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Brassicaceae
BRASSICA oleracea 'Premium Crop'( Italica Group)
Broccoli, Premium Crop Broccoli
This tried and true 1975 All-America Selections winner produces large heads really fast--only 58 days after planting from transplant. It is markedly heat tolerant and resistant to fusarium wilt. 'Premium Crop' will continue to produce many side shoots to extend the harvest. Like all broccoli, plants produce for longer if planted in fall.
One of the most familiar green vegetables, broccoli (also known as Italian or sprouting broccoli) is an excellent choice for the garden. Typically grown as an annual, this cool season vegetable traces its ancestry to Brassica oleracea, a fleshy-leaved, short-lived perennial from coastal areas of western and southern Europe. It is grown for its fleshy heads of flower buds, which are harvested and eaten before the flowers open.
Some broccoli varieties produce a large central head with relatively few side shoots; others produce an abundance of smaller heads. The heads are borne on thick erect stalks above whorls of long leathery blue-green leaves. Broccoli varieties usually have green heads, although purple-headed cultivars are available. Hybrids between cauliflower and broccoli are also available; they typically have yellow-green or purple heads. Plants do poorly in hot weather, becoming lanky and flowering ("bolting") rather than remaining in bud. Depending on the variety, broccoli takes 55 to 100 days from sowing to harvest.
This cool weather crop prefers full sun and fertile, organic-rich garden soil with ample drainage. Broccoli should be planted as seed or transplants in early spring before temperatures heat up, or in summer for fall harvest. It makes an excellent winter or early spring crop for areas with mild winters. Harvest heads promptly to prevent bolting and to initiate development of side shoots.
Broccoli is rewarding to grow and well worth the effort. As with all members of Brassica oleracea, it is susceptible to cabbage loopers and several other types of caterpillars.
6 - 1
6 - 11
A1, A2, A3, H1, H2, 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Vegetable
Full Sun, Partial Sun
12"-36" / 30.5cm - 91.4cm (24)
12"-24" / 30.5cm - 61.0cm (18)
Spring, Late Spring, Early Summer
Southern Europe, Western Europe, Mediterranean
Neutral
Well Drained
Loam, Sand
Fast
Average Water
Upright/Erect
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
Showy
Yellow
Blue Green, Gray Green, Dark Green
Yes
No
Single
Bold
Matte
Semi-Evergreen
Container, Edible, Herb / Vegetable
Butterflies
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