Broccoli

Short description of the species

Botanical name
Broccoli
Latin name
Brassica oleracea sk. Italica
Family
Brassicaceae
Plant height
flowering stem (2nd year): 0.5-1.8 m
Exposure
relatively undemanding (sun or shadow)
Frost tolerance
frost-resistant (to -7/-8 °C)
Keeping
medium to difficult (mostly pest protection)
Water requirement
high
Soil requirement
medium-heavy, permeable, high humus content (requirement of direct organic fertilisation)
Soil pH
6,3 – 7,8
ÚEdible part
floret (inflorescene of un-developed flower buds)
accessibility

Usage

direct consumption – side dish, soups; processing – freezing ríloha k jedlám, polievky

Growing technology and harvest

Propagation

  • generative – growing from seedlings

Spacing

  • early cultivars = 0.40 x 0.40 m
  • late cultivars = 0.50 x 0.5 m, or maximally 0.6 x 0.6 m

Harvest

  • 60-90 days from planting (dependent on the cultivar)
  • optimal date = basics for required quality (relatively fast growth of floret)
  • delayed harvest = lengthening of flower buds, floret disintegration and sequential flowering

Important dates

  • growing from seedlings (preferred) + covering textile (late cultivars – protection against pests, mainly 2-3 weeks after planting)

Month I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII.
Sowing (seedling production) XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX
Planting XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX
Harvest XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

Storage

  • optimal temperature = 0-1 °C (5-6 weeks)
  • higher temperature, e.g. 5 °C (similarly as in the home fridge) = 5-10 days
  • higher temperature + longer storage period = opening of flower buds

Use

  • direct consumption – side dish, soups
  • processing – freezing

Diseases and pests

  • the most dangerous disease: clubroot (Plasmodiophora brasssicae) – incorrect crop rotation (insufficient time distance from other Brassica species – cabbage, radish etc.)
  • fungus diseases: falling of germinating plants (several species of microscopic funguses - Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium spp., Mycosphaerella brassicicola, Olpidium brassicae, Phytophtora spp., Pythium spp., Thanatephrous cucumeris, Verticillium spp. etc.), downy mildew (Hyaloperonospora parasitica), Alternaria leaf spottiness (Alternaria brassicicola, A. brassicae, A. raphani)
  • pests: cabbage root fly (Delia radicum), cabbage aphid (Brevicoryne brassicae), flea-beetles (Phyllotreta spp.), white butterfly (Pieris brassicae, Pieris rape), cabbage moth (Mamestra brassicae), cabbage whitefly (Aleurodes proletella)

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Labeling Plants with QR Codes

At the Faculty of Horticulture and Landscape Engineering at SPU in Nitra, we've created a project that offers visitors to our plantings a new way to discover the beauty and intriguing aspects of plants. Each plant in our plantings has its own unique QR code. All a visitor needs to do is scan this code with their smartphone.

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