fresh and subjected to various treatments.

To keep broccoli fresh for seven days, you should use a very unusual, but, as practice has shown, very effective way - to make a bouquet.

It is necessary to take the head of asparagus cabbage, lower the stem into a container prepared in advance with clean water. In this case, the broccoli florets should remain outside the container. Next, you should move the resulting "bouquet" to a cool place. You can use the refrigerator or cellar.

You can put a regular plastic bag on the “bouquet”, which will help to better preserve the broccoli. You should first make several holes in it for free access to fresh air.In addition, it is necessary to change the water in the tank every day.

Also, the asparagus inflorescence should be loosely wrapped in a slightly damp towel. This method is used in various specialized retail premises for fresh storage of vegetables. The broccoli head should be slightly moistened with a spray bottle, then the inflorescence should be wrapped in a towel. It will absorb moisture. Next, place the broccoli in a cool place. This method will help keep asparagus fresh for three days.

Do not wrap the inflorescence too tightly and store it in a hermetically sealed container. For optimal storage of broccoli, it is necessary to provide free access to air.

Another very simple and quick way to store cabbage is to use a regular plastic bag. The head of asparagus must be put in a bag, make several holes in it. This will help provide air access. Then you need to put the inflorescence in a cool place.

It is necessary to remember a few important rules that will help keep broccoli fresh. To begin with, you should remember that the cabbage grown on your site must be thoroughly washed and dried before being stored. This is important, since the inflorescences contain various bacteria that can cause mold to grow on cabbage. Asparagus purchased at a retail outlet is not recommended to be washed, as it has already been processed.

The above methods will help keep broccoli fresh for a short period of time. However, if the asparagus crop was rich enough, the inflorescences should be frozen. This will help to keep a useful product for a long time. Frozen asparagus can be stored for up to a year. This is very convenient, since you can not be afraid for the safety of the inflorescences and there will be a lot of time to use broccoli.

You can freeze cabbage for the winter in several ways and this happens in several stages.

• First you need to subject the inflorescences to a special treatment. It is necessary to prepare two large containers with boiling and cold water.
• Next, you should cut the head of asparagus cabbage into small pieces with a sharp knife. The diameter of such parts should not exceed three centimeters. This is an important point, since during processing it is necessary that the resulting parts of the head be treated with boiling water as efficiently as possible. You can divide the inflorescence into small separate parts by hand. It is quite simple, just pull it in opposite directions at the same time. Thus, you get a small bouquet on a small stem.
• After the asparagus inflorescence has been divided into small parts, you need to place them in a container of boiling water. For better processing, it is recommended to stir them periodically. After a maximum of three minutes, it is necessary to remove the cabbage from boiling water.

• After removing the asparagus from a container of boiling water, place it for some time in a special colander or sieve. This is necessary in order to glass the boiling water. Next, you should immediately place the inflorescences in cold water. Stir occasionally to cool the cabbage. This will take approximately three minutes. Stirring will help cool all the inflorescences evenly.
• Ice water contributes to the rapid cooling of cabbage, thereby stopping the effect of boiling water. The inflorescence with this method of heat treatment retains a maximum of useful substances and taste, while remaining crisp. This is due to rapid cooling. When cabbage is placed in the freezer after treatment in boiling water, the effect will not be achieved, since the cooling time will be much longer. In cold water, the inflorescences should stay no more than three minutes.
• After thorough cooling, the broccoli should be thrown into a special sieve or colander. In a short period of time, all the water will drain from the cabbage. To do this, you need to shake it periodically. After a couple of minutes, the asparagus should be moved to a paper towel to get rid of excess moisture.
• After completing all the manipulations, you need to place the cabbage in special hermetically sealed bags. On each package should be written the exact date of storage of broccoli.

Then the air must be removed from the bag and sealed tightly. Next, move the cabbage to the freezer for storage. After asparagus cabbage freezes, long storage is guaranteed throughout the year.

It is important to place the broccoli in a specific low temperature compartment of the freezer.Since some models of modern refrigerators are equipped with chambers with a temperature of about zero degrees, products in such compartments are periodically defrosted. Such a temperature regime is categorically not suitable for long-term storage of cabbage, as it will lose all its useful and taste qualities.

You can use special devices aimed at vacuum freezing various products. Such devices are perfect for storing frozen asparagus. In modern retail outlets, a wide range of various devices for vacuum storage of products is presented. Each buyer will be able to choose the best option based on individual needs and financial capabilities.

For cooking various dishes, it is not necessary to use thawed cabbage, therefore, it will retain all the moisture and beneficial properties. If you still need to defrost the inflorescences, it is enough to place them for a while in warm water.

For information on how to plant broccoli in the ground in a permanent place, see the following video.