What You Need To Know Before You Grow Broccoli
Hey guys,
Here is a little video to show you some tips about the easiest way to grow broccoli in the UK.
I tried to grow broccoli for the first time recently and it was more difficult than I originally thought it would be.
I came to look at the broccoli plants one day and I noticed that the leaves had holes. I didn't know what was causing it initially. Eventually I noticed there were caterpillars on the leaves. I couldn't really understand where the caterpillars were coming from but then my brother said look at all the butterflies around here, that must be where the caterpillars are coming from and I agreed.
At first I spent a lot of time washing the butterfly eggs off the plants' leaves. It was very time consuming. The weather has been hot recently and it was very tiring to have to do this every day. Every time I returned to the plants there were more eggs. It was a losing battle.
I did a search on the internet for help and it said that I should buy some nets and cover the broccoli plants with the nets so the butterflies cannot lay anymore eggs. That is what I am showing you in this video. You can see how I use a net to protect my broccoli plants.
The question now is, will the broccoli survive and will any broccoli vegetables actually grow? We will have to find out in the future.
Please share this video with anyone who is going to grow broccoli because it will save them a lot of time and hassle.
Please upvote and follow me on twitter here <3
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If you check the leaves occasionally you can spot the eggs and 'defuse' them before the caterpillars hatch. Usually they are one of the smaller threats to broccoli and one that's easily solved as you already figured out. Now you have to make sure the flowers dont get wet when they start growing. Broccoli is very prone to rot.
I tried removing the eggs but it was very time consuming. That would be fine if I had only one plant but I have about 6 with the problem. The weather has been hot recently and it was very tiring to have to do this every day. Every time I returned to the plants there were more eggs. It was a losing battle.
How would I keep the flowers dry when they start growing while i water the plant?
That seems like a huge invasion O_o. We do have a lot of these butterflies but never such a big problem with caterpillars. Mine get eaten by all kinds of pests this year but only very few caterpillars.
How do you water them? Usually its the rain that is the problem. If you water them by hand you can just avoid getting it all over the leafy part. Some people even cover them in plastic film.
In one day i removed 30 caterpillars from one plant! lol
I use a hose but I can direct the water.
There aren't any flowers on the broccoli yet, that I noticed anyway. I will keep an eye out. :)