15 best tips for growing broccoli at home

Growing vegetables at home can be a relaxing way to get your hands dirty. As an added bonus, you'll get to taste the proverbial fruits of your labor while saving money on your grocery bill! Many new gardeners may be surprised to learn that growing broccoli is pretty easy.
If you're interested in growing a broccoli garden started, check out a few of these helpful tips to get started:
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When to grow broccoli
1. Broccoli is a cool-weather vegetable so it does best in the spring and fall. Broccoli does well in soil temperatures 40 degrees Fahrenheit and above.
2. If you plan to grow broccoli in the spring, seed your broccoli about 3 weeks before your last local spring frost date.
3. If you want to grow your broccoli through the fall, aim to seed your broccoli between 85 and 100 days before the first fall frost, The Almanac recommends.
4. While you can grow broccoli in the Spring and Fall, fall crops may fare better, according to the Almanac.
5. If you opt to grow from transplants, add 10 days to your maturity date and count backward from your expected fall frost date to determine when you should plant them in the ground, Rodale's Organic Life recommends.
How to grow broccoli
6. When planting your broccoli outdoors, choose a spot where your vegetable will get full sunlight (8 to 10 hours of direct sunlight each day).
7. Brocolli prefers a slightly acidic soil. A pH between 6 and 6.8 is the best, according to Rodale's Organic Life.
8. Your seeds should be about 1/2 inch deep and spaced 12 to 24 inches apart. If you are using a raised bed, aim for 15 to 18 inches apart. Rows should be 36 inches apart.
9. Before planting, add a few inches of quality compost or manure into your soil so that your vegetables have enough nutrients to grow properly.
10. Consider covering your rows when you expect a freeze to protect the veggies from freezing. While one freeze/thaw isn't the end of your crop, repeated freezing and thawing could be.
Grow broccoli indoors
11. If you opt to grow broccoli indoors in a container, keep in mind that the veggie gets big and heavy so you'll need a 3-gallon container for each broccoli plant, according to DenGarden.
12. Choose a light, nutritious compost soil for potting. The soil should drain well too.
13. Broccoli should get about 8 hours of direct sunlight, so if you plant them indoors, just make sure the plants are located in a sunny spot.
14. Keep room temperatures below 75 degrees. If your broccoli flowers (which it will in warmer temps), you won't be able to get a crop.
15. For indoor planting choose varieties of broccoli that grow faster like Atlantic or De Cicco, according to Den Garden.
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Have you ever grown broccoli? Make sure to share these tips with your friends on Facebook so they try their hand at this yummy veggie this fall!