Vegetables · Cool
Broccoli
Brassicaceae
At a glance
- Plant spacing
- 50 cm
- USDA zones
- 3a–9a
- Frost-sensitive
- no
- Growth duration
- 14 weeks
Which beds suit?
- Sun (prefers)
- full sunAlso okay:partial shade
- Soil (prefers)
- clayAlso okay:loamyraised-bed mix
- Drainage (prefers)
- normal
Seed & start
Pre-culture recommended
Start indoors / cold frame first, transplant into the raised bed later.
Stachi's tip
Broccoli is pest-prone — cabbage-white netting is mandatory from May. Harvest the main head young (tightly closed florets), then side-shoots develop for a second harvest.
The plant's year: sowing, transplanting, harvest
Sowing
Transplanting
Harvest
Good neighbours
Traditional recommendation. Rarely studied under controlled conditions — treat it as experience, not law.
Avoid these neighbours
Traditional recommendation. Rarely studied under controlled conditions — treat it as experience, not law.
Good pre-cultures
These plants improve the soil / free the slot early:
What comes after Broccoli?
When the bed frees up, the season is usually not over. We worked out what still fits afterwards — with time windows and reasons.
See follow-on crops for Broccoli →Sources
- Kreuter, Bio-Garten
- Kosmos Gartenkalender
- LLM-Baseline-Intercrop
- LLM-Baseline-2026-05-09 yieldKg
- LLM-Baseline-2026-05-10 family-zehrer
- LLM-Baseline-2026-05-10 sun-soil-drainage
Where these figures come from
- Timing
- Horticulturally established — consistent across the cited standard works.
- Spacing
- Horticulturally established — consistent across the cited standard works.
- Companion planting
- Traditional recommendation. Rarely studied under controlled conditions — treat it as experience, not law.
- Crop rotation
- Traditional recommendation. Rarely studied under controlled conditions — treat it as experience, not law.
- Yield
- Limited evidence. This value is not backed by a specialist source — treat it as a pointer.
Sources: Kreuter, Bio-Garten · Kosmos Gartenkalender · LLM-Baseline-Intercrop · LLM-Baseline-2026-05-09 yieldKg · LLM-Baseline-2026-05-10 family-zehrer · LLM-Baseline-2026-05-10 sun-soil-drainage
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Plant broccoli in August: still time for an October harvest
Anyone who puts broccoli seedlings in now will be harvesting in October. The window is tight — but it's enough. Broccoli actually makes more sense in autumn than in spring: fewer pests, firm heads, better flavour in the cold.
Harvesting kohlrabi at the right time: how to tell before it turns woody
My neighbour Frau Schneider brought me a kohlrabi the size of a coconut last week. It tasted like wood. Here's how to catch that moment before it's too late.
Related plants
Products mentioned in this post
- Plantura organic tomato seed set (10 varieties)Open-pollinated, good germination — robust for raised beds.
- Organic tomato seed set, 14 varieties
- Organic heirloom tomato seed set (Demeter, 12 varieties)
- Organic vegetable seed set, 10 varietiesCucumber, tomato, beetroot, broccoli, carrot, chard & more.