Duane,
You are going to let the plants continue to grow if they survived the freeze? If they live and are the right variety, the side shoots can be plentiful and very tasty
Tom

Tom, I do plan to let a few plants go and hope for side shoot production. I have dedicated part of the area where they are to tomato plants but will not pull them all

I realize this is a bit off topic, but it is about Broccoli.

How come you never see Broccoli in cans like other veggies.

I think because the top is too tender to survive the canning process and the stem is so different it would still be hard.

But you see a lot of Broccoli in frozen vegie blends.

I actually like quite a few of those blends and get them when I have some room in the freezer. I also like the "Broccoli slaw" mix that you see in the bagged salad section. It's probably the shredded leftover stems from the frozen blends after they cut off just the florettes. It works well as a salad or in a stir-fry.

Carol

I'm with you on this Carol. I actually like the broccoli slaw better than regular cabbage slaw. :yes:


I also like the "Broccoli slaw" mix that you see in the bagged salad section. It's probably the shredded leftover stems from the frozen blends after they cut off just the florettes. It works well as a salad or in a stir-fry.

Carol[/quote]

damaged by freezing
 

I have run into a problem that I have never had before with some of my broccoli plants due to the extreme cold we've had this year in the south. I always grow a crop of fall/winter broccoli and protect it from freezing by covering it with plastic sheeting but this year it got so cold that it had to stay covered for nearly two weeks straight. It also started heading and due to the extreme weather it looks like many of the heads partially froze because when I uncovered them today they had some dark areas mottled throughout the head. It looked just like when they freeze and thaw. The heads are not totally ruined right now and the plants still look real good except for some frost bitten leaves that were too near the plastic.
My question is, should I go ahead and cut off the main head that is damaged? Or should I let it grow? The plants are not fully grown yet so I don't know which would be best. This is a problem I have never had to deal with down here and was hoping someone had some experience with this and could give me some advice. Thanks Bill

b54-
I grow pretty much as you do but have never had to cover for as long. I think what I would do is watch them closely and let them grow awhile to see what happens to the damaged heads. If the damage dries and the head continues to grow, i.e. doesn't start to rot, I'd let it grow out to when you would normally cut them off. If they start to rot, cut them off asap, salvage what you can and hope for a heavy round of side shoots. Good luck.

How big are the heads? If the heads aren't really salvageable, why not go ahead and cut them and then enjoy the sideshoots as they come on?
Just my 2 cents...:?!?:


[quote=b54red;153565]I have run into a problem that I have never had before with some of my broccoli plants due to the extreme cold we've had this year in the south. I always grow a crop of fall/winter broccoli and protect it from freezing by covering it with plastic sheeting but this year it got so cold that it had to stay covered for nearly two weeks straight. It also started heading and due to the extreme weather it looks like many of the heads partially froze because when I uncovered them today they had some dark areas mottled throughout the head. It looked just like when they freeze and thaw. The heads are not totally ruined right now and the plants still look real good except for some frost bitten leaves that were too near the plastic.
My question is, should I go ahead and cut off the main head that is damaged? Or should I let it grow? The plants are not fully grown yet so I don't know which would be best. This is a problem I have never had to deal with down here and was hoping someone had some experience with this and could give me some advice. Thanks Bill[/quote]

The heads are anywhere from 1 inch to 4 inches. The plants seem to be anywhere from half mature to 2/3rds mature. It's hard to tell with the winter crop because they are usually smaller than the spring plants.

Well I watched them and found I had to cut most of the central heads because they were starting to rot and I didn't want it to spread. The variety that was damaged was Flash; it seems to be a very early and smaller plant than most broccoli I have grown. This was my first time growing Flash and it seems to be way ahead of my Green Goliath. Has anyone else tried this variety?
Just hope I get some good side shoots. I already have new seed started and up to have a spring crop. The varieties I have planted are Flash, Green Goliath, Early Dividend, Packman, and Bonanza.