Broccoli is an annual vegetable in the cabbage family. It resembles cauliflower in appearance, but with green or purple heads. The main head of cabbage and side heads are used for food. Cut them off along with the juicy top of the stem.

Description of culture

Broccoli has recently appeared on the beds and on the tables of gardeners. Although the culture has been cultivated in Italy since ancient times, its mass distribution began in the territory of the former CIS countries in the second half of the last century.

It is tasty and healthy. Dense green heads of peduncles are used for food. When the buds turn yellow and begin to bloom, you cannot eat cabbage. After the heads are cut off in time, new shoots with buds grow, which are also tasty and edible. The bush becomes curly, the heads are small, dwarf, but the taste is the same. This extends the harvest time for broccoli.

Broccoli Romanesque

In terms of consumption, broccoli has not yet surpassed cabbage, but it is already as close to it as possible. 37 varieties are cultivated in Russia, mainly green varieties are grown. Cabbage varieties should be chosen based on the region and climatic conditions: early early ripening ones are suitable for the middle lane with a short summer, late ripening ones do not have time to grow and ripen during the northern summer, they are better planted in the south. Since the varieties tolerate temperature changes in different ways, the technology is cultivated and the harvest they also have differences.

Important! The varieties vary in yield. Basically, from 1 to 4 kg grows on 1 m², but there are also record harvests up to 8 kg.

Broccoli: early varieties

  • Batavia F1 is a hybrid with green leaves and dense round heads. Seeds are recommended to be planted March 15 - April 15. Productivity 2.5 kg per m². Grows well on hot days, heads can be cut off before frost. It can be used in any form, but tastes best when fresh.
  • Lord F1 is another excellent tasting hybrid. It is useful for cardiovascular diseases. Productivity up to 4 kg, bears fruit almost until winter. It has good disease resistance.
  • Broccoli Monaco F1. The description of this early maturing hybrid should start with a head that reaches up to 2 kg. This variety is very juicy, tasty, retains its taste for a long time even when frozen. The yield of the variety is high.
  • Broccoli Linda is an early hybrid. Heads of cabbage are small, weighing 300-400 g, but the total yield is up to 4 kg. Contains many beneficial vitamins and minerals, especially iodine. Linda cabbage is suitable both for harvesting and for eating fresh.
  • Gnome is a hybrid variety with small tasty heads and high yields. Broccoli Gnome is high in vitamins (phosphorus and calcium). Can be stored fresh and fermented for a long time.
    Broccoli

    Broccoli Monaco F1

Broccoli cabbage: varieties mid-season and late

  • Fortuna is a mid-season hybrid, a juicy variety with a pleasant taste of tender heads of cabbage. Suitable for those who like to eat fresh cabbage. It easily tolerates frost, can be stored for a long time. The fruits contain a lot of iron, calcium, iodine. Average yield - 2.5 kg.
  • Agassi F1 is a thermophilic variety. Head weight - 650 g. Productivity - 3.5 kg. Grows in open ground in regions with warm climates; in cold climates, cultivation in greenhouses is possible. Stored up to 5 months.
  • Continental is a late-ripening Dutch variety. The heads are dense, each weighing 400-600 g. The yield is slightly more than 2 kg per 1 m². Well suited for conservation.
  • Danish dwarf is an old late variety. Dwarf, because it is short, and the heads are large purple, the leaves are wide, wavy. Not afraid of frost. Stored in the basement all winter.

For Siberia and the Urals

How to grow broccoli

For these regions, varieties have been developed that are suitable for growing in cold climates. They ripen early, are not afraid of the cold, and are unpretentious in care.

  • Sedek - very early, matures in 70 days. Most often, gardeners choose this variety for the harsh climate of Siberia.
  • Broccoli F1 is a medium variety with dense green heads. It can be stored for several months.
  • The tone matures in 2.5 months. Heads of cabbage weighing 200 g. Fruits are dark green, delicate taste.

For greenhouses

Important! In many regions of the country (where winters are cold), it is best to grow broccoli in greenhouses, so as not to depend on the vagaries of the climate.

Breeders have developed special greenhouse varieties:

  • Lucky cabbage ripens 2.5 months after sowing. The heads grow a little less than a kilogram. The plant of this variety is not susceptible to powdery mildew.
  • Calabrese is a mid-season broccoli variety with a dense turquoise head weighing an average of 450 g. It is not afraid of frost and bad weather.

    Broccoli Continental

How to choose broccoli varieties

When choosing a variety, you need to know that broccoli can be varietal and hybrid. The main advantage of varietals is that you can independently collect seeds from plants and propagate them at home. With hybrids, this will not work, the seeds will be, but they will not disfigure the next year. To distinguish them, you should pay attention to the packaging. If there is an F1 mark on the bag, then it is a hybrid.

Broccoli (cabbage)

When planting, you need to make sure that varietal and hybrid seeds are not planted on the site, so that varieties are not confused when harvesting and seeds.

Important!Hybrids ripen earlier and are stored for a long time, but they are inferior to varietal ones in taste. But gardeners like them for their resistance to diseases, pests and various unfavorable factors.

When choosing a variety, you need to pay attention to yield, ripening time. You need to find out in advance about the conditions of agricultural technology of the variety, where it is better to grow: in the open field or in a greenhouse.

If the seeds are purchased for the first time, then several sachets can be selected. After planting, mark where which variety is planted. Monitor the growth, the size of the heads, and after harvesting, draw conclusions which variety is the best, and grow only it for the next season.

Purple broccoli

Whichever variety the gardener chooses, it will not fail in any case, since the culture itself is useful for the body in that it contains substances that are needed to prevent cancer.

Important!It is not recommended to use broccoli broccoli, because it contains purine bases - adenine and guanine.

Broccoli is non-allergenic and is used as a first food for babies.

Cabbage has a lot more useful properties, so for this it is worth trying to plant an unusual culture on 6 acres!