How to grow broccoli in the garden properly: main rules

Broccoli is one of the most popular vegetables among healthy eating advocates. However, Ukrainian gardeners rarely grow it because they believe it is quite difficult.

In fact, broccoli is even less whimsical to care for than its closest relative, cauliflower. The publication Yaskrava Klumba told us how to plant and care for this vegetable.

Seedlings

If you purchased high-quality seeds from a trusted seller, you don't need to prepare them yourself. However, if you have collected the planting material yourself, then before planting, it should be soaked in warm water for 15-20 minutes, and then in a solution of potassium permanganate for 7-8 hours. After that, put the seeds in the refrigerator for a day and dry them on a paper towel.

You can start sowing ready-made seeds in mid-to-late March. Thus, the seedlings will be ready for planting no earlier than May.

For sowing, you will need a small container with low sides and a peat-based soil mixture with equal parts of turf and sand or a special substrate for seedlings. The seeds should be buried no more than 1 cm deep, and the space  between them should be about 2.5-3.5 cm.

Seedling care

After planting the seeds, the soil should be well sprayed with water so that it is saturated with moisture but no crust from watering forms on top. Then cover the crops with foil and leave them for about a week. When the first shoots appear, lower the air temperature to 10-15 degrees.

Moisten the seedlings moderately so that the soil is always moist but not waterlogged. It is also desirable that the humidity in the room with the seedlings is high.

After about two weeks, you need to transplant the seedlings into separate containers. And 10-15 days before planting in the garden, you should start hardening the seedlings by taking them outside for a while.

Planting in open ground

Broccoli can be transplanted outdoors when the risk of frost has passed and the plant has 5-6 full leaves.

In no case should you plant seedlings in places where any cabbage grew last season. Also, do not plant broccoli after radishes, tomatoes, and beets.

Broccoli is a sun-loving plant, but it should be planted in cloudy weather or in the evening. To do this, dig shallow holes at intervals of 40-60 cm. Water the soil, add a little fertilizer, and only then put the seedlings in the holes.

Caring for broccoli

Broccoli, like most crops, needs periodic fertilization and regular watering. Excessive dryness of the soil is the most common cause of a failed harvest.

It is also necessary to loosen the soil, protect the plants from diseases and pests, and weed them out. About 3 weeks after planting in the open ground, broccoli needs light hilling.

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