broccoli

hi there. i am growing broccolli in garden and wonder if anybody can tell is there anything i need to do to it. it is growing quite healthily but am not sure whether to trim leaves off. also growing cucumbers outside for first time and each plant has lots of little cucumbers growing. do i pinch any off or leave them all to grow naturally? many thanks.

 

hi graymaggie2.leave the leaves and cover the the broccolli heads as they show,kind of like a parcel of fish and chips.eat or keep in a bag in the fridge till you need it,or blanch and freeze if you like,as if its left itll sharp go to seed.
when each flower comes on cucumber look at the tiny green shoot behind it.if its long and thin then its male and you remove those flowers as they generally produce bitter fruit.the little fat stems behind the flower are female.if you go back a bit on EG, Cucumbers, youll find lots of info.

 

hi elaine. many thanks for your reply. have only ever grown carrots and turnips etc before so this is new to me. am so pleased as have only started getting garden established as we only moved in 2 yrs ago and spent our time doing inside up. i love home grown veg. reminds me of when i was young. when i master computer will try and get some photos on. best wishes maggs :D

 

its my first yr with broccolli too,also sprouts and carrots.only got plot Sept 04 and needed alot of work but mannaged to grow cabbage,turnip and spuds last yr,though turnips were very poor.looking forward to your pics.

 

Hi graymaggie2. I'm also growing outside cucumbers, an organic variety called Marketmore and on the packet it says not to remove the male flowers. I've left mine on and we've already cut 3 cucumbers so I would suggest that you check out which variety you have before removing the male flowers. With marketmore you pinch out the growing tip after the main stem has produce 7 leaves to get it to send out more fruit baring side shoots.
Hope that this is of some help.

BigT
Checkout my blog
http://brassicabil.blogspot.com

 

oh dear.now i am confused.a fellow plot holder of over 30 years told me to remove male flowers.sorry if ive got it wrong and youve taken off flowers already graymaggie2.he also said you can buy specific seeds that only produce female flowers on the plant but they are more expensive.i will have another chat with him in the morning and get back to you.

 

Don't worry if you have removed the male flowers and you didn't need to, the plant will soon produce more. It all depends on the variety, some do need the male flowers removing, others don't. Check what you've got before you do anything. Some F1 hybreds don't even produce male flowers. I'm also growing some Pasanda cucumbers in the greenhouse and on these you just pinch out all sideshoots and train the main stem along a wire. I've cut about 12 cucumbers of just one plant. Friends and family are doing well of these and will certainly grow again next year.

BigT
http://brassicabill.blogspot.com