And for days I tried to save this plant. But it finally bit the dust. Argh! What is causing this??
I decided that I don't want to grow broccoli next year. Lesson learned. It's such a waste of space for one broccoli that might never come to fruition. My husband still wants to try it, maybe a different variety next year.
I'm not sure what happened to it. But, I thought it could stand a little cooler weather. You might want to try it in early spring.
ReplyDeleteYour saying swiss cheese reminded me of how I called my basil swiss cheese. I discovered that mine problem was due to japanese beetles. I'm not sure what damaged your broccoli, but I'm sorry it didn't work for you. I also thought the same thing about broccoli (and many other brassica crops), that they take up a lot of room for not a lot of reward.
ReplyDeleteI've tried growing broccoli twice now and it has failed both times- eaten down to nothingness by unseen buggies. Most people grow them under floating row covers, I think, but I don't have one. I've also heard that growing them as a fall crop can be more successful- the bugs aren't quite as bad and the plants really appreciate the cool fall weather.
ReplyDeleteI gave up on broccoli, too, due to insects, possibly the cabbage worm, from the cabbage white butterflies. I've been thinking about trying to grow it again sometime. The cabbage worms/caterpillars eat on some of the kale I grow, but I am able to get a good harvest of it. I plant kale every other year, and it comes back and blooms the second year. I let some bloom, because bees and other good insects like the blooms, and they are pretty. I've found I can still harvest some leaves while the plant is blooming, and they are not bitter, like lettuce gets when it blooms.
ReplyDeleteCould have been flea beetles. They are tiny little black bugs that jump away when you try to get them. They get my broccoli and eggplant almost every year. This year, I kept my plants dowsed with diotomaceous earth and neem and they are doing great.
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