Author Topic: Romanesco brocolli  (Read 1488 times)

plotstoeat

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Romanesco brocolli
« on: May 19, 2019, 18:11:33 »
Has anyone grown this successfully from seed? Is it best started in modules and then transplanted?

Tee Gee

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Re: Romanesco brocolli
« Reply #1 on: May 19, 2019, 18:43:18 »
Quote
Has anyone grown this successfully from seed? Is it best started in modules and then transplanted?

Yes, I grew it a number of years ago and didn't rate it very highly.

As I saw it; a plant takes up more or less the same space as the Cauliflower or Calabrese varieties I usually grow, so because the heads were not as big as my preferred Cauliflower or Calabrese varieties, I didn't bother growing them again!

But then again it is each to there own, so to answer your question; I grew them like any other Brassica, which in my case is to initially use cell trays or punnets before potting up into 3" pots.

See here;

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Content/C/Calabrese/Calabrese.htm

click on pics to enlarge

plotstoeat

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Re: Romanesco brocolli
« Reply #2 on: May 19, 2019, 18:50:13 »
Thanks TeeGee. I have the seeds so may as well use them up.

Obelixx

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Re: Romanesco brocolli
« Reply #3 on: May 19, 2019, 20:33:02 »
I've grown it as plug plants bought in the local garden and pet store.  Takes up the same space as a broccoli and I like the flavour but I decided, in the end, that you get a better crop from broccoli.
Obxx - Vendée France

Vinlander

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Re: Romanesco brocolli
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2019, 08:36:20 »
I like it because the texture is halfway between cauli and calabrese (assuming you don't routinely boil veg to mush). It also over-ripens more like cauli, which I think makes it less critical about when you pick it.

It also looks good on the plate - especially if you are a fan of Fibonacci/Mandelbrot.

I can't be definite about this (because the problem happens so rarely), but if you want a long season of picking I think it helps to grow early and late versions of all 3 instead of the early, middle and late versions of 1 or 2.

I have had cases where unusual weather has made all the 'timed' caulis - sown months apart - synchronise and cause a massive glut in a wide range of sizes (which is a nightmare - though I have high hopes that making a kimchi based on them will help next time).

I have seen the same happen with 'timed' calabrese - though it wasn't quite so pronounced.

I'm not saying it can't happen with romanesco but the 3 separate species have never synchronised with each other - YET.

Cheers.
With a microholding you always get too much or bugger-all. (I'm fed up calling it an allotment garden - it just encourages the tidy-police).

The simple/complex split is more & more important: Simple fertilisers Poor, complex ones Good. Simple (old) poisons predictable, others (new) the opposite.

pumkinlover

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Re: Romanesco brocolli
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2019, 12:04:06 »
I'm with Vinlander on this one, I find it much easier to grow, and keeps a bit better when ready.

Borderers1951

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Re: Romanesco brocolli
« Reply #6 on: May 21, 2019, 18:43:05 »
Yes, I grow them and the whole family (ourselves, a son, a daughter, their spouses and six grandchildren) love them.  I've grown them from seeds in modules and from bought seedlings.  After starting to grow these, I've given up on caulis and calabrese.

 

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