peapod
gardener
Zone 4, acidic soil, and sandy loam that I have worked on for 4 years. Fixing the bad stuff.
Posts: 175
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Post by peapod on Jun 21, 2009 21:38:59 GMT -5
Help. I know I am not on here much. I'm busy this time of year with the CSA and gearing up for the season like the rest of you all.
I am going to give up on growing any of the Brassical families. I cannot for the life of me get Broccoli to produce a head of Broccoli. I water, since we are in a dry spell. I do good organic matter before and after planting. I even added horse manure this year in hopes of a crop of any kind. I am about to give Miracle Grow a shot. But do I have to?
Now if I am not on here lickety split to see what all of you wonderful folks will do to help me. Know that I will be shortly and I do thank you from the most sincerest part of my heart.
Peapod.
Oh I want to add that I do not grow any Hybrid commercial brands of broccoli. Op or Heirloom and are started in a green house.
I get tons of foliage but not much for the actual veggie.
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Post by grungy on Jun 21, 2009 22:05:39 GMT -5
Sounds like too much nitrogen and not enough Phosphorus and Potash
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Post by americangardener on Jun 22, 2009 0:09:15 GMT -5
Just give up.. brassicas are too hard to grow. And besides that you can buy a head of broccoli at a grocery store for far cheaper than it costs for you to grow it... and ya don't have to wait.
I think Val's right on the money though.. i think it's the horse manure myself. Too much Nitrogen. Seems i've been saying that all day in every forumn in every message.. too much nitrogen is bad.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jun 22, 2009 6:59:50 GMT -5
Well, you could compost what you have and plan to try a smaller number where there is less nitrogen next year. That's what we do when something fails. Return it to the land and try again next year with the newly attained knowledge in hand. Last year we grew peanuts. We harvested about 125 gallons of peanuts! We were SO thrilled! What happened? They rotted in the shell because we didn't know how to properly cure the poor things. Mike was crying in his soup and I figuratively whacked him in the head and told him to quite being so ungrateful! We had harvested a crop far more valuable than peanuts! We harvested wisdom! The peanuts went to the compost so they were not lost, they just weren't the peanut butter we had hoped they would be. This year we have fewer peanuts because last year's quantity was unmanageable for us. This year there will be peanut butter
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Post by bunkie on Jun 22, 2009 10:17:01 GMT -5
i agree with val about too much nitrogen. also, just a thought, how long were they in the greenhouse? did they get root bound maybe?
since they like cold weather, i would think it would be feasible to try growing a crop soon for production in the fall...
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peapod
gardener
Zone 4, acidic soil, and sandy loam that I have worked on for 4 years. Fixing the bad stuff.
Posts: 175
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Post by peapod on Jun 23, 2009 22:01:47 GMT -5
Hi all and thanks for the responses. I dont mean to be such a nag here but this is the first year that I put horse manure on the garden. The soil was so acidic that I didnt think that horse doodoo would hurt infact I thought it would help in some areas. The past 2 years I was not able to get broccoli to come to fruition. Sucks for me because its our favorite veggie to eat.
let me put a few things out there for the brains of this fourm. Would a hybrid be any different? I dont normally grow them but would it be simpler and maybe even produce a head of broccoli. My daughter loves the stuff as much as I.
Dave... your funny and thanks. Did you know we live at least one hour away from any grocery store worth shopping at? Cost effective who knows?
Ok so let me have it again. and yes bunkie I will try a fall crop. I think that maybe I just ought to try another spot and water until I cannot water any longer.
Again thanks folks I do appreciate it much.
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Post by grungy on Jun 23, 2009 22:36:51 GMT -5
Very acidic? Maybe you should try a little lime to bring the pH up a bit.
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Post by americangardener on Jun 24, 2009 6:02:32 GMT -5
Hi all and thanks for the responses. I dont mean to be such a nag here but this is the first year that I put horse manure on the garden. The soil was so acidic that I didnt think that horse doodoo would hurt infact I thought it would help in some areas. The past 2 years I was not able to get broccoli to come to fruition. Sucks for me because its our favorite veggie to eat. let me put a few things out there for the brains of this fourm. Would a hybrid be any different? I dont normally grow them but would it be simpler and maybe even produce a head of broccoli. My daughter loves the stuff as much as I. Dave... your funny and thanks. Did you know we live at least one hour away from any grocery store worth shopping at? Cost effective who knows? Ok so let me have it again. and yes bunkie I will try a fall crop. I think that maybe I just ought to try another spot and water until I cannot water any longer. Again thanks folks I do appreciate it much. Yeah.. i was trying to be funny.. but in reality.. it really is a tough crop to bring in. I have so many problems with the cabbage maggot butterflys all over my garden. I can see em everywhere.. even tryed catching em all with butterfly nets one year and gave up after catching a few dozen every day for weeks. Seems they just keep coming back no matter how many i caught. Then there's the growing pecularities. I do think you will need to find just the right spot to place those plants too. Too much sunlight and it seems more of em will bolt to seed.. too little and they stay stunted. You need to find a good mix of sun and shade. Where that is i don't know. But i find my best results are where they get morning shade and evening sun. Then the fertilizing..well you're finding out bout that. Too much nitrogen and mine just grow tons of leaves and nothing else. Truly.. other than the driving to the store.. it is far, far easier to just buy broccoli and cauliflower. The only reason i grow em at all is cause they are varieties i can't get anywhere else. And of course this year i'm having a terrible time with all my brassicas.. damn deer!! |
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Post by robertb on Jun 24, 2009 10:07:33 GMT -5
If you're having major problems with cabbage whites, try covering the plants with fine netting; over here, people use the stuff scaffolders use to contain debris. I don't know about the States, but over here it's often possible to scrounge old netting.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jun 24, 2009 11:57:13 GMT -5
I'm with Dave on the broccoli. On the other hand I have a friend who grows the most gorgeous, bug free! broccoli imaginable!?!? She uses Sevin? Makes me just crazy. But then she doesn't have pink flamingo chard or any of the other "exotics" growing in her garden that I have in mine. Also, her potatoes are COVERED with potato beetles...
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Post by PatrickW on Jun 24, 2009 14:48:27 GMT -5
As much as it pains me to say this, yes, an F1 variety would probably be more dependable. Of the OP varieties, Nutribud is supposed to be among the best, but OP broccoli is known to be very unreliable. Corn and broccoli are the two vegetables where it's sometimes better to go for the hybrid.
However, if your soil is too acidic, adding lime is very important! Also, adding fresh manure is tricky under the best of circumstances and should be avoided. It's better to add compost. Many more problems are caused by too much manure and fertilizer, then by not enough.
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Post by canadamike on Jun 24, 2009 15:30:18 GMT -5
Brassicas love to be on the sweet side of things, so liming always help. The tend to like clay too. I am with Grungy about the nitrogen surplus. Grow lettuces in that spot then in the fall retry the brocs.
Lettuce also loves liming.
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Post by robertb on Jun 24, 2009 17:08:57 GMT -5
Maybe try a different type of broccoli? The old purple and white sprouting varieties are pretty dependable, and they're cold climate veg so they might do well with you.
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Post by Tom Akers on Jun 25, 2009 0:16:15 GMT -5
I would try a hybrid for both broccoli and cauliflower. I have never had any luck with the OP varieties. Packman broccoli and snowball or snow crown cauliflower are much easier. I don't think I have ever had a crop failure with these. Also add some wood ashes AND lime where you plant the brassicas. They need SOME fertilizer, but not much. They MUST be planted early or late, you won't get any mid season, at least I have never been able to.
JMO,
Tom
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Post by hiven on Jun 29, 2009 8:29:17 GMT -5
I am growing calabrese (summer broccoli according to Yates) the first time this year and they are forming nice heads. I am not sure if they are F1 as there are no info on the package ,but it is performing well. I did not give any special treatment, just add some lime, compost and some small amount of dry cow manure and net them from planting to harvest. I planted 12 plants ,but thanks to the cabbage maggot (thanks Frank, for id them!) there are only 5 growing to mature size and forming head. Next time I will collar dress my brassicas ! I have harvested 2 of them, just steamed and eat it as it is as a side dish...yummy... [a href="  "] [/a] [a href="  "] [/a] |
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