Broke-oli

B00kemdano 3/20/2012, 2:40 pm

Let me first say that I have a lot of things sprouting in my first ever garden! Thanks, SFG, for helping me turn my brown thumb to green. cheers

Yesterday, I started thinning some of the sprouts that were coming up in clumps. I have two squares of broccoli, and one of them looked like a chia-pet, so I thinned it to one. I don't know if I nicked the stem of the intended keeper, or if something took one very tiny bite out of it.

Broke-oli Imag0110

The leaves haven't shriveled at all. Will this dude recover, or should I just yank him and drop some more seeds?

mschaef 3/20/2012, 3:13 pm

I would just add a few seeds just in case it does not make it. My personallity is rather safe than sorry and its just a few seeds right? Laughing

B00kemdano 3/20/2012, 3:45 pm

How many broccolis do you put in a square? ANSFG says one per square, but I read that someone was doing up to five.

boffer 3/20/2012, 4:11 pm

My SWAG is your seedling is a victim of damping off, and probably needs a proper burial. Two frequently suggested reasons for damping off are fungi and high humidity. I'm having a similar situation with my broccoli. I planted seeds in two covered heated SFG boxes. The broccoli in one box is doing fine, but I'm getting results similar to yours in the other. When I open the covers on the box with the problem, the humidity is obviously higher than the other box for some reason. So I reseeded, and am making an effort to provide fresh air everyday, despite the cold, wet weather we've been having. So far, the new seedlings are doing well.

When a broccoli plant is mature, there really isn't room for more than one plant in a square.

I direct seed my broccoli. I plant five seeds per square, and then transplant four of them.

B00kemdano 3/20/2012, 4:23 pm

Thanks again, Boffer!

I planted two squares of broccoli, with three seeds in each little spot. It seems that all six seeds grew, so I snipped away the smallest ones.

The one that flopped over looks like a tiny bit of stem is missing on one side, so I assumed that either I damaged it, or something chomped it.

The broccoli in the other square is fine. They are all direct sown, uncovered, and we haven't had any weather changes since yesterday when I snipped the others. I'm confident that it was somehow my screw up. Sad

I put three more seeds near the floppy sprout, in case he doesn't make it. Smile

**gwennifer** 3/20/2012, 8:10 pm

I've only done this a couple of times so far, but I've noticed that every seed I planted sprouted. So I didn't even bother this second time around planting more than one in each place. After all, broccoli sprouts in just a few days, so I figure it'll be easy enough to tell if one doesn't sprout and needs a new seed sown. I can certainly see why in Mel's book he talked about how he originally had people planting just one seed for each plant you want (but changed it to just a pinch, in order to simplify it for people since some seeds can be so tiny).

I haven't seen anyone with five broccoli per square...? Broccoli is a nice big plant - one per square like the books says and you'll likely end up trimming leaves too if you have other things around it. Sorry you broke your broccoli! (cute thread title).

AvaDGardner 3/20/2012, 8:21 pm

gwennifer wrote:I've only done this a couple of times so far, but I've noticed that every seed I planted sprouted. So I didn't even bother this second time around planting more than one in each place. After all, broccoli sprouts in just a few days, ....

IT DOES? Wow..I must have some dead seeds! None of my brassicas have sprouted...broccoli, kohlrabi, broccoli rabe, cauliflour, and cabbage. It's been 10+ days. Some cool ones, some wet ones, some warm ones, but 10+ days.

They all have little hot houses on them so they don't dry out, too. Nothing yet, though.

**gwennifer** 3/21/2012, 12:41 am

I"m sorry AvaD. Let me clarify! Under optimal conditions they'll sprout that fast. Just two days on a heat mat in a seed sprouting dome nside. Four days in my garden outside unprotected (but kept moist) last July. Check the chart in the back of the book (pg. 252) to see how quickly you should expect sprouts based on your soil temperatures. It's been a great help to me.

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