Broccolini?

Has anyone grown broccolini? With its long, tender stalks, I prefer it to broccoli, but haven't seen seeds anywhere for it. Anyone know where they are available? Does it require growing conditions similar to broccoli? Thanks in advance!

Pat

Hi Pat. . .seems we became DG members the same day LOL. . .here's a website that discusses broccolini development, etc. . as well as some aspects of fertilizing and harvesting (multiple cuts are made as they mature and fertilizing is tricky, to keep the plants at a maximum growth rate spanning the entire harvest). Would like to try growing this too. . .but alas, not seeing a seed source. . .Janet

http://www.vegetablegrowersnews.com/pages/2001/issue01_12/01_12_ca_broccoli.html

Janet thank you for that link - Dyson

You're welcome. . .;-D Janet

Janet, Thanks fir the info. I emailed Sakata asking if it is available and will let everyone know if it is. I like broccoli a lot, but broccolini even more so. And you can eat it all!

Pat

Great Pat . . .;-D Keep us posted on the response. . .Janet

The rep. from Sakata responded today. They have no plans to make broccolini seed available to their distributors or the gardening public at this time. =(

Wish I had better news for you!

Pat

Kind of figured that would be the response. . .they've got a corner on the broccolini market for the time being and they're not letting anyone else in their corner. . .probably spent oodles developing it. thanks pat for letting us know. ;-D Janet

Sounds really interesting! I wonder how popular a person would be if they had seed for trade?

(Maybe a few of us should take a field trip to Salinas... Nah, probably not a good idea.)

Think we could blow some pollen from Chinese Kale onto a broccoli plant and get our own seeds that way?

;)

This message was edited Nov 16, 2004 10:09 PM

Can you root broccolini in a glass of water. . .or some of the more scientific minded and skilled, do a tissue cut (I forget what they call that) kind of like scaling with bulbs and get the thing to grow in lab conditions aka 'clone it'. Better that way as it would grow true; don't know what you'd get if you manage to get seed, since it's hybrid. . .know anybody LOL?

(I think I'm delirious w/this cold I have. ;-D)

I think its called tissue culture, Janet.

Thanks, John. . of course, tissue culture. . . ;-D

I belive tissue cluture is for examanation and the term we are looking for is "grafting" (could be I'm wrong).

My handy, dandy propagation book calls it micropropagation. (Should've looked in here to begin with. .;-D) and is used to propagate a large number of plants from a small amount of material.

Edited to credit book publisher: The American Horticultural Society Plant Propagation says:

Most Kewl
Let me know the progress - Please!

I've read a few snippets here and there, and in fairness to Sakata, some of their reluctance to bring it to the home gardening market is probably because it sounds more "high maintenance" to grow versus ordinary broccoli. The taste and growth habits aren't completely stabilized, so they're experimenting with watering and planting techniques and timing in order to have viable crops with acceptable taste and texture.

The typical home gardener (who has experienced this product at an upscale eatery or in the gourmet produce section) is probably not prepared or willing to precisely monitor and regulate this plant's growth. When said gardener is disappointed with the results, the seed manufacturer gets the black eye.

Point well taken. . .the articles I read indicated very precise monitoring of fertilization, timing of harvesting etc. . . and they were kind enough to respond to inquiry. . which is refreshing. . .Thanks Terry

"Broccolini" seems to be more like a cultural technique then?

Growing it sure sounds like a "cultural technique"! Whewww....too involved for me!

Their write-up said it was a cross between broc and kale though.

As for me, I just wait each spring till my turnip plants and collard plants start sending up flower shoots. They resemble tiny heads of brocolli and are so delish!! Easy picking, too!

Think up a catchy name for um and market the little rascals, shoe!

Well....actually there is a "new age" term for it...."Brocolli Raab" came into being at some point in the recent past. But it's basically just a turnip plant grown for the flower heads and young leaves. I'm sure there are now improvements in the various strains that are grown to produce more seed heads and grow them faster, etc. (Perhaps Fall planted vs Spring planted.)

You may also know of it as Rapa.

Not familiar with those. I wonder if "new age" is beginning to feel the effects of old age yet?

*grin

Hi...

I am new to this forum. Kitazawa seeds have innumerable interesting asian bitter greens including spring and fall brocolli raab. Plus their site now has handy online ordering. They are really nice folks, too.

http://www.kitazawaseed.com/

I know Seeds of Change sell organic brocolli raab seed. Is that the same as Broccolini? I think my taste buds have been destroyed, as I now find regular brocolli and cauliflower pretty boring.

The folks at http://growitalian.com/Qstore are also very nice and have many, many tasty Italian greens, though their catalog can be a bit more confusing.

Welcome, eje! This is slightly off-topic, but if you have experience with these companies, you might want to give others the benefit of your experience here:

Kitazawa Seed Co.: http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/1017/
Seeds From Italy: http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/2748/

Actually, that's an open invitation to all - please let your favorite mailorder garden companies hear from you; they appreciate the feedback, and what you know helps other gardeners! Trust me when I say that most vendors - especially the best ones (which aren't necessarily the biggest) - pay CLOSE attention to their Watchdog feedback, both the good and the bad ;o)

Good reminder Terry, about the companies listed in the garden watchdog. . .have tended to go there when thinking about ordering to check out reliability of a company, but there's a huge variety of specialties there to tap into as well. I have used the vendor links in the PDB at the top of plants that I'm checking out and really like that feature. Thanks for broadening our perspective and our prospects to boot!