Broccoli can be tricky to grow in the Pacific Northwest, Mother Nature's ups and downs can really make or break a crop of broccoli. Slotting is important, and trialing different varieties to find what works for you. Growing multiple varieties to cover if you lose a variety to vagaries of the weather is a good idea.
Just to make growing broccoli trickier, a fungal disease called systemic Downy mildew is becoming much more prevalent. Possibly due to breeding for super tight heads, and low temps with wet weather more growers are noticing crop damage and loss.(Downy mildew develops most rapidly when night temperatures are between 10 and 15°C. When night temperatures exceed 24°C, disease development is greatly restricted)
Here are some pictures of systemic DM to help you know what you are looking at:
For Systemic DM, there may be no indication that there is internal rot, but sometimes you will see a button of rot on the top of the head. When you cut into it, there will be dark rot running down the stem. If harvested and kept before shipping, the rot will move through the head and melt everything. Nasty.
There are varieties that are very prone, and we are no longer carrying those varieties. There are some varieties that are susceptible, and some more resistant. General and Green Magic are reported to be more resistant, we are looking into new varieties as well.
If you having problems with Systemic DM, talk with us for more info on what is available.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment