Six weeks before the last frost-free date, broccoli can be planted, although it performs best as an autumn garden crop. Before transplanting young plants into your garden, you must harden them off. Broccoli can handle temperatures from 26 to 31 degrees.
Will frost damage my broccoli?
Many of us in the northern portion of the country have received frost warnings, or will shortly. Some gardeners are exhausted and content to let the frost destroy the remains of their garden, while others are anxious to harvest as much as possible. If you belong to the latter group, the information below will help you determine how to proceed with your autumn garden.
Gentle Frost: At High Mowing, we protect frost-sensitive crops using a floating row cover. If you hear that a frost, even a small one, is on its way, you should harvest all of your “frost-sensitive” crops, such as: Cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, summer squash, melons, and okra. If the temperature will not go below 30 degrees Fahrenheit, you can cover the plants with burlap bags, buckets, baskets, floating row covers, or blankets supported by posts.
This will allow the fruit to develop throughout the remaining warm days. Frost: Colder temperatures (26-31F) may burn the leaves of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, lettuce, mustard, onion, radishes, beets, and leeks, but will not kill them. In fact, several of these crops, as well as parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, and brussels sprouts, have the finest flavor after a frost! Overwintering: In milder locations, spinach, lettuce, parsnips, carrots, parsley, kale, and leeks may be able to survive the whole winter for gardeners.
To aid these plants in surviving the winter, mulch them. (For further information on mulching, consult Barbara Pleasant’s Winter Mulches for Vegetable Gardens or the University of Georgia’s Mulching Vegetables extension office.) The majority of these crops may be gathered all winter long. On: September 26, 2011 September 26, 2022 High Mowing Organic Seeds.
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A winter vegetable garden covered in snow does not signal the end of the crop. Snow will insulate and shield winter crops from freezing temperatures till harvest. Frost or freezing temperatures will do greater harm to winter veggies than snowfall. Under a layer of snow, carrots, turnips, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, chard, and head lettuce can be gathered.
- Under the snow, scallions and autumn leeks of scallion size can be collected.
- Under snow, onions can survive in the garden provided they are protected by a covering of mulch.
- After a snowfall, parsnips and Brussels sprouts will taste sweeter.
- If snow accompanies plant cell-damaging freezing conditions, cover your crops with mulch, plastic tunnels, or cold frames.
Straw or fallen leaves can also shield plants from cold conditions. Temperatures in the upper 20s or low 30s are optimal for harvesting cold-weather crops from beneath snow, particularly if you are exposing only a piece of the crop and leaving the remainder for later harvest.
- If freezing weather threatens to freeze the soil, all garden produce must be removed.
- Cold soil or continuous freezing air temperatures will cause plant cells to break, destroying crops and killing plants.
- Asparagus, rhubarb, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cress, rutabaga, spinach, endive, horseradish, kohlrabi, kale, leek lettuce, onions, parsley, parsnips, radishes, and turnips may withstand snow, but not persistent cold temperatures or ice.
Stephen Albert is a horticulture, master gardener, and licensed nurseryman with over 25 years of teaching experience at the University of California. The University of California and the University of Iowa awarded him graduate degrees. His works include Vegetable Garden Grower’s Guide, Vegetable Garden Almanac & Planner, Tomato Grower’s Answer Book, and Kitchen Garden Grower’s Guide. 
What is broccoli’s minimum internal temperature?
Cook every food to a minimum of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
How to Prevent Cold Injury to Broccoli Plants – Temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit are ideal for broccoli cultivation (16-21 C.). A rapid heat wave or a quick winter might ruin it. Allow the transplants to acclimatize (harden) gradually to the external temperature to prevent harm from a late or early frost.
If the temperature lowers to 28 degrees Fahrenheit, hardened transplants will not suffer significant harm (-2 C.). If conditions are expected to become colder or to continue longer, you must offer broccoli plant protection. This can take a variety of forms. Covering the plants with hotcaps, newspaper, plastic gallon jugs (with the bottoms and tops removed), or row coverings is possible.
The tasty broccoli heads are far more susceptible to cold than the plants themselves. Damage from frost causes the florets to become mushy. If this occurs, remove the plant’s head while leaving the plant in the ground. More than likely, some side shoots will develop.
How is broccoli grown in the winter?
Broccoli Planting Time –
- Broccoli is a cool-weather crop that must be harvested before temperatures routinely above 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius).
- Commonly, broccoli is produced from transplants in the garden. Broccoli can sprout in soil temperatures as low as 40°F.
- 5 to 6 weeks prior to the final spring frost, sow broccoli seeds inside.
- After 4 days of hardening off, transplant broccoli seedlings into the garden between 4 weeks before and 2 to 3 weeks after the final spring frost.
- For optimal development, place transplants in the garden after the soil has reached 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In places with moderate winters, seeds should be started inside in late summer and planted outside in September for winter harvest. Whether the temperature is too cold or too warm, broccoli will go to seed and not develop heads.
- In frigid winters, short-season locations plant broccoli in the summer for harvest in the fall.
- In general, an autumn crop should be planted 18 weeks before the first forecast frost.
- The optimal temperature range for broccoli growth is between 45° and 65°F (7.2-18°C).
- Broccoli can endure temperatures as low as 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-6.7 degrees Celsius).
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