How to plant and grow broccoli in the countryside in open ground

Broccoli is a subspecies of garden cabbage that does not form forks, but a head of buds. In recent years, among cabbage crops broccoli is becoming more and more popular. This is due to its good taste, beneficial properties and ease of cultivation. Let's try to figure out how to grow broccoli in the country.

Content:

• How to plant broccoli seedlings
• Broccoli and open ground
• Choosing broccoli varieties for growing in the country

How to plant broccoli seedlings

Unlike cabbage, broccoli has a one-year development cycle. You need to harvest broccoli before its buds open and the entire head turns yellow with flowers. Despite the fact that broccoli is native to Italy, there are varieties that grow well and produce crops in regions with a temperate climate.

In addition, with the right varieties, you can not only have fresh broccoli all season, but also store it. plant Broccoli can be grown in the country either directly into open ground or through seedlings.

Sowing broccoli for seedlings

For broccoli seedlings, both ready-made soil and soil mixture, which will be prepared with your own hands from the following ingredients, are suitable:

• 10 kg garden soil
• 1 kg wood ash
• 0.2 kg chalk or lime
• 0.2 kg sand

It is important not to use the land where cabbage or other related crops previously grew. The soil must be well mixed and not contain large parts or foreign inclusions.In addition, before sowing it needs to be moistened and allowed to stand for several hours; it should be moist but crumbly.

Preparing broccoli seeds for sowing

To get strong broccoli seedlings, its seeds can be prepared in the following way:

• heat the water to + 45
• put the seeds there for 20 minutes
• then immerse them in ice water for 5 minutes

Such treatment accelerate the germination of broccoli seeds and allow you to obtain healthy planting material. Before placing the seeds in water, you need to read the information on the package. If the seeds have undergone industrial treatment, for example, with a substance such as thiram, then they cannot be soaked, but must be immediately planted in the ground. As a rule, imported seeds, mainly of Dutch origin, are treated with thiram.

Time for sowing seedlings

Considering that at the age of 35 - 40 days the seedlings are ready to move into open ground, you can sow broccoli seeds for seedlings in early April.

1. Make grooves 1 cm deep in the seedling boxes and sow the seeds in them. The distance between grooves is 2 cm, the distance between seeds is 2 cm.
2. Cover the seedling box with glass and wait for the seedlings to emerge. When the seeds germinate, the glass is removed.

Seedlings do not need additional light in April. At the stage of 1-2 true leaves, broccoli is picked into separate pots measuring 5 by 5 cm. When picking, the seedling is buried almost to the cotyledon leaves. At the age of 35 - 40 days, broccoli is ready to move to open garden bed

Broccoli and open ground

At the end of May, you can sow broccoli seeds directly into the garden bed or plant cabbage seedlings on it. Regardless of the planting method, the bed must be dug up and filled with rotted cow manure, about 8 - 10 kg per square meter.meter, one kg of ash and a large spoon of superphosphate are also added. If the soil is sandy, then add a bucket of clay, preferably red.

Considering that the heads of some varieties of broccoli reach impressive sizes, the distance between seedlings should be about half a meter. Seeds can be sown more densely and then planted at the required distance.

It is advisable to adhere to the seeding rate - 0.2 g per square meter. m. By the time of transplantation, broccoli seedlings should not be higher than 12 - 15 cm and with 5 - 6 true leaves. Plant broccoli in deep enough holes. The roots are covered so that the plant remains as if in an earthen funnel. When removing weeds and loosening, as well as as they grow, the earth is raked under the bush.

Care for broccoli comes down to this:

• for watering, in a normal summer every other day or two, in hot summers - every day
• to three feedings: the first 14 days after planting, the second - 14 days from the first, for feeding take kg of mullein and dilute it in 10 liters of water, the third feeding is a complex mineral before the formation of the ovary
• timely cutting of the central head
• applying mineral fertilizer after cutting the head to stimulate the growth of lateral shoots
• disease prevention and pest control

After cutting, broccoli of early varieties is stored for 10-12 days; late varieties are stored for storage. Late varieties of broccoli are harvested in October and stored at temperatures from 0 to + 4 for 90 days. All that remains is to choose the right varieties in order to provide yourself with fresh broccoli for 8 - 9 months a year.

Choosing broccoli varieties for growing in the country

Early varieties of broccoli:

1. Milady is an extremely early hybrid, resistant to adverse conditions, heads weighing up to 1.5 kg, bud color blue-green, high iodine content
2. Naxos - early hybrid, grows well in both cold weather and high temperatures, head size 0.5 kg

Medium broccoli varieties:

1. Marathon - variety resistant to powdery mildew, head weighing up to 1.0 kg, fine-grained
2. Bosphorus is an excellent variety with extended ripening, harvested in summer and early autumn

Late varieties of broccoli:

1. Fiesta - late hybrid, perfectly tolerates adverse weather conditions, the heads are large, even in size, with high commercial qualities
2. Continental is a late hybrid, forms a dense and flexible central head

Broccoli spread first to Europe, and then to Asia and America. Currently, it is not only recognized in the world as one of the best varieties of cabbage, but also as a useful vegetable in the prevention of many diseases, including cancer.

Video about favorable conditions for broccoli: