Broccoli/plenty of leaves no head?

[Chris]

cabbage looper. They're the larval form of the little white butterflies you see.

[EdibleLndscp411]

Hi Lisa,
It may just need a little more time. My broccoli has also been very slow this year. Last week I had the same problem as you're seeing, but last night almost every plant had a nice start to the head. Just continue to water regularly, and if at all possible, water at the base of the plant so the water gets to the roots and doesn't sit on the leaves, which can be a problem with sprinklers.

Hopefully, your plants will be showing their heads soon, too.

Lisa

[Exactly_vague]

Everything is growing very slow around me this year I'm worried about some of my more gentle plants not being ready in time for harvest. Broccoli is tough, not only can it handle a frost, I've harvested with a light snow on the ground. You should have plenty of time left to harvest from it.

[zzzappp]

Same problem here with the brocoli and no heads. I'm going to try adding some phosphorus (just a bit) tonight to see if that helps over the next few weeks.

Re: the worms, I use a pyrethrin spray (organic, derived from the chrysanthemum plant). You'd need to reapply it if it rains as in its organic form it is non-persistent. I only spray when I see evidence of a problem. This means that usually by harvest time there are still some worms present... I suppose that is extra protien for the meal.