A deep purple broccolini that produces several small, flavorful shoots.
About the variety. Easy to grow, very late-season and remarkably frost- and winter-hardy; it needs good sun exposure to develop its purple color.
Itinerário técnico
Como cultivar broccoli early purple sprouting?
Um guia de cultivo passo a passo, da sementeira à colheita.
pH ideal 6.5 to 7.5Temperatura ideal 15 to 20 °CCompasso 40 to 50 cm in the row, 50 to 70 cm between rows
Sementeira
Sow in trays one or two centimetres deep at 15 °C to 20 °C and transplant five or six weeks later at four to six true leaves, firming the soil well. Do not delay transplanting: a plant left too long in the cell forms a tiny premature head, a fault that cannot be undone. At about 60 centimetres tall, this variety grows well in a pot twenty centimetres deep with drainage holes. Use a pot at least twenty five centimetres deep with drainage holes, and expect to water more often, because a pot dries out far faster than open ground.
Solo
It wants firm, deep soil, rich in organic matter and never acid: the ideal pH is between 6.5 and 7.5, and acid soil invites clubroot. It likes settled rather than fluffy soil: firm the ground lightly around the plant after transplanting. Minimum four year rotation away from any other brassica, radish, turnip and rocket included.
Clima
It is a cool weather crop above all, between 15 °C and 20 °C. Above 25 °C the head opens into yellow flower before reaching size, which is the commonest failure with late spring sowings in inland Iberia. The Portuguese coast offers close to ideal conditions and allows harvests over much of the year. Inland in Portugal and Spain, concentrate the crop in autumn, winter and early spring, because from June onwards heat and long days push it to bolt and turn bitter. In France it grows easily from spring to autumn, and in Germany the whole summer works because it is rarely too hot. Light shade over the middle of the day extends the harvest in any warm climate.
Fertilização
This is a hungry crop. Work two to three kilos of well rotted compost into each square metre before planting, with a handful of wood ash for potassium. Once growth is away, feed with a liquid organic fertiliser every two or three weeks, moving from a balanced formula to a higher potassium one as cropping begins. Avoid excess nitrogen, which gives lush leaves, a poor crop and a lot of aphids.
Rega
It needs constant water with no interruption, above all while the head is forming. A dry spell at that stage sharply reduces head size and brings flowering forward. Water at the base and mulch the soil with straw.
Controlo de Infestantes
Hand weed in the first weeks, while the plant is small and loses every contest for light and water. Once it is established, mulch with five to seven centimetres of straw, dried grass or leaves: it holds weeds back, keeps moisture in and stops rain splashing soil onto the lower leaves, which is how most diseases begin. Always hoe shallowly so you do not cut the roots running just under the surface.
Controlo de Pragas
Flea beetle, a small jumping beetle, riddles young leaves with round holes in hot dry weather: keep the soil moist and cover with fine mesh from sowing. Cabbage white caterpillars and diamondback moth eat the leaves from within: apply Bacillus thuringiensis while the caterpillars are small and check the underside of the leaves every week. Cabbage root fly lays at the collar and the larva destroys the root: a cardboard or felt collar around the stem stops the egg laying. Grey cabbage aphid forms waxy colonies on the shoots and is dealt with using potassium soap. A fine insect mesh put on at planting solves almost all of these problems at once.
Doenças
Clubroot is the most serious disease: it deforms the roots, the plant wilts, and the fungus persists in the soil for close to twenty years. Prevent it with a four to five year rotation, good drainage and a pH above 7.0, corrected with lime. Alternaria makes dark concentric spots and downy mildew a grey bloom on the underside of the leaf; both like humidity, so space well and water at the base. Black rot enters at the leaf margins as a yellow V and is carried by seed and irrigation water. Clear all crop debris at the end and keep it out of the compost heap.
Colheita
This variety forms no central head: after overwintering it throws dozens of small purple shoots for weeks, which are cut while the buds are still closed. Cut on a slant with ten to fifteen centimetres of stem so water does not sit on the cut. The more you cut, the more shoots come; a shoot that opens into yellow flower is past its point. Allow about 140 to 150 days from transplanting to the first harvest of this variety. The reference colour is purple, and that is what tells you it is ready.
