Beautiful Broccoli - Part 2
I wanted to do a quick follow up on my broccoli story to show everyone the side shoots that I’ve been picking now that the main shoots have been harvested on some of my plants. Notice how tight and large these side shoots are.
Now look at the tiny loose side shoots on this plant.
As you’ve probably guessed these are two different varieties of broccoli. The first pictures of the larger tighter side shoots are from a variety called Belstar. It is a hybrid but I highly recommend this variety if you want to get tight oversized secondary shoots like seen in these pictures. I could have let these go a couple more days and get larger but I wanted to have broccoli for dinner tonight so I harvested a little early.
You can see clearly from this picture how superior the Belstar shoots are.
Of course you must have the right nutrients in your soil to get good production like this. If you haven’t seen my original post on broccoli check it out for additional information.
https://steemit.com/gardening/@garden-to-eat/beautiful-broccoli
Thanks for reading.
jummy :)
Nice photos. Thanks for sharing.
Sure thing
i wish you also posted what you made out of it
good luck with them
I love broccoli !
Very simple. I mixed it with salt, pepper. garlic and extra virgin olive oil. I put a piece of tin foil on a cookie sheet and baked it for about 30 min at 350 until it began to caramelize.
lol - am giving you a tip to spice up your post man
but thank you very much
Yeah I know. I was thinking it would be a good idea showing what I do with some of my harvests. Maybe next time I'll take pictures after I'm done preparing it. Thanks
good luck
You are a great broccoli grower alright!
Glad that you can enjoy good eats.
I have had a lot of luck with broccoli. That all changes by August when the plants are infested with white flies and cabbage worms lol.
CONTROL AND PREVENTION
HOW TO GET RID OF WHITEFLIES
To control whiteflies, there are various solutions and traps that you can use. The biggest tip is: start early! In the mornings and evenings, as you wander the garden, check the back of the leaves for eggs or notice when little bugs “fly away” as you approach your plants.
Always start with blasting whiteflies (and aphids and many insects) with your watering hose. This will cause them to scatter. Then, spray your leaves with insecticidal soap. Coat them; be sure to spray the undersides of leaves.Only spray plants when temperatures are cooler—such as late in the day, as heat may cause an adverse reaction in your plant. Follow up 2 or 3 times.
According to the National Gardening Association, this homemade mixture should be helpful to control and deter whiteflies: Use a mixture of dishwashing liquid, such as Palmolive with lemon, and water. A good squirt of soap to a gallon of water should work. As mentioned above, only spray in cooler temperatures; early in the morning or late in the day is best. The NGA mixture is a pretty benign combination, and whiteflies are nearly impossible to get rid of, so it’s best to try more preventative tactics, as mentioned below.
If all else fails and your whitefly population is persistent, you can use a handheld vacuum every few days to remove them from your plants. This gets rid of both nymphs and larvae.
Thank you very much for that tip. Have you ever tried neem and sal suds mixture? I recently heard about that and was going to give that a try.
Go right ahead, sounds good. Save that broccoli.
Video for getting rid of white flies▶ 4:15
The Dr Bronner's soap he uses in this video must be similar to the sal suds since it is made by the same Dr Bronner. Thanks again. I'm going to try and stay ahead of them this year.
Good for you, I hope it works. Broccoli is one of my favorites.
HOW TO PREVENT WHITEFLIES
Keeping natural predators around will prevent whiteflies from ever exploding in population. Ladybugs, spiders, lacewing larvae, and dragonflies are a few of many beneficial insects that can control a whitefly population. Hummingbirds are another natural predator. Try creating a habitat that will attract dragonflies and damselflies (which also helpfully eat mosquitoes) or beautiful hummingbirds.
When it comes to whiteflies, avoid chemical insecticides; they’re usually resistant and all you end up doing is killing the beneficial insects—their natural predators—and the insects which pollinate the garden for a better harvest!
Mulch early in the season with aluminum reflective mulch, especially when it comes to tomatoes and peppers. The reflective mulch makes it challenging for whiteflies to find their host plants.
Set out yellow index cards coated with petroleum jelly to monitor whiteflies, especially when it comes to tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, or cabbage crops. A half-and-half mixture of petroleum jelly and dishwashing detergent, spread over small boards painted bright yellow, is sticky enough to catch little whiteflies, too. To whiteflies, the color yellow looks like a mass of new foliage. The bugs are attracted to the cards, get stuck in the jelly, and die.
Mmmmmm, they both look yummy! I might have to give broccoli a go next year. Nice that you can increase your crop with the side shoots!
I've been growing the Belstar for years. I just had a few of the other variety in because it was supposed to be early but not sure if it was worth it.
I'll make a note of that variety. It does look incredible.
Trying out different varieties is half the fun. You never know what you may stumble across.
Excellent work dear friend @ garden-to-eat, congratulations, thank you very much for sharing
Thank you for the compliment. I just had the broccoli for dinner and it tasted even better than it looked :)
I love broccoli!! Looks beautiful, thanks for sharing!
It tasted pretty good too. Thanks.
I think you get the peppermint type of Dr. Bronner's castile soap.
There's quite a blog going on here.
sal suds and neem is what I ordered. I learned about it from a video over at an americanhomestead.
Nice broccoli photos - gives me hope for mine in my garden!
Do you have some growing?
yes, it is early in the growing season here , but they look strong and healthy at this point... Love my garden!!
good luck