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Growing broccoli in small gardens can result in abundant harvests!
Here’s how we’ve been able bring in big crops by growing broccoli in small garden beds.
A key ingredient to your garden’s success is in the soil.
- Begin by getting a soil test completed to determine what your soil needs.
- Adding lime and nitrogen-rich fertilizers like fish meal early in the season can make all the difference in growing fantastic broccoli. In fact, broccoli needs both. That’s because it’s a heavy nitrogen feeder, and if the soil’s too acidic it just doesn’t perform well. But only amend the soil if it’s required. Otherwise, you may end up adjusting your soil in the wrong way.
Growing at the peak moment will also impact your broccoli harvest.
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- Broccoli is generally a cool season crop, so seed it early in the growing season. Or seed it very late for a late harvest, before things freeze up.
- Be sure to harden off your seedlings before moving them into the garden.
- Use fleece to keep pests like cabbage butterflies off your broccoli plants.
- Harvest before the flowers open.
What will you harvest from a small space broccoli patch?
We’ve grown broccoli bed in fairly small beds and brought in a lot of food. In fact, in a bed about 3′ deep by 6′ long, we gathered 7 pounds of broccoli. So that’s about how much space broccoli needs to grow. To be clear though, partially this is because I risked crowding the plants within a foot of each other. But, that’s pretty close together for broccoli. However, if you harvest every other plant, that opens up space for the others to expand as they continue to grow.
my broc is amazing this year. thanks for the reminder that i should harvest it at once, get some photos and blog it.
my broccoli has beautiful giant leaves and no flower. I’m sure it must be the shallow planter or the composition of the soil. What would you recommend to amend the soil ?
thank You!
Judy
San Diego, Ca
Judy, Site unseen it’s really difficult to make a specific recommendation. It may just be that the plant hasn’t matured to a point of forming a broccoli crown. You might try contacting your local extension office, a local gardening consultant or a nursery.
I like to grow thing in my flower beds as I only have small spaces, thanks as I didn’t know you could eat the leaves.
Did you have a recipe for broccoli-cheddar soup that you like?
Sorry Julie no broccoli-cheddar recipe on our site, but there are sooo many great ones just one web search away. Good luck!
I’ve been growing brócoli in a file cabinet raise bed and would like to maximize the soil specs. Can I grow potato’s with the brócoli!
Kathy, They aren’t likely to do well together.
I would love to know if I can cut some of the broccoli leaves off while it is growing? they are gigantic and covering other plants.
Chelle, Thanks for your questions. In our experience, yes, removing a few leaves on each plant should be okay. And if those leaves are shading other plants, it may help the others grow better too by letting in more light and air. But, don’t remove more than a couple of leaves from a plant if you’re hoping to have it produce heads well. It needs those leaves to do that. Too, if you have a space issue, you might want to read this article that goes into growing and harvesting crowded plants.
love how easy it is to navigate your website and find the information I need. I have benefited greatly from your gardening tips since planting! It wasn’t until I started following your advice that I realized I had a green thumb. My plants are thriving, and I can’t thank you enough so I am really happy.
Glad we could help you with your gardening success Crystal!