Broccoli Di Cicco
Broccoli Di Cicco is a traditional Italian heirloom particularly good for freezing and ideal for stir-fries and steaming. Once the 10-13cm main head has been cut, this will be followed by a bumper crop of side-shoots throughout the summer.
This variety is traditionally the quickest and earliest of open pollinated varieties in that it is sown in spring for summer harvests in Europe.
Sow – mid September to February (Cool Climate), protect young seedlings from frost to avoid bolting.
Spacing – 50cm plants. 60cm rows
Broccoli resulted from breeding of landrace Brassica crops in the northern Mediterranean starting in about the sixth century BCE. Broccoli has its origins in primitive cultivars grown in the Roman Empire and was most likely improved via artificial selection in the southern Italian Peninsula or in Sicily. Broccoli was spread to northern Europe by the 18th century and brought to North America in the 19th century by Italian immigrants. After the Second World War, breeding of United States and Japanese F1 hybrids increased yields, quality, growth speed, and regional adaptation, which produced the cultivars that have been the most popular since then.
Germination: Optimal Soil temperature is 18 to 24 C (around 5-10 days to germination)
