Weeding around the cabbage family today and was surprised to see broccolli heads, bigger than a golfball smaller than a baseball. Some of the non-bearing plants are only 8" tall. The only thing I can attribute to the varied growth is what can't be seen, soil contaminents or nutrition pockets.

The tomatoes are doing the same thing, some plants growing well and others are somewhat stagnant.

The watering schedule is based on moisture at the roots, I dig down 2-4" to see how wet it is in every row before deciding on how much, how long,etc. This soil retains moisture very well, and drains s..l..o..w..l..y, so 1" of water once per week should do it for all the plants, unless it rains long/slow for at least 4hours.

Here's my Green Goliath, from seeds planted 4/1. I forget when I put them out, first week or two of May I think!





Due to plant more in a month or so....but I have no room!

Your broccoli looks great! What zone are you in? I'm in zone 6 and would like to plant some if the timing is appropiate.

Sarah

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Sarah - Zone 5b/6

quote:

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Originally posted by woodchuck:
Weezie, you have PLENTY of room for more, plant more than 3, broccolli freezes very well, and has a long frig shelf life.

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That is such an understatement...
Not to hi~jack the post, but I am begging for 2 more beds... I don't have room for all I grow already, and I don't grow Broccoli already...
or califlower, or cabbage my mom wanted...
I grow several varieties of tomatoes, and cuke's..
but corn, acorns, pumpkins, zucchini, yellow squash, spaghetti squash, butternut squash.. etc.. etc.. and they all sprawl..

Anyhow, love the pictures' there 'Sparagus,
gave me a better understanding of how plants look.. *or so*
Woodchuck, would love to see the pictures of yours, so I can see what the other variety looks like...(I haven't planted mine yet, so if I see yours', I may know how to place them better..
Looking at 'Sparagus', I better find one place at a time for them..)

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

While finishing the weeding this morning I read the plant tag, Green Comet, is the variety, and so far on the tallest plants; 20" , the crown is only 12-14", so not a big space grabber.

quote:

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Sparagus, them be some mighty big plants, whatcha feedin 'em.? Mine would be dwarfed by yours, and wouldn't need a magnifying glass to see the head. [Wink] Say, how did you get that graphic in the picture?

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Fish emulsion, 1 1/2 tsp per gallon. And lots of my home made compost in the soil, and in the holes at planting time.

I use Photoshop to get my pics ready to go in Photobucket, so the text tool is one of the options.

Broccoli is a cool weather crop, so I hear Im planning on starting more seeds mid summer....well the Farmer's Almanac says I should do it the beginning of August, for my zone, 6A.

Ive heard you can keep a broccoli plant going all summer and have it revive in the Fall.

See, now I have never fertilized my plants, I prep the soil base with mower collected leaves/grass and till it in during fall and sppring for any size garden, and when they are smaller plots, like 15'x15' I'll remove some soil and a put in a mix of 1/3topsoil, 1/3 compost, 1/3 peatmoss, and till that in making a very rich base and it has gotten my by in drought verywell.

Is fish emulsion really just poo, or ground up body,guts,and bones? Where do the fish come from, ocean fish have lots of contaminents that once added to your soil can not be removed.