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Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: plotstoeat on May 19, 2019, 18:11:33
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Has anyone grown this successfully from seed? Is it best started in modules and then transplanted?
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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 (http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Content/C/Calabrese/Calabrese.htm)
click on pics to enlarge
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Thanks TeeGee. I have the seeds so may as well use them up.
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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.
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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.
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I'm with Vinlander on this one, I find it much easier to grow, and keeps a bit better when ready.
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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.