Growing Broccoli in the Sunshine State

Did you know? Kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens and kohlrabi all share the same species name: Brassica oleracea. Did they really come from the same plant? Yes! Over the years, humans have domesticated this plant and selected for specific characteristics, including taste, color, and size!

Broccoli is a very popular winter crop to grow in Florida. Broccoli needs cool weather to thrive, so here in Florida is should be planted during the fall and winter. It takes 80-100 days to mature, so make sure to plant it early enough so that you are harvesting it during the cool, dry winter months.

South Florida: plant broccoli September-January

North Florida: plant broccoli mid August - mid March

Central Florida: plant broccoli August - mid March

Good varieties to grow in Florida:

De Cicco is an Italian headed, open pollinated variety

Green Magic has excellent heat tolerance

Happy Rich produces sweet, jumbo sized florets

Piracicaba is a tropical sprouting broccoli

Want to beat the heat? Plant Piracicaba broccoli!

Piracicaba broccoli was developed in the steamy jungles of Brazil. Unlike most brassicas, it thrives in the heat and humidity of the Sunshine State! Watch this video to learn how to grow Piracicaba.

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Piracicaba is a non-heading broccoli that continuously produce small heads of broccoli with long stems, similar to what you find at a Chinese restaurant. Piracicaba was developed in the tropics!

In the steamy islands of Brazil lies the tropical city of Piracicaba. It is here that this amazing, heat-tolerant broccoli was born. While most broccoli grow bitter & tough when grown in heat, Piracicaba broccoli continues to grow shoot after shoot of sweet florets. When these florets flower, we have been known harvest the stalk and eat the sweet flowers like popcorn. It truly is a treat!

I got my seeds from Whitwam Organics. It grows beautifully. Prune it heavily, and the plant will get bushy and give you loads of broccoli!!

Because of its amazing weather resistance, I'm able to grow Piracicaba Broccoli most of the year in Florida!

It's super tasty and tender and can be made into stir fry, cooked like broccolini, or made into a broccoli soup. Eat the stems, leaves, and flowers, too (keep reading for my new favorite broccoli quiche recipe!)! The flowers are delicious, so if you miss the small head, use the flowers in salads or soup or eat them raw!

When you harvest, harvest the broccoli AND the long stem. You want to cut back as you harvest so the plant becomes bushy and produces more broccoli. If you neglect to cut it back as you harvest, you will have a long, lanky broccoli plant that won't give you as much food for your kitchen.

For more in-depth information, read this Growing For Market post. I got my Piracicaba Broccoli seed from Whitwam Organics. ( Use code BROOKS10 To save 10% off your first seed order of $25 or more online.

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My Favorite Broccoli Quiche Recipe

A friend posted her quiche recipe, so I thought it might be perfect to use up the Piracicaba broccoli in the garden and the leftover bacon in the fridge. This recipe turned out so good!!

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Happy growing! As always, reach out to Leah with questions.