What did you do in the garden today?

[LaurenRitz]

I have to get better at learning to save seeds.... Most veggies are easy but I need to get better at some of the harder stuff like broccoli... And herbs. I need to start bagging it.

If you don't harvest the broccoli, you'll get seeds. The broccoli is the immature seed head.

 

[TJAnonymous]

If you don't harvest the broccoli, you'll get seeds. The broccoli is the immature seed head.

I've always harvested the main head but then get lots of smaller side shoots. Some have flowered but I've never collected any seed or seen anything that might even look like a seed head from the broccoli.

 

[Molpet]

I've always harvested the main head but then get lots of smaller side shoots. Some have flowered but I've never collected any seed or seen anything that might even look like a seed head from the broccoli.

Some hybrid don't set seeds

 

[LaurenRitz]

I've always harvested the main head but then get lots of smaller side shoots. Some have flowered but I've never collected any seed or seen anything that might even look like a seed head from the broccoli.

Possibly either self incompatibility (many brassicas won't accept their own pollen), male sterility (also common in some hybrids), or lack of pollinators. The seed pods are distinctive.

With a shortage of pollinators or self incompatibility, you would still likely get a few seeds, so male sterility is the highest probability.

Breeders have encouraged male sterility because it helps them create reliable hybrids more easily. The only pollination on a male sterile variety is hand pollination.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Some hybrid don't set seeds

Not sure about the Lieutenant because I buy those as starts but all my other broccoli seed starts are heirloom.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Possibly either self incompatibility (many brassicas won't accept their own pollen), male sterility (also common in some hybrids), or lack of pollinators. The seed pods are distinctive.View attachment 4034327
With a shortage of pollinators or self incompatibility, you would still likely get a few seeds, so male sterility is the highest probability.

Breeders have encouraged male sterility because it helps them create reliable hybrids more easily. The only pollination on a male sterile variety is hand pollination.

Thanks for the photo.. I'll definitely watch my plants more closely this season.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Thanks for the photo.. I'll definitely watch my plants more closely this season.

Look closely at the flowers as well. Sometimes the lack of pollen can be obvious. In other forms of male sterility the entire male part of the flower is missing. With flowers so tiny, sometimes it's hard to tell.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Not sure about the Lieutenant because I buy those as starts but all my other broccoli seed starts are heirloom.

Lieutenant is a hybrid.

 

[chickengr]

I just placed an order for Casper white eggplant, Georgia flame peppers and Sheepnose Pimento Peppers. The white eggplant supposed to taste like mushrooms, and the Georgia flame should get up to 8 inches long and the Sheep nose Pimento peppers are known for their sweet succulent flavor. I have never grown these before, so I don't know if they will grow in my area.
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I find white eggplants somewhat milder than the classic purple ones. I don't think they taste like mushrooms.

 

[Smokerbill]

I cleaned off the coop floor and got two 7 gallon buckets of fertilizer. Both of my 5' x 15' raised garden beds got topped with compost.