Growing broccoli in your garden can be a good physical activity as broccoli plant demands more maintenance than most plants. Taking care of them can be quite challenging especially if you don’t know how to take care of them properly. Gardening can be tough without the right knowledge. It would be difficult for you to handle them from seedlings till the time you harvest them. It’s important that you know when to harvest broccoli.

Harvest time can be tricky especially if you’re quite new with growing broccoli. Knowing when and how to harvest broccoli can make wonders for any grower. After all, it’s not the type of plant that you can easily grow any time you want. Here’s how you can harvest the fruits or in the case of broccoli, the flowers of your labor.

Just the Right Time

It’s important that you harvest your broccoli at the right age. You don’t want to harvest them when they are too old or too small, right? So how would you know if it’s the right time? The first thing you would want to do is to take a look at your broccoli plant. It’s important that you know the right size of the head of the variety you are growing in your garden. This is why you need to do a research before you plant and grow them. When most of your broccoli heads are at a good size, you can start the harvesting process to make sure that they don’t grow too big. You can also check if the heads are tight and firm before harvesting.

As much as possible, don’t wait for the plant to have petals. In case you are seeing yellow petals, don’t wait any longer. Start harvesting your broccoli heads as soon as you can.

How to Harvest Broccoli Heads

While each grower has his own methods when it comes to harvesting, the most important thing you must remember is to use a sharp knife or cutter. Avoid using any dull cutting tool as this can damage the heads. A sharp knife is a decent tool to use when harvesting your broccoli heads. Always cut the heads from the plant with at least 6 inches of stem. When cutting, always make a slanting cut at the stem.

If you want to harvest for best taste, make sure that you do it early in the morning. It’s important that you get to harvest the heads before the soil heats up to get the best flavor. Store the broccoli heads inside the fridge if you’re not going to use them. Make sure that they are dry when you put them inside the refrigerator. In case you washed them, let the water drip off first before storing the plant.