Growing Broccoli in Kihei

 

Piracicaba

Mahalo Julie for the seeds!

In October of 2010 I planted broccoli for the first time. Surprisingly, all of the broccoli survived the challenging warmer than usual weather and produced flower-heads.

 

Piracicaba

Just beginning to flower.

 

I planted Piracicaba, Purple Peacock and Umpqua. Piracicaba was the earliest, Purple Peacock was the most beautiful and Umpqua looked most similar to the broccoli at the market.

 

Piracicaba was developed in Brasil to be heat tolerant and is often grown in California during the summer months.

Purple Peacock

 

Purple Peacock is not a hybrid but was developed by Gathering Together Farm by crossing a purple kale with a traditional broccoli. It's sweet, tender and delicious raw.

 

In Kihei, it normally takes 3 months from seed until broccoli forms the center flower-head.

Umpqua

A traditional heirloom broccoli.

 

Solstice Broccoli

 

It was a bit tricky to figure out just the right time to cut the heads before they began to bolt and form tiny yellow flowers. I recommend checking the plants early every morning when the flower-heads begin to form.

Purple Peacock Side-Shoots

The Piracicaba and Purple Peacock don't form a large traditional flower-head. After their center flower is harvested they produce an abundance of side-shoots.

In Kihei, the best time to plant broccoli from seed is from mid-October to mid-November so the flower-heads will form during our coolest winter months.

Piracicaba

Protected from cabbageworms.

Like the other brassicas, the most serious pest was the cabbageworm - it's a good idea to protect the plants from late November through February or until the main flower-head is harvested.

The Purple Peacock and Umpqua grow aroundt 2 ft tall and can easily be protected by a row cover. The Piracicaba was over 3 ft and I covered it with a tulle net. For more information, see my post on Cabbageworms.

 

I kept the broccoli plants covered until they produced their first flower-heads. Then, I let them grow uncovered while they produced side-shoots.

 

Brassicas grow very well in 15 gallon self-watering containers and they can also be grown successfully in regular containers.  I fill the container with an organic potting soil amended with green sand and an organic all-purpose fertilizer.

 

In Kihei, broccoli usually requires daily water and twice-monthly applications of fish emulsion or a generous monthly application of an organic all-purpose fertilizer.

 

There are a wide assortment of broccoli seeds available, including many F1 hybrids. The varieties featured in this post were grown from open pollinated seeds.

 

Piracicaba seeds are available from

Fedco Seeds and Turtle Tree Seed

 

Purple Peacock seeds are available from

 Sustainable Seed Company and Wild Garden Seed

 

Umpqua is available from

Turtle Tree Seed and Uprising Seeds

Enoki, Broccoli & Kimchi Wraps