Broccoli - Sprouting

Type: Vegetable

Rotation Group: 4, Brassicas


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TENDERSTEM GREEN INSPIRATION

Packed with goodness, the long, thin stems of this variety are very tender and edible, so you can produce more food from each plant. It looks and tastes rather like asparagus. Remove the main head to encourage side shoots.
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PURPLE SPROUTING

An extremely easy to grow hardy winter vegetable which crops when little else is available in the garden. Sturdy 12-18in plants produce a heavy crop of tasty purple heads and young leaves (which turn green when cooked) during late winter/early Spring.
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CLARET

Broccoli Claret is a vigorous and high yielding modern hybrid, producing thick, succulent spears with good colour, flavour and quality when other garden vegetables are scarce. Good enough to serve alone steamed and lashed with butter.
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PURPLE RAIN

This British bred hybrid will make a great addition to any plot or allotment. Bred for high yields of deeply coloured, tender and tasty spears. Plants show good heat tolerance and are slow to bolt, producing reliable crops over a long period. Easy to grow and can be sown little and often for a continuous crop from summer right into late autumn.

Site, Soil and Preparation

Broccoli and calabrese prefer a sunny position in a rich, moist soil that has been prepared in advance in autumn with generous amounts of garden compost or manure.

Indoor Sowing

Seed can be sown undercover in root trainers or 75mm (3in) pots at a depth of 10mm (1/2in) to minimise disturbance of roots. Sow seed from March to May.

Outdoor Sowing

Sow seed thinly in a prepared seed bed at a depth of 10mm (1/2in). Sow seed from March to May.

Thinning

Thin plants during transplantation to final growing position.

Transplanting

When seedlings are 100mm (4in) tall transplant from June onwards to their outdoor positions and plant at spacings of 450mm (1 1/2ft) apart.

Care

Place cabbage collars around seedlings to prevent attack from cabbage root fly. Water plants well, especially during hot spells.

Harvest

Harvest the heads as the multiple flower buds develop but before they reach the point of opening.