Remember a few weeks ago when I gloated about how well my broccoli were doing? You can imagine how devastated I am that we only got to harvest one head, this glorious head of Watkins super king broccoli, before the other dozen or so heads bolted.
Yes, that's right, the whole lot bolted. Bolting is when the plant starts going kind of haywire and produces seed. Which it should, I guess, cos that's what plants do - they make seed. And the seed head of a broccoli? The very thing we eat. As I have learnt, you have a small window of opportunity before the head bolts, and those florets that were previously tightly packed little trees of goodness separate and become bitter and tough and start to flower.
So what did I do wrong? According to Gardening Know How, "Bolting can be prevented by either planting the plant early in the spring so that it grows during the late spring or late in the summer so that it grows during early fall. You can also add mulch and ground cover to the ground, as well as watering regularly in order to keep the soil temperature down." That's not much help, as I did that, and it bolted. Could our moderately warm autumn have been to blame?
Or was it just a case that I left it too long, and got greedy and wanted to wait until my broccoli were the size of bowling balls until I harvested them, thus showing what an awesome gardener I am to the world? Ahem, perhaps.
But hey, looking on the bright side I have plenty of seed for next year.
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Cheers Bill, perhaps the Supermoon made it bolt?
Kia ora. Supermoon affects the LunaTicks. Calendar can be obtained for a small price from Riverton Organic Group and is of an "Everlasting" variety, ie it need never be bought again unless it wears out. Alternatively others can be accessed on line.
Oh yes, Kimberley, been there a few times :-( First time it was just greed and I wanted to get huge heads on all of them, as I got on the first couple. It rained and I didn't get out there for 2 days and all of them had bolted. It was soul - destroying lol The other time I think I planted them at the wrong time and they got heads but they were ugly and not tight and already sort of seedy. This year I planted late into this rental garden as soon as we arrived (begin. March, seedlings) but everything is just leggy in the brassica patch, lots of caterpillars and doesn't look promising at all. I blanch and freeze my broccoli (when I have a good year!)and make amazing soup. I hate broccoli as a vegie on my plate or even in anything if it's recognizable as broccoli. Blitzed up and made into soup with other stuff is just yum :-)
Thank you for that, it explains what I did wrong!! Lol #3 Bill - LunaTicks - a special kind of parasite!
My lettuce bolted. Say, will you please do a blog on how to get rid of blackberry? And what to do with the remains so they don't spread? And same for Wandering Willy etc?
More blood and bone
Most of my plants have bolted (my basil started growing flower heads at about 15 cm tall) we are in the middle of a drought, so all the plants were stressed as I could not keep up with the watering. Even a lemon tree bloomed and then shriveled up and died (although in that case it was overwatering. Oops! Sudden changes in temperature can make broccolli bolt, so I don't grow it here, because our weather in winter can range from freezing to the lower 30s.
#6 wanderlust - sure thing. Those are great ideas. Cheers, K
As someone who's trying out growing vege's for the first time ever this year I think this is going to be a great blog! Would it be possible to show pics of what it looks like once it has bolted, it might give me an idea on what to look for!
Also, my basil has flower heads but just keeps on growing more leaves. I assume it's OK to leave it in and keep using the leaves in cooking?
Kia ora. Had problems like that many yrs ago, particularly with carrots. Then I got a Lunar Calendar, planted/sowed seed in harmony with its instructions and created a vast difference. Certainly worth trying.