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Brassicaceae FAMILY

Brassica oleracea italica

Brassica oleracea italica

Edibility
4/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitBiennial
Growth—

Sprouting broccoli originated through cultivation in the temperate zone, where it can be found at elevations up to 2,000 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 15 - 24°c, but can tolerate 3 - 35°c[1]. When dormant, the plant can survive temperatures down to about -5°c, but young growth can be severely damaged at 1°c[1]. Some forms are very cold-hardy, tolerating temperatures down to about -17°c[2]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 900 - 1,500mm, but tolerates 350 - 2,000mm[1]. Succeeds in full sun in a well-drained fertile preferably alkaline soil[3, 2]. Prefers a heavy soil[3]. Succeeds in any reasonable soil[4]. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 6.8, but tolerates 5.5 to 8.5[1]. Succeeds in maritime gardens[2]. Yields can vary according to variety and growing conditions, but are generally within the range 4 - 10 tonnes per hectare[1]. Broccoli is closely related to the cauliflowers (Brassica oleracea botrytis) and is often grown for its edible young flowering stems which, by careful selection of varieties, can be available almost all year round from early summer right round to late spring. There are many named varieties and these can be classified into three main groups:- Calabrese, which matures in summer and autumn. This is the least cold-hardy form. It produces green, or sometimes purple, flowering heads[5]. Some forms will produce a number of side shoots once the main head has been harvested, though other forms seem unable to do this[5]. Romanesco matures in late summer and the autumn. It has numerous yellowish-green conical groups of buds arranged in spirals[5]. Given a little protection from the cold, it is possible to produce a crop throughout the winter. Unlike the other types of broccoli, romanesco seems unable to produce side shoots once the main head has been harvested[5]. Sprouting broccoli is the most cold-hardy group. It does not form a central head like the other two groups but instead produces a mass of side shoots from early spring until early summer. The more you harvest these shoots, especially if you do so before the flowers open, then the more shoots the plant produces[PFAF]. Sprouting broccoli plants come into production in late winter to early spring and can be very heavy bearing over a period of two months or more so long as all the flowering stems are harvested before coming into flower.

Propagation

Seed - sow sprouting broccoli in a seedbed outdoors in early spring to May. Plant out in early summer. Do not let the seedlings get overcrowded or they will soon become leggy and will not make such good plants. If your seedlings do get leggy, it is possible to plant them rather deeper into the soil - the buried stems will soon form roots and the plant will be better supported. Romanesco and calabrese are often sown in situ in the spring. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Brassica+oleracea+italica>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]New Vegetable Growers Handbook. — Simons. · Penguin · 1977 · ISBN 0-14-046-050-0 ↩︎A good guide to growing vegetables in temperate areas, not entirely organic.
  4. [4]Rare Vegetables for Garden and Table. — Organ. J. · Faber · 1960 · ISBN - ↩︎Unusual vegetables that can be grown outdoors in Britain. A good guide.
  5. [5]Vegetables — Phillips. R. & Rix. M. · Macmillan Reference Books, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0 333 62640 0 ↩︎Excellent and easily read book with good information and an excellent collection of photos of vegetables from around the world, including many unusual species.
  6. [6]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  7. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎