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)

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)