Topic: romanesco going purple

[vee]

I've grown about six romanesco plants which were from free seeds with Grow your Own magazine. I'm still in my first season of growing so everything is new to me, but of the six plants only one has formed a head and that is going purple. It looks a bit like the broccoli from the shops but has the romanesco spiral shape. Is this normal or should I have covered the heads?

[john_miller]

It probably reflects an increase in the production of the pigment anthocyanin as the temperature cools. This is quite common in brassicas at this time of year.

[vee]

Thank you. But does that affect the taste or is it completely spoiled?

[john_miller]

It shouldn't. If you like the flavour, and most people do, you may want to source a F₁ hybrid variety for next year. These will mature more quickly and uniformly.

[tim]

The flavour is certainly worth working for. Mine were a failure this year.

[vee]

Thanks John and Tim. I really only tried them because they were free! It has been a trial and error year for me with more errors than anything else, but I have enjoyed it. Hope the romanesco tastes good, and i will look for a better variety - the one I got was free and had no name.