Emerald Giant Broccoli

[Wi-sunflower]

I just checked with Hubby on the Boron amounts. You are on the low side according to him and could go with 20 lbs / acre of Borax preplant and still be OK.

For existing crops he uses 3/4 pint of Solubar / acre added to a spray tank of water. Solubar is 8% Boron liquid. It hasn't burned plants and actually helps broccoli heads or side shoots rather quickly.

But you are right that too much can be toxic. It can actually be used as a weed killer on beets as beets are about the only thing that will sprout thru a heavy boron treatment. If you use a narrow line of Borax over your beet seeds the amount won't be toxic for the following crop when the line is mixed into the entire area. I haven't personally tried this tho as I just haven't had the time to try it but a neighbor farmer swears by that.

BTW, most areas east of the Rockies are at least somewhat Boron deficient.

Carol

[TomNJ]

Originally Posted by tjg911

wow tom those are huge heads! i wonder what they'll do for sideshoots? post an update.

Well it's November and we've had several killing frosts with temperatures as low as 21°F, so the broccoli plants are now dying. I went out today to pull the plants and look what I found! The Emerald Giants were full of side shoots measuring 1" to 3" across, all tight as a drum. The Waltham 29 plants only had a few loose side shoots plus a few that bolted to flowers. (The garlic bulb in the photo is just for size reference).

Nice surprise - 2 1/2 pounds of perfect florets from 10 plants. I like this Emerald Giant!

TomNJ/VA

[tjg911]

nice side shoots. it's those that are 1/4-3/8" that are a pain to pick. i can spend an hour and have that much.

how many plants of this variety did you grow? i've found that some plants have tiny side shoots while other plants of the same variety grown next to each other that i started from the same pack of seeds have large side shoots. if this variety produces this size consistently on dozens of plants (i know you grow large numbers of plants) then maybe it's worth switching.

tom

[Labradors2]

Wow! Tom! They look fabulous!

I am growing four Packman broccoli seedlings in pots here in NC this winter. I hope I get as good a harvest as you did!

Linda

[TomNJ]

Originally Posted by tjg911

how many plants of this variety did you grow? i've found that some plants have tiny side shoots while other plants of the same variety grown next to each other that i started from the same pack of seeds have large side shoots. if this variety produces this size consistently on dozens of plants (i know you grow large numbers of plants) then maybe it's worth switching.

tom

I grew 15 Emerald Giants and these shoots were from about 10 or 11 of them. I skipped a few because they were dead from the freezing temperatures last week. I would guess that maybe 90% of the side shoots were larger than 1" and maybe 50% were larger than 2". I was impressed and pleased, and enjoyed some cream of broccoli & cheddar soup tonight, and blanched & froze the rest. Since I grew a total of 45 plants this year I am swimming in broccoli! Good thing I bought a second large chest freezer!

TomNJ/VA

[Tormato]

Anyone know of a variety that would produce more stalk than crown?

I like the taste of the stalk much more than the crown.

Gary

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by Tormato

Anyone know of a variety that would produce more stalk than crown?

I like the taste of the stalk much more than the crown.

Kohlrabi.

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by TomNJ

I grew 15 Emerald Giants and these shoots were from about 10 or 11 of them. I skipped a few because they were dead from the freezing temperatures last week. I would guess that maybe 90% of the side shoots were larger than 1" and maybe 50% were larger than 2". I was impressed and pleased, and enjoyed some cream of broccoli & cheddar soup tonight, and blanched & froze the rest. Since I grew a total of 45 plants this year I am swimming in broccoli! Good thing I bought a second large chest freezer!

TomNJ/VA

sounds good, i'm willing to give these a shot. so i googled this and i can't seem to find who sells the seeds. where did you buy seeds?

tom

[TomNJ]

Got them at my local Home Depot (Burpee seeds).

Tom

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by habitat_gardener

Kohlrabi.

Kohlrabi! Now why didn't I think of that.

I did have to go back and find an old post about Granlibakken and Superschmelz.

www.tomatoville.com/showpost.php?p=88579&postcount=11