White butterfly drives me mad in the summer here in my New Zealand garden. Last summer I grew no brassicas in the summer for that reason. This summer I will net the garden. I have grown sprouting broccoli for the first time this year, and will definitely keep growing it because it produces so quickly. It has grown well all winter as the weather is not severe in our winter. I do enjoy your videos.
After harvesting the broccoli head during winter, I always leave the remainder in the ground for it to sprout as the weather improves, BUT before the cabbage moths appear. I usually manage to get several meals from the florettes. With the added BONUS that they are the right size for stir-fries. So minimal prep at mealtime.
Trying these from pretty good sized plants I got at a nursery. This is a first time for a garden this season for me, I usually do spring/summer so I hope it turns out well. I hope the plants will make more shoots if I am able to harvest some. Thank you for the great video and also to all the great comments, now I know what kind of cool season pests and predators to look for.
I grew the "artwork" broccolini, you mentioned it in a planning video. I got it through Vesey's, and it is not bitter at all. The flavor is the best, thanks!!
I’m glad you cleared up the white fly topic. For a while now, I had no idea what you were talking about. Now that I know what you mean, I now see that I have this pest! I see the white butterflies, and I see the caterpillars!
Thanks for sharing! I’m going to be trying a purple sprouting broccoli from Baker Creek this fall. I didn’t even try growing any brassicas this spring because I had such pest trouble last year.
I have a very short season because by June, it's too hot for cool weather crops. I'll try this next season. I pulled my garlic a month ago. I had better results than my previous year.
Great video,and its funny you mentioned the white fly,I always called them cabbage loopers,but I noticed the same with my cabbage this year,a lot of red wasps were constantly hovering over the plants.Sure I had some damage,but it was not bad,I harvested quite a few heads of cabbage.
That's really interesting. Two years ago I tried growing broccoli in my little greenhouse which I didn't know a lot off and resulted in something like this. I kept them on the stems until they blossomed and was annoyed my broccoli didn't want to grow any bigger. Only last year these broccolini I suddenly started to appear in recipes all over the internet and in some few grocery stores around here. Couldn't they've come up with that one year earlier? I would have been one hell of a trendsetter then! :-D
thats awesome about the wasp, i never knew that, thank you....i have a second family i am raising, i bought them butterfly nets and they love catching the white moths, lol,,,,,
Cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni) and cabbage moth (Mamestra brassicae) are little brown moths. The small cabbage white (Pieris rapae) and the large cabbage white (Pieris brassicae) are white butterflies. Whiteflies are tiny insects 2mm long. 5 different species of brassica death...
This is the only video I've seen for broccolini, but I accidentally found it while scrolling how to save broccoli seed. When I searched how to grow broccolini earlier, this video didn't come up
I've known them as cabbage moths , this year I have been particularly keen on smushing the little eggs on the underside of my brassicas , so far so good , of course if your growing rows and rows of brassicas this would be a full time job lol. But in my small garden it seems to be working , last year they destroyed my plants , anyway great video Greg , I am growing these plants as well , except my florets aren't half as big as those before they start opening to flowers , good job 👍👌
Thanks T. Yes I wish I could pick off the eggs but there's no way to keep up on this scale. The BTK is an easy solution for me, and totally organic - but I'd prefer an army of wasps because that would be even easier :)
I found the pack to be a bit light as well. re: germination, it's possible you planted too early. I sowed under the dome, so my guess is that the extra heat helped a lot.
@@maritimegardening4887I just bought a pack of brocolini seeds. 20 to 25 seeds for 5.95 cnd or roughly 40 cents per seed and it's a hybrid. Matures in 65 days. I also found a rapini that matures in 35 days which I will plant in August as weather cools off.
@@garrettzuzik2545 are you asking about the rapini producing lots of seeds? If so I believe it's an heirloom plant and should produce lots of seeds, yes. The brocolini is a hybrid and you can't trust the seeds.
This is one vegetable I don't have and I also enjoy broccoli. My garlics are done and I am harvesting today or tomorrow and I'm looking for something to plant. I'm thinking bush beans but maybe some brocolini will also work. I planted some summer spinach which is just coming up and looking for more plants as my lettuces start to bolt. I'm thinking a second crop of beets as well as my first crop of beets won't last more than a few weeks.
Ooo we will have to grow some of those! My kid is one of those rare unicorn kids who love broccoli too Edit to add: just ordered some, and some red onion seeds that were on sale because I can’t resist a seed sale 🤦🏼♀️ thanks again for the coupon code so I didn’t have to pay shipping! I think I’ll try some as a fall crop... planted in early-mid August, I would think would work... thoughts?
What zone/part of Nova Scotia are you in? I'm in suburban Toronto right by Lake Ontario, so we have a somewhat Maritime climate. Our average annual low is around -18C, average mid-summer day is 26C/19C, and average last and first frost are April 14 and November 10. So relatively small range in temperatures compared to a lot of North America, and a relatively long growing season. I'm thinking broccolini could be good as a spring or fall crop here, growing something else before/after. I'm trying it out this fall, although maybe a bit too late. I've been having a hard time getting it to germinate in the summer heat + cabbage worm hitting seedlings hard. The bigger plants don't seem as affected though. I guess that won't be an issue in spring (starting indoors) as long as I'm careful not too let caterpillars get too out of control in late spring/early summer. And then I guess for fall crops I'll have to germinate indoors and then have seedlings under mesh.
It's similar, but despite the fact that you're further North, my summers are cooler, my last frost is typically late May or even June, and 1st frost is typically in late September. That said - the broccolini should produce all summer long and into the fall if you keep harvesting the florets. Deal with pests by using Safers end all if they are bad - I didn't use any pesticides this year (I normally use end-all when necessary) and my broccoli were ravaged.
@@maritimegardening4887 What I've found with the brassicas I've grown so far this year (Early Copenhagen Market Cabbage, Romanesco Broccoli, Purple Vienna Kohlrabi and Laurentian Rutabaga) is that the cabbage moths target the seedlings, but once they start getting the larger, thicker leaves they get left alone. I held off from growing some brassicas because a lot of people say they don't do well in heat but now that I look into it more I think that's less of a concern in either of our climates. Broccoli: won't do well if exposed to 4+ consecutive days of 35C+ - not a concern since I've gotten only 2 days that hot in the past decade, so we'll get at most one day of that. Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage: may struggle in extreme summer heat, but not Canadian summers Cauliflower: more finicky and doesn't like 30C+ heat or wild temperature fluctuations. However, if the heat occurs before head formation it will probably be ok... so probably better as a fall crop here unless I can push it to mature by early June? Collards: heat tolerant
I think it's very possible. There were sown early april - and have grown this much with no heat and very little sun in apr/may/june. I don't have any more seeds otherwise i'd try it too.
Question: Hi Greg, a couple of videos ago you mentioned lacto-fermentation. So I've been busy studying up on the process & combos etc. BUT once they have fermented & you transfer them to storage, can you stack the jars one on top of the other ... or do the jars have to be stored in a single layer on the shelf? Also, I've purchased mason jars with the seal & band ... should the seals "pop" when you first open them after storage ... or does that just relate to canning? Just trying to get this sorted before I commence the process.
I would not stack them unless I was absolutely sure that it would not compromise the seal. I use mason jars, I don't stack mine. Regarding the pop - they are not vacuum sealed, so there's not the same physics at play. That said, sometimes they pop anyway because of the difference between the temp they were sealed (room temp), and the temp they are stored (10c to -4c), creating a slight change in the density of the air in the bottles. I have a q&a vid on pickles that you may find helpful.
It's supposed to be caterpillar specific. Luckily I didn't need to use any last year - the wasps seemed to handle all my problem pests where the broccoli were concerned.
What about when the predators don't show up on time to save something? The aphids have attached my lovage, and the ants are right there, encouraging them. Last time I grew lovage, it was totally taken out by aphids.
@@annestudley8235 Since they are typically under the leaves, I've never been able to jet them off effectively with a hose without blasting the hell out of the plant. How do you do this?
I only have a few lovage plants, and the aphids were toward the top of plants that are basically at eye level for me. The strength of the jet wasn't like a pressure washer. I just turned the knob on the nozzle to jet and took a hold of the parts of the plants with the aphids and rocked them back and forth so that I could direct the stream exactly at the groups of aphids from close range, pressing the "trigger" just enough to get them off. I aimed at the aphids but also had the nozzle at an angle to only graze the plant while blasting the aphids away. I inspected the plants afterwards to make sure there were no aphids or ants left on them. I don't know if this makes sense. I'm sure this would be way too much work if there were more plants. I'm out of town for 4 days and will see if they're all back when I get home!
I’ve tried the jet stream as well and they’ve always come back. Getting rid of the ants and planting aphid attracting plants like nasturtium helped. I’ve also learned that the quality of your soil affects the health of your plants (duh), and that aphids tend to attack unhealthy plants. Love these discussions, I learn so much!!
Broccolini isn't baby broccoli. It is a hybrid of Broccoli and Chinese broccoli. It is faster growing and sweeter. Even the stalk is nice when cooked unlike the stalk of the broccoli.
Few hybrids are sterile - but the issue is that they are usually not "true to type", such the that plant that results from the seed does not resemble the parent. I think Artwork Broccolini is a hybrid - but I'm not 100% sure about that.
@@maritimegardening4887 The definition of hybrid is that it is sterile. Though the word is often used to describe a cross pollination of like species. A true hybrid is a cross of different species and if it were not sterile, it would be a new species. A hybrid is two species
White butterfly drives me mad in the summer here in my New Zealand garden. Last summer I grew no brassicas in the summer for that reason. This summer I will net the garden. I have grown sprouting broccoli for the first time this year, and will definitely keep growing it because it produces so quickly. It has grown well all winter as the weather is not severe in our winter. I do enjoy your videos.
After harvesting the broccoli head during winter, I always leave the remainder in the ground for it to sprout as the weather improves, BUT before the cabbage moths appear. I usually manage to get several meals from the florettes. With the added BONUS that they are the right size for stir-fries. So minimal prep at mealtime.
Awesome thank you I just started to growing broccolini my first time.
Wonderful!
Trying these from pretty good sized plants I got at a nursery. This is a first time for a garden this season for me, I usually do spring/summer so I hope it turns out well. I hope the plants will make more shoots if I am able to harvest some. Thank you for the great video and also to all the great comments, now I know what kind of cool season pests and predators to look for.
My viewers are a wealth of information
I grew the "artwork" broccolini, you mentioned it in a planning video. I got it through Vesey's, and it is not bitter at all. The flavor is the best, thanks!!
Wonderful!
I’m glad you cleared up the white fly topic. For a while now, I had no idea what you were talking about. Now that I know what you mean, I now see that I have this pest! I see the white butterflies, and I see the caterpillars!
They are pesky!
Great sense of humour!! Love your videos! Thanks!
Martine 🇨🇦
Thanks :)
It’s always great to see the predator insects, arachnids at work in the garden. My kids always liked broccoli. Just plain broccoli.
Thanks for sharing! I’m going to be trying a purple sprouting broccoli from Baker Creek this fall. I didn’t even try growing any brassicas this spring because I had such pest trouble last year.
I have a very short season because by June, it's too hot for cool weather crops. I'll try this next season. I pulled my garlic a month ago. I had better results than my previous year.
Wow you're so far ahead of me :)
Great video,and its funny you mentioned the white fly,I always called them cabbage loopers,but I noticed the same with my cabbage this year,a lot of red wasps were constantly hovering over the plants.Sure I had some damage,but it was not bad,I harvested quite a few heads of cabbage.
What an interesting variety. Thanks so much for sharing. 🤗
I feel you man, I love broccoli. Even when I was a kid it was my favorite.
That's really interesting. Two years ago I tried growing broccoli in my little greenhouse which I didn't know a lot off and resulted in something like this. I kept them on the stems until they blossomed and was annoyed my broccoli didn't want to grow any bigger. Only last year these broccolini I suddenly started to appear in recipes all over the internet and in some few grocery stores around here. Couldn't they've come up with that one year earlier? I would have been one hell of a trendsetter then! :-D
Thanks for the tips! I needed to see someone else cut the heads off before I could be convinced to chop off mine.
Glad I could help!
Broccoli does that too. I've never tried broccolini but it looks great!
I think it's only some varieties though.
thats awesome about the wasp, i never knew that, thank you....i have a second family i am raising, i bought them butterfly nets and they love catching the white moths, lol,,,,,
Just searched "when yo harvest broccolini" and landed here. Great info.
Welcome!
Need to show where a good node is and how to recognize it
Cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni) and cabbage moth (Mamestra brassicae) are little brown moths. The small cabbage white (Pieris rapae) and the large cabbage white (Pieris brassicae) are white butterflies. Whiteflies are tiny insects 2mm long. 5 different species of brassica death...
This is the only video I've seen for broccolini, but I accidentally found it while scrolling how to save broccoli seed. When I searched how to grow broccolini earlier, this video didn't come up
Interesting. I wonder why it worked that way.
I've known them as cabbage moths , this year I have been particularly keen on smushing the little eggs on the underside of my brassicas , so far so good , of course if your growing rows and rows of brassicas this would be a full time job lol. But in my small garden it seems to be working , last year they destroyed my plants , anyway great video Greg , I am growing these plants as well , except my florets aren't half as big as those before they start opening to flowers , good job 👍👌
Thanks T. Yes I wish I could pick off the eggs but there's no way to keep up on this scale. The BTK is an easy solution for me, and totally organic - but I'd prefer an army of wasps because that would be even easier :)
I tried broccolini this year, in zone 3, there was not a lot of seeds in the pack, none germinated, will try again next year. Thanks for the video.
I found the pack to be a bit light as well. re: germination, it's possible you planted too early. I sowed under the dome, so my guess is that the extra heat helped a lot.
@@maritimegardening4887I just bought a pack of brocolini seeds. 20 to 25 seeds for 5.95 cnd or roughly 40 cents per seed and it's a hybrid. Matures in 65 days. I also found a rapini that matures in 35 days which I will plant in August as weather cools off.
John Hazaras Does this veg produce bountiful seeds?
@@garrettzuzik2545 are you asking about the rapini producing lots of seeds? If so I believe it's an heirloom plant and should produce lots of seeds, yes. The brocolini is a hybrid and you can't trust the seeds.
John Hazaras rapini it is, thanks!!
Sounds like it could be grown as a flower otherwise - like pinching back blooms. I might throw some in with my frog plants next year.
This is one vegetable I don't have and I also enjoy broccoli. My garlics are done and I am harvesting today or tomorrow and I'm looking for something to plant. I'm thinking bush beans but maybe some brocolini will also work. I planted some summer spinach which is just coming up and looking for more plants as my lettuces start to bolt. I'm thinking a second crop of beets as well as my first crop of beets won't last more than a few weeks.
they are almost impossible to his with a swatter, hehe, a small net around your brocolli helps keep them off
Thanks!
With the leaves, it's almost like growing broccoli and kale at the same time.
Exactly :)
Ooo we will have to grow some of those! My kid is one of those rare unicorn kids who love broccoli too
Edit to add: just ordered some, and some red onion seeds that were on sale because I can’t resist a seed sale 🤦🏼♀️ thanks again for the coupon code so I didn’t have to pay shipping!
I think I’ll try some as a fall crop... planted in early-mid August, I would think would work... thoughts?
I thin it would work. Maybe I'll try too.
What zone/part of Nova Scotia are you in? I'm in suburban Toronto right by Lake Ontario, so we have a somewhat Maritime climate. Our average annual low is around -18C, average mid-summer day is 26C/19C, and average last and first frost are April 14 and November 10. So relatively small range in temperatures compared to a lot of North America, and a relatively long growing season. I'm thinking broccolini could be good as a spring or fall crop here, growing something else before/after. I'm trying it out this fall, although maybe a bit too late. I've been having a hard time getting it to germinate in the summer heat + cabbage worm hitting seedlings hard. The bigger plants don't seem as affected though. I guess that won't be an issue in spring (starting indoors) as long as I'm careful not too let caterpillars get too out of control in late spring/early summer. And then I guess for fall crops I'll have to germinate indoors and then have seedlings under mesh.
It's similar, but despite the fact that you're further North, my summers are cooler, my last frost is typically late May or even June, and 1st frost is typically in late September. That said - the broccolini should produce all summer long and into the fall if you keep harvesting the florets. Deal with pests by using Safers end all if they are bad - I didn't use any pesticides this year (I normally use end-all when necessary) and my broccoli were ravaged.
@@maritimegardening4887 What I've found with the brassicas I've grown so far this year (Early Copenhagen Market Cabbage, Romanesco Broccoli, Purple Vienna Kohlrabi and Laurentian Rutabaga) is that the cabbage moths target the seedlings, but once they start getting the larger, thicker leaves they get left alone.
I held off from growing some brassicas because a lot of people say they don't do well in heat but now that I look into it more I think that's less of a concern in either of our climates.
Broccoli: won't do well if exposed to 4+ consecutive days of 35C+ - not a concern since I've gotten only 2 days that hot in the past decade, so we'll get at most one day of that.
Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage: may struggle in extreme summer heat, but not Canadian summers
Cauliflower: more finicky and doesn't like 30C+ heat or wild temperature fluctuations. However, if the heat occurs before head formation it will probably be ok... so probably better as a fall crop here unless I can push it to mature by early June?
Collards: heat tolerant
Would it work as a fall vegetable, sow seeds in late August?
I think it's very possible. There were sown early april - and have grown this much with no heat and very little sun in apr/may/june. I don't have any more seeds otherwise i'd try it too.
Question: Hi Greg, a couple of videos ago you mentioned lacto-fermentation. So I've been busy studying up on the process & combos etc. BUT once they have fermented & you transfer them to storage, can you stack the jars one on top of the other ... or do the jars have to be stored in a single layer on the shelf? Also, I've purchased mason jars with the seal & band ... should the seals "pop" when you first open them after storage ... or does that just relate to canning? Just trying to get this sorted before I commence the process.
I would not stack them unless I was absolutely sure that it would not compromise the seal. I use mason jars, I don't stack mine. Regarding the pop - they are not vacuum sealed, so there's not the same physics at play. That said, sometimes they pop anyway because of the difference between the temp they were sealed (room temp), and the temp they are stored (10c to -4c), creating a slight change in the density of the air in the bottles. I have a q&a vid on pickles that you may find helpful.
What zone are you in? What was the total time from planting to harvest? And did you plant plants or seeds?
Direct-seeded. Nova scotia canada 6a
Love broccoli I.
Great video Greg! Was wondering if BTK will harm the predator insects or any others?
It's supposed to be caterpillar specific. Luckily I didn't need to use any last year - the wasps seemed to handle all my problem pests where the broccoli were concerned.
What about when the predators don't show up on time to save something? The aphids have attached my lovage, and the ants are right there, encouraging them. Last time I grew lovage, it was totally taken out by aphids.
Spray the lovage with insecticidal soap if there's no predator taking them out.
Thanks Greg. I jetted them off with the hose and will do the soap if they're back right away.
@@annestudley8235 Since they are typically under the leaves, I've never been able to jet them off effectively with a hose without blasting the hell out of the plant. How do you do this?
I only have a few lovage plants, and the aphids were toward the top of plants that are basically at eye level for me. The strength of the jet wasn't like a pressure washer. I just turned the knob on the nozzle to jet and took a hold of the parts of the plants with the aphids and rocked them back and forth so that I could direct the stream exactly at the groups of aphids from close range, pressing the "trigger" just enough to get them off. I aimed at the aphids but also had the nozzle at an angle to only graze the plant while blasting the aphids away. I inspected the plants afterwards to make sure there were no aphids or ants left on them. I don't know if this makes sense. I'm sure this would be way too much work if there were more plants. I'm out of town for 4 days and will see if they're all back when I get home!
I’ve tried the jet stream as well and they’ve always come back. Getting rid of the ants and planting aphid attracting plants like nasturtium helped. I’ve also learned that the quality of your soil affects the health of your plants (duh), and that aphids tend to attack unhealthy plants. Love these discussions, I learn so much!!
Do you think these would do well in a grow tower
I don't know.
Broccolini isn't baby broccoli. It is a hybrid of Broccoli and Chinese broccoli. It is faster growing and sweeter. Even the stalk is nice when cooked unlike the stalk of the broccoli.
Anyone know if the garlic scape freeze well?
I freeze them as pesto.,
Did you start from seeds or from cuttings? I can't locate any broccolini to plant
Thank you.
Seeds - you can buy them from Veseys seeds. Use my coupon code :)
Found sprouting broccoli seeds at hlfx seed. Trying starting seeds in summer and grow into the fall. What do you think.
Why not. Let me know how it works out.
Have you kept the seed? Do they come true from your seed? Thanks
No sorry I haven't tried that. I'm pretty sure mine are hybrid plants, so I doubt that would work anyway
If it is a true hybrid, it is sterile.
If it produces viable seed it would be a new cultivar of broccoli.
Do you seeds Broccolni?
I'm not sure what you're asking me - can you rephrase that?
Is this a sterile hybrid?
Does it produce viable seed?
Few hybrids are sterile - but the issue is that they are usually not "true to type", such the that plant that results from the seed does not resemble the parent. I think Artwork Broccolini is a hybrid - but I'm not 100% sure about that.
@@maritimegardening4887
The definition of hybrid is that it is sterile.
Though the word is often used to describe a cross pollination of like species.
A true hybrid is a cross of different species and if it were not sterile, it would be a new species.
A hybrid is two species
@@maritimegardening4887
My understanding is that brocolini is a cross between broccoli and kale..
If so, it is a true hybrid , and would be sterile
Here we call them "cabbage moth"
… And we just called them cabbage, butterflies, and they are horrible pests!