[wbmkk]

I know we usually confuse broccoli with calabrese, thanks to the shops, but I understand that calabrese is easier to grow and does all it's growing in one season. Sort of a green cauliflower.

Well for dinner tonight I bought a cauli (60p) then picked a fair size lump of 'broccoli' to go with it. I was shocked at the till, to learn that I would cost £1.32. Considering it was probably only 25% of the size of the cauli, made me decide that I'll be growing calabrese this year. Don't they always say ... grow the most economical items, not just the ones that appear normal.

Anyway, which calabrese produces a decent central head .. maybe not as big as a cauli, but big enough that a cauli / calabrese mixture will look and taste OK

I know calabrese will make side shoots, for smaller servings, but I don't want to have to pick 3 or 4 central heads for a decent amount.

A friend at my new allotment says Chevalier is pretty good .. is he right ?

[Nobbie]

I'd go to Lidl first where big Calabrese heads are only 69p. I think the trick with growing calabrese is to make sure it never gets a check to it's growth, or it will produce a small flower head quickly. One day I'll manage it

[BabbyAnn]

I was impressed with Marathon F1 although 2012 was not a good year generally and kept on going right through winter with a final crop in January.  I believe Iron Man F1 is a good one to grow, but the one I really was pleased with was Olympia F1 - early to crop with a good sized head.  The trick is to take the main head off but leave the plant and you'll get another crop of smaller spears later.

Why not also try Romanesco - it looks like a spikey lime green cauliflower (there might be other colours too I think) but tastes a lot like broccoli.

[m1ckz]

i grow russian brocolli ..heads are 8in across

[Goosegirl]

As far as I'm aware, all the calabrese (summer broccoli) have big heads as long as they are grown well. Cut them off and the side shoots grow for more but smaller "heads." Romanesque is another type and, as BabbyAnn says, is lime green with a big head, and has a lovely taste too. Just cut the heads off before they begin to open up and flowe, which they can do quite quickly if you don't keep an eye on them.

[Willow_Warren]

Doesn't really answer your question, but for the last 2 years I have grown kabuki calabrese, it is meant to be a small variety, but I have found that the main heads are pretty much the size of the supermarket ones. Smaller Side shoots come once main us picked, need checking regularly as can quickly go to seed!

Having said I shared my seedlings with my parents last year and they got nothing from them, don't know where they went wrong 

God luck with what you choose.

Hannah 

[jaydig]

Having tried different varieties, I found that Marathon always provides a decent sized first head, and side shoots carry on being produced well into the early winter.  I use plenty of manure, dug in the autumn prior to the following late spring planting. Make sure the ground is firm, and because I have a problem with club root, I sprinkle lime into the planting hole, and wrap the root ball of the seedling with a piece of rhubarb leaf. Water well in dry weather, and you should be successful.  Good size heads of broccoli are available at Asda at the moment for 50p.

[Totty]

I have grown Ironman, I think from dt browns. It produced very large heads. Obviously they need to be grown well in the first place, but I put the size of all the brassicas down to spacing.

In the main brassica bed, I generally give everything a couple of feet each way, maybe a little more for sprouts and they all get big. The PSB is still being picked every day, with a couple of plants well over four foot tall with some heads as big as a fist. Even though they are a good 2ft apart, with maybe 3ft between rows, the leaves are still touching the next plant. They will fill the space.

Totty

[BabbyAnn]

I'd also highly recommend growing inside a fine mesh netted cage - all brassicas are targetted by the cabbage white butterfly, but calabrese/broccoli seemed to really attract them