Choosing broccoli cabbage varieties for a good result

The birthplace of broccoli is Asia Minor and the Eastern Mediterranean. There it has been cultivated for two thousand years. In Russia, this relative of cauliflower appeared not so long ago, but immediately became popular and beloved by supporters of a healthy lifestyle.

Features of broccoli cabbage

In this rather unpretentious variety of cabbage, it is not the leaves that are edible, but the unopened inflorescences, which are natural multivitamins due to their composition.

Nutritional properties and unique composition

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russian scientists NI Kichunov and R.D. Schroeder gave broccoli the highest rating, placing it above cauliflower. It contains more protein than asparagus, spinach, sweet corn, sweet potatoes, the same amount of essential amino acids as in beef, and lysine, isoleucine and tryptophan as in chicken eggs.

Broccoli inflorescences contain vitamins A, B₁, IN₂, PP, C, E, K, salts of potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium. This culture contains methionine and choline - anti-sclerotic substances that prevent the accumulation of cholesterol in the body and improve memory. Broccoli also contains a substance called sulforaphane, which prevents the formation of cancer cells, and sinigrin, which destroys cancer cells. Therefore, this vegetable plant must be planted for a long and healthy life.

It's great to eat raw broccoli, but it's easy to cook.

The nuances of growing

Very often, having failed at the first planting, vegetable growers abandon this crop. However, it is not difficult to grow this vegetable, you just need to know some features.

Broccoli is photophilous and grows best in humus-rich, well-drained soils with a pH between 6.0 and 6.8. Broccoli is a culture of moderate temperatures (+ 16-25 ^aboutC) and humidity (relative humidity of the soil 75%, air - 85%). The vegetable is hardy and can withstand temperatures as low as -7 ^aboutC, late-ripening varieties are especially cold-resistant. But plants react to an increase in temperature with rapid growth and, of course, one must not miss the moment and have time to cut off the head before flowering.

Broccoli heads must be cut off before flowering, otherwise they become inedible.

In southern regions, broccoli should only be grown as an early spring crop and in the fall for winter storage. But in the middle zone and in the north, this culture feels great.

What to consider when choosing a variety, seed producers

Today, more than 200 varieties and hybrids of broccoli cabbage are known in the world. The State Register of Breeding Achievements includes 37 names of this wonderful vegetable. The seed producers are the Netherlands, France, Italy, Switzerland, Japan and, of course, Russia.They are approved for cultivation in all regions of the Russian Federation, so choosing seeds for planting is based on your needs and desires, taking into account the descriptions of the plants. The only thing to consider when choosing a variety for planting in your region is the ripening time. Broccoli of the latest ripening dates (130-145 days) should not be planted in Siberia and the Urals, where a short summer will not allow a good harvest. It is also worth noting that the varieties have a brighter taste, and the hybrids surpass them in yield, frost resistance, and unfavorable conditions.

The best varieties of broccoli with a description and characteristics

Like most vegetables, broccoli is sorted by maturity.

Early

Early maturing broccoli varieties include varieties and hybrids of broccoli cabbage with a ripening period of up to 100 days.
Usually, early-maturing varieties have little fresh storage, but they can be processed.

• Jung F1 is a super early hybrid, the originator of which is the selection station named after N.N. Timofeev. Allows you to harvest 60–65 days after planting seedlings. The small green head is loose, weighs 200 g. Marketable yield 1.3 kg / sq. m.

Video: Jung's broccoli F1

• Green Magic F1 is an early ripe hybrid of the selection of the French company SAKATA, which has a great taste, a larger head weighing up to 700 g, elliptical, gray-green in color, medium density. Shows repair properties, is resistant to diseases and pests. You can collect 2.2 kg per square meter.

Video: broccoli Green Magic F1

• Chronos F1 is another early hybrid of SAKATA. Included in the State Register for the Russian Federation in 2017. A short plant forms dense blue-green inflorescences of medium to large size, weighing 0.5-0.6 kg, excellent taste. The yield of Chronos F1 is 2.7 kg / sq. m.
  

The Chronos F1 hybrid has a large dense head weighing up to 600 g

• Tonus is a long-known proven variety of selection of the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution of the Federal Scientific Center for Vegetable Growing. The first central head weighing up to 200 g is formed at the end of July, then small heads are formed on the lateral shoots until October.

Photo gallery: long-term fruiting of the Tonus variety

• Vyarus is an early-ripening variety originated by AGRO-BEST. Forms dense bluish-green heads with a diameter of 20 cm and a mass of 120 g. The plant is resistant to both low and high temperatures, gives a large number of secondary shoots. You can collect 2.9 kg per square meter.

Resistant to both low and high temperatures, broccoli variety Vyarus is grown in Russia, Moldova, Ukraine

• Venus F1 - early maturing (80–90 days) hybrid, not forming side shoots, from the Sedek company. Heads are dense, dark green, weighing 350-600 g, excellent taste. Productivity 3.0-3.5 kg / m²... The hybrid is resistant to fusarium blight, the harvest is maturing amicably.

Venus F1 is characterized by amicable maturation of heads

Medium early

Among medium early broccoli, the following hybrids can be distinguished:

• Fiesta of Dutch selection with very dense inflorescences weighing 300 g of excellent taste. The variety does not give new shoots, is resistant to fusarium wilt;
  

  Fiesta F1 Fusarium resistant

• Macho from the breeding company "Gavrish", a low-growing plant with several stems, forms dense green inflorescences up to 300 g;
  

  Macho F1 Hybrid keeps well frozen

• Naxos from the SAKATA company, a tall plant, one stem, has blue-green inflorescences weighing 600 g of excellent and good taste;
• Moscow souvenir of Russian selection, medium height, with an average density head weighing 400–450 g, yields 1.0–1.2 kg / sq. M.

Medium early broccoli can be grown in Siberia and the Urals.

Mid-season

The ripening period for mid-season broccoli is 105–130 days.The State Register of the Russian Federation includes the following varieties and hybrids of the average ripening period:

• Batavia F1 of Dutch selection with a gray-green dense inflorescence of excellent taste, weighing 700 g, additionally forms secondary shoots, gives a yield of 2.6 kg / sq. m;
• Heraklion F1 from the SAKATA company - high hybrid, yield 2.5 kg per square meter, dense heads, weighing 550 g, excellent taste, there are secondary heads;
• Dwarf - from the agricultural firm Sedek has a medium-sized inflorescence weighing 400 g, gray-green, medium density, there are secondary shoots with inflorescences. You can collect 2.4 kg per sq. m;
• Curly head - another variety from Sedek, has smaller leaves and a larger head 600 g;
• Curly is a variety from the Gavrish breeding company that does not form secondary inflorescences. Head mass - 600-700 g. The taste is excellent. Productivity - 2.6 kg per sq. m;
• Linda is a medium-sized variety with a dark green elliptical head, medium texture, weighing 300-400 g. It is appreciated for its high yield (3-4 kg per sq. M); after cutting, up to 7 lateral shoots with 50 heads each grow on the plant –70 g;
• Montop F1 is a hybrid of Sady Russia, it has a large head of average density weighing 900 g of excellent taste, there are no secondary heads. Productivity - 3.1 kg / sq. m;
• Ronnie F1 - a tall hybrid of Italian selection, has gray-green dense heads weighing 500 g, does not form secondary shoots;
• Surfing F1 is an excellent hybrid from the Research Institute of Greenhouse Vegetable Growing and the Gavrish selection company. In the presence of secondary heads, the central one has a mass of up to 1.0 kg. The taste is excellent, the color is green, the density is average. The yield of the hybrid is 3.7 kg per sq. m;
• Stromboli F1 from Dutch breeders. The hybrid has inflorescences weighing 600-700 g of green color, medium density, excellent taste. You can collect 2.6 kg per sq. m;
• Fortuna is a variety from the Moscow region agricultural firm Search with a small (150 g) central head of delicate texture and excellent taste. Due to the numerous shoots, it has a yield of 2.6 kg per square meter;
• Caesar is another variety in which secondary heads grow after cutting off the central head. The mass of the central head is up to 135 g. The taste is good. It is possible to collect 2.5 kg / sq. m.

Photo gallery: mid-season broccoli varieties and hybrids

Late ripening

Late-ripening broccoli varieties are commonly used for winter harvesting. In the northern regions there is a risk of not getting the harvest in time. Their ripening period is 130-145 days.

• Parthenon F1 is a hybrid of the SAKATA firm with dense, medium and large inflorescences, gray-green in color, weighing 600-900 g, excellent taste. Productivity 3.3 kg / sq. m;
• Monrello F1 is a Swiss hybrid of excellent taste without secondary head formation. Head weight - 700-800 g, yield - 3.6 kg / sq. m;
• Monopoly F1 is a productive (3.1 kg / sq. M) hybrid of Dutch selection, which forms secondary inflorescences. Central head weight 600 g;
• Monaco F1 is another fruitful (4.2 kg / sq. M.) Dutch hybrid with dense gray-green medium-sized heads weighing 600 g, excellent taste. There are no secondary heads;
• Marathon F1 is a Japanese hybrid from SAKATA with a yield of 3.2 kg / sq. m, has a medium-sized green head, dense, with a delicate texture, weighing 800 g, excellent taste;
• Agassi F1 is a Dutch hybrid with a yield of 3.7 kg per sq. m, with a gray-green head of medium size, weighing 700 g, forms secondary heads;
• Lord F1 - a hybrid from Holland with a large head of light green buds, dense, weighing 0.8-1.2 kg, excellent taste. Can collect 2.7kg / sq. m.

Photo gallery: late ripening broccoli hybrids

Mid late

In Siberia and the Urals, such hybrids can be grown in greenhouses.

• Ironman F1 is a Dutch variety with a gray-green inflorescence weighing 400–600 g of excellent taste. You can get a yield of 2.9 kg / sq. m;
  

  Ironman F1 is suitable for Siberia and the Urals

• Lucky F1 - Dutch hybrid, which is valued for long-term fruiting, has a round-flat, gray-green, dense, with a delicate texture head weighing 300-600 g;
  

  F1 varnishes are valuable for long fruiting

• Monterey F1 is also a Dutch hybrid with no secondary heads. Inflorescence weight from 600 g to 1.9 kg. Good taste. The yield of the hybrid is 3.6 kg / sq. m. It is undemanding to growing conditions;
• Orantes F1 - another hybrid from Holland, has medium-sized inflorescences, gray-green color, medium density, weighing from 600 g to 1.5 kg, good taste. Can grow 3.6 kg / sq. m.

Not only healthy, but also an ornamental vegetable

It is customary for us to plant broccoli with green inflorescences. In Europe, purple and white varieties are very common. They are just as useful and very decorative. Online store Russkiy Ogorod-NK, LLC SPK APD sells broccoli seeds of the Purple Queen variety with purple heads. The variety is very beautiful during the flowering period. The Purple Queen produces the main harvest in the second half of summer, continuing to bear fruit until mid-autumn.

Broccoli variety Purple Queen with purple buds

Reviews of varieties and seed producers

Do you want to harvest a huge harvest of broccoli from five plants until the very frost? Then Green Magic is the perfect option.

Advantages: tasty, unpretentious, excellent presentation, high-yielding, disease-resistant, flower-resistant My husband and I love broccoli! Firstly, it is delicious, and secondly, it is difficult to overestimate the benefits of broccoli! In addition to the fact that this type of cabbage is included in the list of the most effective anti-cancer products in the world, it is especially useful for the health of the female breast and beauty of the skin. Green kale will help you a lot, so everyone, without exception, should regularly include it in the menu. I have been planting broccoli since the time I was seriously interested in gardening, while still a student, i.e. almost 14 years old. And during all this time, I have never come across such successful seeds as "Green Magic". I first planted this hybrid three years ago and have never regretted it. The package contains 10 seeds, the price in stores is around 30-35 rubles per package. Broccoli Green Magic F1. Gavrish. photo Most often, the broccoli seeds that I planted before were not hybrids, but varieties, and their biggest disadvantage was their low resistance to flowering - I did not have time to harvest in a couple of days, you can collect a bouquet))) Green Magic is a hybrid of the first generation, which is written on the packaging (F1), therefore this drawback was eliminated by selection. Cabbage is really UNREAL! It sprouts well, grows without problems, does not get sick and gives a wonderful harvest. I usually plant 5 plants and all summer, starting from the end of June, I harvest a great harvest! On each plant from the very beginning, one large head grows, I fed humate with trace elements 3 times per season and my heads turned out to weigh 600-650 grams. each one. But in addition to the main crop, each cabbage produces a huge number of side shoots during the summer. At first, you can collect it every three days, closer to autumn, once every five to six days. I didn't weigh, but to roughly indicate the amount of harvested cabbage, I'll say that I cooked a bunch of fresh dishes and froze so much that half of the freezer is full. We ate broccoli two or three times a week all summer.It is now September, and the shoots on the cabbage are still growing and growing, yesterday I gathered again a decent saucepan and cooked it as a side dish for the whole family. Moreover, it will continue to grow until frost hits. During this time, you can cook a bunch of delicious things with her! In general, if you are a fan of such an amazingly healthy and tasty product, then I highly recommend the Green Magic F1 seeds from Gavrish.

Broccoli Cabbage Tonus is an old proven variety. But now there are many new varieties and hybrids, including Dutch selection, so this variety remains as if on the sidelines. Not everyone likes it - the heads are smaller than those of imported broccoli and the color is maybe more, you will be a little late with pruning, looking, the heads have bloomed. And I like Tonus. I have known him for a long time, even at an old dacha about 10 years ago I grew him and he always made me happy, he grew excellently on sandy soil. Now my soil is heavy, acidic, solid clay. This year I planted cabbage on such land for the first time. I bought the seedlings in the market next to the dacha. All seedlings from the seller stood in boxes, with seed bags attached to the side of the boxes so that the buyer could choose the desired seedlings. I chose broccoli Tonus and Snowball cauliflower. Everything from the Sedek company. The earth was deoxidized with dolomite flour and ash. And in early June, she planted cabbage. The usual care is watering, weeding, a couple of times watered with green fertilizer (nettle + herbs), a couple of times fertilized with Fertika. She planted the marigolds nearby. And that's it. Grow, cabbage, as you like, I'm not up to you today, they take away all their free time, I had more than a hundred of them this summer. The cabbage did not disappoint me. Gave a good harvest. What I like about Tonus is that he will give the first head (central) by 150-200 grams, and when you cut it off, he starts to grow lateral ones. You cut them off, and there new ones go. It seems that the more you cut off, the more they grow. I cut the first in July, and the last in October. By the way, not all broccoli form heads of the second order, there are those that, like cauliflower, are limited to one central head. And what kind of stems Tonus has delicious, tender, therefore, you cut off the heads with a long stem, so that, after cleaning it, you can chew right there in the fresh air, together with the head. It is not for nothing that broccoli is called asparagus.

Delicious, healthy, long-lasting. Advantages: it contains a lot of vitamins, tasty in any form, bears fruit for a long time, is unpretentious in cultivation. Disadvantages: no. It is not demanding for growing conditions. Of course, you need to water and feed it, otherwise the heads will be small. But she has no special secrets. Although I still know one. Do not delay harvesting when you see that the heads become loose - you can wait for the broccoli to bloom. And it blooms quite inconspicuously, with such a yellow, loose broom. By trimming the head on time, even if it is small, but continuing to water and care for the plant further, we will give the lateral buds the opportunity to awaken. and get additional harvest. Broccoli cabbage is very frost-resistant. In late autumn, when all the crops in the garden are already frozen, broccoli will still delight with the harvest - a mass of small heads will grow from the side buds.

Sakata seeds Broccoli cabbage "Maraton F1" - Excellent variety, productive, planting for the second year Advantages: always a good harvest. Disadvantages: expensive in comparison with domestic ones. I have been growing broccoli Maraton F1 for the second year, I really like this hybrid variety. Next year I will also grow it, I have already ordered seeds in the online store. Compared to the Dutch varieties, the seeds of the Japanese producer Sakata are cheaper, so I buy only them. I am more than happy with the result.Other varieties, such as Linda, are sensitive to weather conditions and do not always yield good yields, while Marathon yields in all weather conditions. In addition, until the very frost, it gives side shoots, so after collecting the main heads, do not rush to remove the plants. The price of seeds is, of course, a bit high, I bought 15 seeds for 42 rubles and paid for the shipment, but I was completely confident that there would be a good harvest.

There are enough broccoli hybrids and varieties to find your favorite. Choose seeds from reliable producers, pay attention to ripening times and yields, and grow broccoli for a long and happy life.

Related entries:

Broccoli care and cultivation in the Moscow region

When is it better to sow broccoli for seedlings and plant in open ground

Growing broccoli cabbage: varieties, photos