A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Vegetable Gardening broccoli & cauliflower

I have tried something new this year. I started some broccoli and caluiflower from seeds. They have come up nicely. My question is, how do I keep them from getting leggy? Thanks!

The thing about broccoli and cauliflower is, they're cool season crops. No need to wait until after the last frost. They'll take some frost, and if temps in the low 20's or colder are expected, they can be covered. I'm in zone 7, and all cole crops...broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts...should be planted out now. I'm thinking yours should, too, in zone 6, but soon, for sure. They don't like hot weather, so they do best in spring. I'm pretty sure that the stems should not be buried, they'd probably rot. Tomatoes root from the stem, most things don't. I personally would get the seedlings outdoors to harden off. A sheltered spot where they can get a few hours of sun a day and some breeze will do wonders for them. Bring them in on cold nights, and gradually give them more direct sun. One thing you can do indoors to help avoid "legginess" is to put a small fan on them. I use a $4 clip-on fan placed where it just stirs the leaves, this is great for peppers and 'maters especially, but it's good to have a breeze on anything after a few leaves develop. This is actually one of the really important reasons to harden things off...allow them to strengthen the stems before they're totally exposed to the elements.
You should plant the peas and spinach soon, they both take even colder temps than broc and cauli. My peas sprouted March 1 and survived a 17 degree freeze. Lettuce and radishes survived in a cold-frame. In fact, one year I planted snowpeas in the fall and they survived the winter...just never grew much until the spring.