Broccoli - mid November update

I thought it might be timely to provide you with an update on how the broccoli plants are doing. These are the ones we planted in the no-dig bed in September.


As you can see, most of the plants have grown well. Of the ten planted, I think it's fair to say that six are doing well, two are struggling and two are almost a write off.
The challenges in September and October were very much around caterpillars and slugs. These are no longer a concern. In fact, I haven't come across a caterpillar outdoors since this time last month. 
What is a concern, and has been since the last broccoli blog, is the wind we get here, and it can be quite punishing.
To this end, I have put up the windbreak I said I was going to, and each plant has the support if a bamboo cane. 


The windbreak has made a tremendous difference. It is estimate there is a filtering effect of 50%, hence the additional bamboo canes. I've been out checking on windy days, and it's not that the plants aren't blown around, because of course they are. It's that the plants are not blown around quite so badly.

So overall, I'm happy with progress, and we'll keep watching this space.

Happy gardening.

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