You can start growing broccoli in 5 gallon buckets with the proper guidance and know-how. Even if you don’t have an experience with broccoli, you’ll find the vegetable easy to grow and care for. Here are the steps on growing broccoli in 5 gallon buckets.
What You Need to Grow Broccoli in Containers
Here’s a list of essentials for those who are looking to grow broccoli in their home or garden:
- Broccoli seeds
- 5-Gallon buckets
- Well-draining and rich potting soil
- All-purpose vegetable fertilizer
You can plant broccoli seeds in the fall or early spring depending on where you live. Broccoli are cool-season vegetables that can grow in USDA zones 2 through 11, with ideal growing temperatures ranging from 65 to 70 degrees F (or 18 to 21 degrees C). You can start broccoli seeds in trays or directly into their 5-gallon buckets.
Starting Broccoli From Seed
Broccoli seeds need anywhere between 5 to 10 days to germinate and sprout true leaves. It’s recommended that you expose them to optimal germination temperatures of somewhere between 75 to 80 degrees F (or 23 to 27 degrees C). Too high, and you may not get the number of seedlings you want.
Fill up your container or seedling tray with high quality potting mix and make sure that it’s well-draining. The 5-gallon bucket should have adequate drainage holes as well. Observe a depth of one-fourth or a half-inch per seed, then cover them lightly and water to make the soil moist (not wet).
Once broccoli seeds sprout, it’s time to move them to a location that gets plenty of light. If indoors, you’ll want to position your plants in a south-facing window or under a grow light. At this point, you should keep the soil constantly moist and provide plenty of sunshine.
After 3 or 4 weeks your broccoli plants should be ready to be transplanted into their final containers and hardened off. This process requires you to gradually expose your plants to the outside environment so they won’t experience shock. Move your broccoli plants outdoors for an hour for a day, then two the next and three the day after that.
How to Care for Container Broccoli Plants
Broccoli plants need several hours of sunlight each day, so put yours in a location that gets partial sun. As long as the weather stays relatively cool and within the optimal growing temperature, your 5-gallon broccoli plants should flourish and produce crowns.
It’s best to check the soil moisture daily and water when the surface is dry to the touch. With a 5-gallon bucket, you can afford to hold off on the watering can longer since it can hold water for a longer time.
Fertilizing is not really necessary if your medium contains a lot of organic compost and similar nutrient-rich matter, but if you’re inclined then feeding balanced fertilizer once a month should suffice.
Pests and diseases can put a damper on your broccoli plant, so make sure to watch out for aphids, cabbage worms, cutworms, and root rot. Water adequately, inspect the leaves for signs of these pests and spray with neem oil or apply diatomaceous earth on the leaves and soil.
How to Harvest Broccoli
Once everything goes well and your broccoli plants stay healthy, you can expect to harvest your container broccoli in about 50 to 70 days.
Time it right and you can complete several broccoli head harvests before summer comes. The main head will be the first part- for potted broccoli plants, it will have reached anywhere between 3 to 6 inches, with the outer parts having a pencil-thick stem. The heads will assume a dark green color, which means they are ready to be taken.
It’s recommended that you use a sharp and sterilized knife to cut the main head about 5 or 6 inches at the stem.
Wait a few days to several weeks and see if the side shoots will grow enough for a second harvest. The baby heads should show no signs of bolting or forming flowers if you want to cut them. To encourage bigger-sized heads you can add a dose of balanced fertilizer to the soil after the main broccoli head is removed.
Growing broccoli in 5 gallon buckets: Conclusion
The great thing about growing broccoli in containers is that you can reuse the 5-gallon buckets the next time you want a healthy and tasty vegetable to eat.
Related article: How to Stop Broccoli From Bolting