Growing Broccoli in Tasmania

Broccoli is a cool season crop. It loves the temperate autumn and spring temperatures and can quite easily tolerate the cold winters in Tasmania. Broccoli is fairly easy to grow and with the right care, you can expect a bountiful harvest almost all year round.

Harvest the heads as soon as they are ready. If you leave them too long, they will become loose and start to flower.

Broccoli is a heavy feeder, so make sure to prepare your soil with compost and well-rotted manure. Broccoli likes a neutral soil, so if your soil is acidic, add some lime before planting. Where possible, try to let your soil rest for about a week before you plant into it.

Broccoli can be grown for most of the year is Tasmania. Just make sure they’re well established before the winter cold arrives.

Broccoli seeds are most often started in trays or pots and then transplanted into the garden once the weather cools. Cover the seeds lightly with soil and keep them moist while they germinate. Make sure they get enough light and transplant them as soon as they are big enough to handle. Broccoli become leggy quite easily if they are kept in trays for too long.

Try to plant bought seedlings as soon as possible after you get them home and remember to give them a good, deep watering to help them settle in. The trick here is to get them in when it’s not too hot or too cold. When you plant your seedlings out, add a small amount organic bone-meal to each hole. Bone-meal gives seedlings a great start and helps them to develop strong root systems to support a healthy plant.

If your seedlings have grown too long and become leggy; plant them slightly deeper that they were in the pots. This should give you sturdier plants with tighter heads.

Do not let the soil dry out. Broccoli loves water. Keep your plants well-watered in warmer weather.

Feed regularly with compost tea, fish emulsion or organic fertilizer. Broccoli is a heavy feeder and if you live in a high-rainfall area the nutrients can wash out of the soil quickly.

Mulching helps keep the soil nice and cool on warm days and keeps it warm if there’s a sudden cold spell in winter. A good layer of organic mulch like lucerne or sugarcane will help keep your broccoli growing happily. Remember to top up your mulch as it breaks down throughout the season.

The broccoli is ready to harvest once it forms firm heads. You need to pick it just before the flowers start to open. Cut off the head with a sharp knife. Some varieties form side shoots once the main head is removed. So, leave them in to harvest the smaller side shoots.