How and When to Harvest Broccoli for the Tastiest Crop
Broccoli is a tasty, tender crop with lots of nutrients. It’s perfect for backyard gardens! You may wonder when it ripens, and when you should harvest its heads. Wonder no more, since we’ll discover when and how to harvest your growing veggies. Learn to cut your broccoli heads in this guide alongside seasoned grower Jerad Bryant.
Contents
Broccoli is one of the first crops you should grow as a beginner. It ripens quickly in the growing season and is an easy introduction to the cabbage family Brassicaceae. Other crops in the family, like cauliflower and cabbage, require consistent labor and attention, while broccoli is relatively easy-going.
Although it’s a simple grower, there are still nuances about how to collect it. Broccoli, like lettuce, bolts in warm weather. If you are late to harvest, the crunchy heads will grow leggy and sparse, and they’ll open their yellow flowers. Although they’re pretty, you do not want to see broccoli flowers! They’re edible but nowhere near as delicious as the sauteed florets.
The other key part of broccoli harvesting is the tools you use. You’ll want sharp pruners that can slice through thick stems, especially if growing a large heading variety. When you harvest it correctly, you’ll have small side shoots to eat all season long.
So, how and when should you harvest broccoli for the tastiest crop? Let’s find out.
When To Harvest Broccoli
Broccoli matures during cool, mild weather without hard frosts. It tolerates light freezes but struggles through consistent freezing temperatures. It also hates excessive heat, making it ideal for fall or winter growing in mild-climate gardening zones. You’ll want to transplant seedlings in summer, fall, or winter for a winter through early spring harvest.
If you live where winters stay below freezing for weeks, your broccoli will not survive the winter. It’s a better crop for chilly early spring weather when light freezes are still occurring. You’ll harvest these plants 50 to 100 days after transplanting as their shoots mature into full heads.
When to harvest broccoli depends on when you plant it, so be sure to get your transplants into the ground early in the season. Start seeds a month or two before your last frost date in cold climates, and move seedlings outdoors two to four weeks before the last frost. In warm zones, start them anytime outdoors or indoors during the cool months.
Cut Before They Bolt
As the 50 days after transplanting approaches, take garden walkthroughs every other day or daily and look at your broccoli. Warm spring weather, excessive heat, and dry soils threaten your precious crops. They’ll turn from tightly bunched florets into sparse and leggy flowering stems. Walk near your plants, and you’ll see issues before they develop into problems.
Between 50 and 100 days after transplanting, your broccoli will be ready to harvest! Look for large heads with florets tightly packed. They should look similar to the large broccoli you buy at the grocery store. Use pruners to chop off the heads with at least five or six inches of stem. The stem helps the head last long in the fridge if you can’t eat it right away.
Some varieties form many small florets, while most traditional types grow one large central head. If you’re growing a kind with small florets, harvest them when they’re green and tight next to each other. You’ll want to catch them before they bolt and open into yellow flowers.
Continuously Harvest Side Shoots
After you harvest the main head, broccoli plants grow smaller side shoots throughout their stem. These are just as tasty as the central ones and grow more abundantly. Don’t rip up your plants after harvest—let them grow more vegetables instead!
The key with side shoots is continuous harvesting. When you pick them, you trick the plant into thinking it’s lost its budding flowers. It’ll start to produce more in attempts to make seeds. Keep picking the flowers, and broccoli will keep growing them in a neverending cycle. The only thing that can stop it is harsh winter frost or hot summer heat.
If your plant stops producing side shoots, it’s most likely spent! Pull up the plant and compost it, or leave it be to see what happens. It may start growing more shoots again once the weather is favorable. I like to pull up the plants once they’re done to make room for summer crops like tomatoes and squash.
Don’t Let Buds Open
Broccoli stops producing if any of its flowers open and pollinate themselves. After pollination, this annual vegetable forms long, thin seed pods like bok choy or radishes. If the plant forms seed pods, it’ll slow down the production. It’ll think it doesn’t need more heads since it’s already growing active seeds.
Prevent premature bolting and keep your crops thriving all season by harvesting them continuously. Slice off flowers as you notice them. The flowers are edible like sprouting broccoli, and they go great in stir fries, sauteed dishes, and salads. They have a light flavor similar that lends well to fresh recipes.
After buds open, they’ll attract pollinators and start forming seeds inside long, tender pods. These immature seed pods are also edible! They’re more flavorful than the heads and work well in cooking recipes that involve heating them in a pan with oil. Once they dry, they’re too stringy to eat, so catch them while they’re young.
Bonus Step: Save Seeds!
You may also want to grow seed pods to save seeds for next year. After you harvest dozens of heads, you can let a few flower and form seeds. The leggy stems may attract aphids during hot seasons, but they rarely affect the quality of the seeds. If you see a lot of them, use a strong stream of water to knock them off.
Fortunately, it doesn’t take long for seeds to form. Watch until the pods are yellow and bulging, then trim off entire stems with the pods attached. Place them in a brown paper bag indoors, and they’ll dry fully. The pods open, and the black, round seeds drop to the bottom of the bag.
Once you have the seeds, you’ll want to store them until next year’s growing season. Place them in an airtight container, then store them in a cool and dark location. Pantries, closets, or cupboards are perfect for storing seeds long-term. Use them in spring to start new plants or to grow broccoli microgreens!
Popular Varieties
You want to use a dependable, reliable, and delicious variety when growing broccoli. Select a kind that thrives with your climate, environment, and seasonal shifts. Certain types grow well in mild climates while others prefer frosty, chilly zones. These four varieties are excellent choices to start with.
‘Di Cicco’
‘Di Cicco’ is a classic heirloom favorite of Italian gardeners. It sprouts three-inch wide heads and produces ample side shoots after the first harvest. Its leaves are edible, too, although they’re tough for fresh eating. Cook them down like Swiss chard and add salt for a simple and nutritious dish.
This type produces green heads that resemble ones in the grocery stores, although they’re much tastier than today’s hybrids. ‘Di Cicco’ is an old variety from 1890, and it’s still a favorite because of its superb flavor.
‘Burgundy’
Different from most other broccolis, ‘Burgundy’ sprouts purple heads that stand out in the vegetable garden. It’s incredibly ornamental, meaning you can grow it with your perennials and shrubs if you’d like!
This hybrid type differs from heading broccoli because it’s a sprouting type. It’ll grow many decent-sized side shoots instead of a giant head. Sprouting types work well for consistent harvests, and ‘Burgundy’ works exceptionally well since it tolerates warm temperatures.
‘Belstar’
‘Belstar’ excels where other broccolis fail. It’s a heat-tolerant variety that performs from late summer through spring. This hybrid type grows a head larger than the previous two varieties, reaching six to eight inches in diameter! If you love large broccoli dishes, this is the kind for you.
Although ‘Belstar’ sprouts a giant head, it also grows side shoots. Once you cut off the main head, smaller side heads sprout off the stem below the cut. Harvest them before the flowers open, and your plant will keep producing more side shoots until a hard frost.
‘Blue Wind’
‘Blue Wind’ is a quick-growing variety perfect for growers with short spring seasons. It matures in an average of 60 days, giving you tasty heads two months after transplanting them. It receives its name from the blue-green color of the heads. Put ‘Burgundy’ and ‘Blue Wind’ together in your garden for a colorful, showy crop.
Because it’s quick, this variety works well during fall or winter in mild climate zones and in early spring in cold ones. Plant seedlings outdoors a week or two before your last frost date for best results.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you harvest broccoli more than once?
Yes, you can! After harvesting the main head, your plants will continue sprouting side shoots with small heads. Cut these shoots continuously throughout the growing season for tasty broccoli.
When is the ideal harvest time for broccoli?
Harvesting timeframes depend on when you transplanted your seedlings. Fall through winter transplants are ready to harvest in late winter or spring, while spring plantings are ready before midsummer.
Can you harvest broccoli after it flowers?
Yes! The yellow flowers are tasty and dainty, making them perfect additions to salads, soups, and stews. They add color to any recipe, and they taste like mild broccoli. Some may have stringy stems—saute, steam, or boil them first to soften them up.