Broccoli Florets VERY small???

[sparkles2307]

My broccolis is tall with nice thick stems, and then it just gets one teeny bite-sized floret on each plant. I tried letting them grow bigger but they just go to seed so I have to pick them at this teeny size. What am I doing wrong to have such small broccoli?

 

[bid]

It's called "buttoning". At least I think that is what you are describing. A few causes are lack of nitrogen or other nutrients, lack of adequate water, exposure to cool temps (doubt that one applies), overcrowding. Sometimes if you bought transplants that were allowed to dry out they are very likely to button. The plants need to maintain rapid growth early on and anything that interferes with that makes them very likely to produce those little small heads. I am still working on my first successful broccoli harvest because the weather seems to get me one way or another so far.

 

[sparkles2307]

Ah i see, well maybe the nitrogen...but we mixed in GOOD 5 yr old manure from our cows... maybe the water but hmmm maybe I will just try to be more careful next year.

 

[bid]

I don't know what your weather has been like, but the month of May and part of June was very wet here. If it wasn't raining it was overcast...not a lot of sun. I am guessing these plants went out sometime around the first of June? I would think an extended period of low sunlight might cause them to produce small heads? Nothing to back this up with, just seems to make sense (at least to me). Is that a possibility?

 

[sparkles2307]

Uh well I planted my garden in the middle-end of May...Spring was late in MN. And yeah it was sunny but COLD till July, the plants werent getting their heat units for growth. On the upside, I have 2x the canteloupes as last year and they are doing MUCH better. My zuchinni is doubled this year too. So I can live without broccoli if the rest of my garden is doing better than the norm. I also had TONS of those broccoli worms but they dont seem to be eating the leaves at all and I have been just picking them off as I am too lazy to go buy dust...