How To Master Growing Broccoli In Fall/Autumn

Broccoli is a cool-season vegetable that can be grown in an outdoor garden twice a year – once in the spring and again in fall/autumn. The spring growing season is the easiest but you can master growing broccoli in fall with a few easy tricks.
Read on to discover how you can enjoy fresh broccoli from your home garden this fall.

Planting Time

Broccoli takes a long time to reach maturity, so you will need to start the growing process in late summer and be patient. If your climate has mild winters, you will be able to harvest side-shoots from the plant after the main stalk has been harvested. The side-shoots are much smaller but the flavor and nutritional value are the same.
Plant seeds outdoors in prepared soil 100 days before the first predicted frost. Seeds can be started indoors even earlier, at about 130 days before frost, but if the seedlings are set outdoors when the weather is still hot the plants will not survive.

Planting Location

Broccoli thrives in cool weather and full sun. If the planting location does not receive 6-8 hours of direct sunlight each day the plants will become leggy and broccoli heads will be thin.
A location that will be easy for you to cover the plants in case of an early frost is also a good choice. Cover plants with garden cloches, plastic jugs that have the bottom cut out, newspaper, etc., to prevent frost from falling on the plants. Remove the covering before the sun shines on it.

Soil And Water

A raised bed or container is best for planting a fall crop of broccoli. It will allow you more control over the soil and water needs of the plants. A raised bed also provides some protection from pests.
The soil needs to be fertile and kept moist at all times. Before planting broccoli seeds or seedlings in the fall/autumn, work in plenty of compost to the soil. The compost will increase soil fertility and keep the plants fed, help retain soil moisture, and prevent compaction.
Keep the soil moist at all times. Water only at the soil level and avoid getting the plants wet. Wet plants are more susceptible to rot, diseases, and pest infestation.

How To Plant

Plant seeds 1/4 inch (0.6 cm) deep and space them 12-18 inches (30 – 45 cm) apart so the plants will have plenty of room to develop heads. Seedlings should be spaced at the same distance but buried as deep as their rooting container. Water thoroughly at planting time.
Seeds can be sown closer and thinned after germination. Broccoli seedlings are a nutrition-packed, tasty microgreen that tastes great in fresh salads or stir fry.

Mulch

Mulch around plants when seedlings are 6-inches (15 cm) tall. Use a rough mulch, like shredded tree bark, to prevent creeping, crawling pests from reaching plants. Rough mulch will cut the underside of crawling pests and they will die from dehydration.

Feeding

When plants are 3-weeks old, feed them with a low-nitrogen, organic fertilizer. Bone meal is a good choice, and you can add a layer of straw under the rough mulch to help feed the plants without increasing the nitrogen level in the soil.
Feed plants again after harvesting the main head to encourage the plant to develop the side-shoots.

Pest Control

Because there is very little new plant growth in the fall/autumn, young, tender broccoli plants are a prime target for pest infestation.

Start with rough mulch for ground-crawling pests, then create sticky traps for flying pests. You can purchase yellow sticky traps that will catch aphids, whiteflies, moths, leafhoppers, thrips, and other garden pests, or you can make them yourself.
Use any type of yellow plastic (juice or milk containers are good), cut the plastic into 2-inches (5 cm) by 2-inches strips, and a hole in one end to tie a string. Coat the yellow plastic with cooking oil or petroleum jelly and hang near (or on) the broccoli plants.
Row covers are good for keeping pests out of the garden and off the broccoli plants.
Make a DIY pest control spray and spray plants every few days. Mix 1-teaspoon of ground red pepper and 1-teaspoon of liquid dish soap into 1/2 cup of vegetable oil. Keep this mixture in a pint jar and add 2-tablespoons to a spray bottle of water. Shake well and spray plants to help keep pests away.

Harvest Time

Harvest just before the heads begin to flower.
Harvest broccoli in the early morning. Heads will be at their tightest before the sun shines on them.
Make a slanted cut with a sharp knife 6-inches (15 cm) below the head. The slanted cut will allow water to run off the remaining stem quickly and not promote rot. The remaining stem should start re-growing and producing new shoots of small broccoli heads.