Late Purple Sprouting Broccoli

Sow in mid to late spring either indoors in modules or outside in a seed bed.  Transplant to their final position, once they’re about 4-6” tall, adding lots of organic material.  Space them 2½ ft apart and firm them in well.  Keep well watered when young, but don’t over water once established and avoid waterlogging in the winter.

Sprouting broccoli does well in Wales, as it prefers a cooler summer.  There’s a higher risk of it bolting prematurely if it gets too hot, so a growing location that’s in partial shade is fine. It prefers well drained soil, so avoid somewhere that’s likely to get a bit waterlogged during the winter.

Seeds can be sown from March until June and are best sown in modules. They’ll germinate quickly and you won’t need any additional heat.  Pot them on when they’ve got their first set of ‘true’ leaves, then plant them out when they’re about 4-6” tall, at about 2.5ft spacings, after hardening off.  Dig in plenty of organic matter initially, and water regularly throughout the season.  

Make sure you plant them a little deeper than they were in their pots, and firm them in well, as brassicas hate being rocked about in the wind.  You may want to add a stake if you’re on an exposed site, or you’re growing a tall variety. Slugs and snails love young brassicas, so they’ll need protection, and if you have problems with cabbage root fly, make sure you cover the ground around each plant. Later in the season, cabbage white butterflies may be a problem, so you can either cover with a net, or hand pick the caterpillars. Like all brassicas, sprouting broccoli is a hungry crop, so feed regularly throughout the season – I like to use comfrey or nettle tea.

Once the flowering spears appear, harvest them regularly to keep the plant producing and don’t let them flower.