Topic: purple sprouting broccoli eaten by caterpillars

[cestrian]

I just got back off 2 weeks holiday in the sun and as usual the garden has got a bit wild. This is the first time I have grown purple sprouting broccoli and they had outgrown the netting. They are up to about 5 foot tall, with yellow flowers all over. It was also covered in big fat brown caterpillars, which have eaten 50% of the leaves. I cut the plants right back, removed most of the caterpillars and improved the netting.

Do you think they will be OK? Also I'm quite surprised I was getting broccoli off these plants in July. I thought PSB was normally harvested Jan - March. I started the seeds off in April if I remember right.

[telboy]

It appears that your broccoli has gone, or is going to seed.

[ed dibbles]

What variety are you growing as there are summer cropping sprouting broccoli?. If this is what you have they have formed the broccoli spears as they are bred to do and then gone on to flower.

If you want sprouting broccoli at the most useful time in early/mid spring you need to grow the right ones - simply called "sprouting broccoli" in the catalogues or there are one or two hybrid ones that are not a huge improvement in my view.

These overwintering types are tough. I have seen unprotected plants holed by caterpillars, then shredded by pigeons and still go on to produce copious amounts of spring broccoli.

So there is no harm now in cutting yours right back and harvest any new broccoli spears that form. You have nothing to lose after all. And please don't let this experience deter you from persevering with this crop since the overwintering type is one of the easiest, most resilient and tasty crops you can grow.

[Digeroo]

You are supposed to eat the flowers before they open and turn yellow,  You might get some more if you cut off every sign of yellow.   Perhaps as Ed suggests it was a summer variety.  April seems rather early to plant for the following year types.

Purple sprouting does not like light soil and very windy conditions, so in some areas the hardiness just does not happen.   Where I am some type of wind protection is essential.   

[cestrian]

I can't remember the variety i am sure the packet just said purple sprouting broccoli and don't think it was a summer variety or the harvest Jan-March wouldn't have stuck in my head. Maybe I sowed them too early.

The soil was rich with home grown compost and had been well manured previously and it's not a particularly windy site and the plants are quite well netted, so don't think it's the wind. I think the spears had flowered just because they hadn't been harvested for two weeks while I've been away. I was more concerned with the caterpillar infestation and whether they would recover from that. There seems to be a lot of new growth though, so I will persevere with them.