DIY Network

Growing Tips Growing Tips From "Fresh from the Garden" episode DFFG-116

Broccoli and cabbage are cool-season vegetables, which can be grown in spring or fall....

advertisement

	Bolting occurs when cool weather plants get too much heat and sunlight to properly form leaves. The plant "bolts" to the sky and quickly produces seeds.
	When you plant cabbage in the spring, you can expect tighter heads and it's less likely to bolt.
	Cabbage loopers, little green inch-worm like caterpillars, love to eat just about any member of the cabbage and broccoli family.
	To harvest broccoli you need to cut the head off of the stalk just below the floret heads.
	Chinese cabbage is harvested all at once by cutting the entire plant off just above ground level.

When you plant cabbage and broccoli you want to get them growing while it was still warm enough for the seeds to germinate but not be so hot that they will bolt and go to seed. Bolting occurs when cool weather plants get too much heat and sunlight to properly form leaves. The plant "bolts" to the sky and quickly produces seeds. Once a plant bolts it can’t properly form fruit and the crop can be lost. If you see any signs that a plant is shooting up too quickly, cut off the flower stem to encourage the plant to slow down and form leaves and fruit.

Most cool-season vegetables can be grown in the spring or in the fall. That’s because cool weather provides fewer pests, less bright sunlight and soil below 60 degrees. Even though plants can be grown in the fall or spring there’s usually a primary time and a secondary time to grow them. The primary time is the season when you get the best results and the secondary time is when you get good results, but not always as consistently as you would growing them in the primary season.

Cabbage can grow in either the spring or fall but spring is its primary growing season. When you plant cabbage in the spring you can expect tighter heads and it’s less likely to bolt. There’s an advantage to growing cabbage in the fall, you can set out transplants right into the garden. In the spring you have to be a little more careful to get the seedlings used to cold weather before you set them out, especially if they were started in a nice warm green house.

There are several types of diseases that can affect cabbage and broccoli plants. The best way to stay ahead of any problems is to carefully check the plants every few days. You can use your hands to lift up leaves to look for hidden problems. Downy mildew and black rot are the 2 most common diseases. Downy mildew looks like cottony fuzz and tan spots on the leaves. Black rot is a bacterial infection that makes the leaves turn pale or yellow while the leaf veins turn dark.

Cabbage loopers, little green inch-worm like caterpillars, love to eat just about any member of the cabbage and broccoli family. You can treat them with BT or Bacillus Thuringiensis. This bacteria is sprinkled on the infested plants and when a caterpillar or worm eats it their stomach swells and they stop eating. Even better, the bacteria are harmless to humans and it washes off easily.

To harvest broccoli you need to cut the head off of the stalk just below the floret heads. To make your cut, use a good sharp knife since the stalk is thick and hard to cut through. Make sure you time this so the flowers are still in bud form and that they haven’t opened up yet. You can leave a few inches of stalk attached to the head when you cut it if you like to eat the stem too. Leave the plant in the ground because they usually sprout new florettes around the cut and at other places along the stalk.

Harvest Chinese Cabbage

The best time to cut it is when the leaves are full and dark green and the plants is 10 – 14 inches tall. Chinese cabbage is harvested all at once by cutting the entire plant off just above ground level. It’s more sensitive to frost so keep an eye on the weather. Once Chinese cabbage is harvested it will last 2-4 weeks in your refrigerator. When all of the plants are cut you can go back and pull the roots out of the ground if you need the bed space for something else.

To harvest cabbage take a sharp knife or pruners and cut cleanly through the main stalk of the plant just below the head. You may need to push some of the outer leaves out of the way so that you can see the stalk. To make the cabbage more manageable for storage cut the lower leaves off and remove the remaining stalk