Planting Broccoli

The weather is at the point where we are still getting chilly overnight, but the daytime temps have been in the 70's.  There are likely still a few more frosty nights in store, but spring is well on it's way.  I decided that now would be a good time to plant out my broccoli starts.  They are still on the small side, but they have been spending the better part of last week outside and seem to be thriving despite the wind and wild temperature swings.  The forecast is looking like things are going to keep getting warmer from here and even if temps do dip low, I think these seedlings are hardy enough to survive just fine.

I am trying two varieties of broccoli this year.  One is Atlantic and the other is Goliath.  The Goliath seedlings are definitely bigger than the Atlantic, but that doesn't mean that they are growing faster.  The Atlantic seem to be generally more compact plants as I recall which meant that they grew nice compact flower heads too.  The real test will be to see which variety can grow good sized heads before the flowers start to open.  Last year Atlantic won out over the Calbrese variety that I grew alongside it.

I set the seedlings out on the bed to get the spacing as even as possible.  I generally try to give my broccoli plants about 18 inches of growing space per plant.  In my 3x10 foot bed I fit eleven plants in a zig zag pattern across the bed.

After I planted all the seedlings in the bed, I arranged the drip irrigation so that it nearly touched each plant.  To make extra sure that they are getting enough water I poked a series of holes in the tubing close to each seedling.  A quick test with the water on let me know that this bed looks like it is irrigating just fine.

The final stage of planting the broccoli involves mulching in the bed.  I have been using grass clippings that are readily available.  I like that they don't blow away as easily as leaves and do a really good job of holding moisture in the soil.  Once I get the whole garden well mulched I hope I can get away with minimal watering in the heat of summer.

The thick layer of mulch is really multi-functional.  It traps moisture in soil. It shades out weed seeds and can prevent them from germinating.  It protects tender young seedlings from extreme temperatures by creating a micro climate right around the plant.  Since it is also biodegradable it will provide a little extra nutrition for my growing plants as it breaks down over the summer.