Paano Magtanim ng Broccoli: How to Plant Broccoli the Traditional Way
Paano magtanim ng broccoli? Here is how traditional Filipino farmers usually plant brokoli (broccoli), step by step from getting the field ready to the harvest, with the day of each step and what to change for a higher yield.
This guide shows how traditional farmers usually plant brokoli. Use it as a starting point. For a higher yield, update it: plant certified seed or clean planting material, test your soil, and follow the right spacing and fertilizer.
How Filipino highland farmers usually grow brokoli from seedlings set out on beds, from the seedbed to cutting the green heads about two months after transplanting. For growers in Benguet, Bukidnon and other cool uplands, and for lowland farmers trying it in the coolest months.
Before you plant, get the field ready with our land preparation guide for vegetables. Then choose your seed or planting material with the brokoli varieties sold here. If the leaves turn pale later on, the brokoli nutrient deficiency guide helps you find what is missing. For more on the crop, read pagtatanim ng gulay, vegetables in the Philippines.
When to plant brokoli
Broccoli is a cool weather crop. In mid and high elevations such as Benguet, Ilocos Sur uplands and Bukidnon it is grown through the year. In the lowlands it only does well in the coolest months, roughly November to February. In heat the heads stay small and loose.
What you plant
Seed, about 280 g a hectare, sown in a seedbed of about 50 to 70 square meters for each hectare. Seedlings are ready to transplant about four weeks after sowing, after a week of hardening in full sun.
Paano magtanim ng broccoli, step by step
The crop is ready about 60 days after transplanting.
Before planting (Bago magtanim)
14 days before transplanting: Plow and harrow well
Plow and harrow several times until the soil is fine and free of weeds.
2 days before transplanting: Make beds or furrows with manure
In the highlands make beds 75 cm to 1 m wide. In lower areas make deep furrows about 50 cm wide. Mix in about 1 kg of rotted chicken manure and 300 g of carbonized rice hull a square meter.
The nursery (Punlaan)
28 days before transplanting: Sow the seedbed
Make a seedbed 1 m wide, work in manure plus some ash from rice hull or wood, draw lines across the bed 7 to 10 cm apart and sow thinly. Spread rice hull or cut grass over the lines and keep the bed moist. Tip: A net tunnel over the seedbed gives shade and keeps off hard rain.
- Size the seedbedFor one hectare, a seedbed about 1 m wide and long enough to make 50 to 70 square meters raises the seedlings, from about 280 grams of seed.
- Work in manure and ashMix rotted manure and some rice hull ash or wood ash into the bed and rake it fine and level.
- Sow thinly in cross linesDraw shallow lines across the bed about 7 to 10 cm apart and sow thinly along them. Crowded seedlings stay damp at the base and fall over from damping off.
- Mulch, water and coverSpread rice hull or grass clippings lightly over the lines and water regularly. A tunnel of nylon net over the bed shades the seedlings and breaks the force of heavy rain.
- Ready in about four weeksabout 4 weeksTake the net off for the last week so the seedlings toughen in full sun. They are ready to transplant about four weeks from sowing.
7 days before transplanting: Harden the seedlings
Take the cover off and give the seedlings full sun in their last week.
Planting day (Pagtatanim)
Transplanting day: Fertilize the holes and transplant
Make holes 30 to 50 cm apart, in rows 50 to 75 cm apart or in double rows on beds. Wet the holes, put a little 14 14 14 in each and cover lightly, then set one seedling a hole and water.
- Water the seedbed firstWater the seedbed well before lifting, and pull the seedlings out gently so most roots come up with soil on them.
- Water the holes before and afterIn dry weather, wet the field before planting, set one seedling a hole and water again right after, so the roots sit in moist soil from the start.
- Plant in the cool hoursMove and plant the seedlings in the late afternoon or on a cloudy day, and keep the lifted seedlings shaded until each one is in the ground.
Day 1: Mulch the beds
Lay plastic, rice hull or straw mulch to hold moisture and stop weeds. Many growers plant onion, garlic, kutsay or marigold along the rows to help keep insects away.
Care while it grows (Pag aalaga)
Day 7: Water on schedule
In dry weather water by furrow every 7 to 10 days, or two to three times a week by sprinkler.
Day 14: Scout for worms and moths
Check the leaves and growing tip for diamondback moth larvae, loopers, webworms and aphids. Clear old crop debris from the field edges.
Day 18: Weed, then side dress
Pull the weeds first, then give each plant a small side dressing of urea, or urea mixed with muriate of potash, two to three weeks after transplanting.
Day 60: Keep it cold and shaded
Harvest early in the morning and keep the heads out of the heat. They turn yellow fast when warm.
Harvest (Anihan)
Day 60: Cut the main head
Cut the head while the buds are tight, dark green and before any yellow flowers open, about 50 to 70 days after transplanting depending on the variety. Leave some stem and a few leaves on. Tip: Small side heads that grow after the main cut can be picked later.
Watering brokoli, stage by stage
Broccoli is watered before and right after transplanting, then by furrow every 7 to 10 days or by sprinkler two to three times a week in dry weather. Growers mulch the beds with plastic, rice hull or straw so they water less. Furrows in the lowlands and sprinklers or hoses fed from springs in the highlands. Small growers use a watering can. Water in the morning.
The first week after transplanting. Head forming: dry soil gives small, loose heads.
| Stage | When | How often | How much |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seedbed | 28 to 7 days before transplanting | Keep the bed moist under its cover of rice hull or cut grass, watering lightly in the morning | Damp, never soggy |
| Hardening | 7 days before transplanting to transplanting day | Water less often while the seedlings get more sun. Water the bed before lifting them | Light waterings |
| Transplanting and settling | 1 day before transplanting to day 7 | Irrigate the field before transplanting, wet each hole, and water each seedling right after setting it | Soak the hole and the soil around the roots |
| Leaf growth | Day 7 to 40 | In dry weather, furrow water every 7 to 10 days or sprinkle two to three times a week. Water after the side dressing | Wet the bed to the roots, then drain |
| Head forming | Day 40 to 60 | Keep the same steady schedule until the heads are cut | Even waterings, no dry spells and no standing water |
Without irrigation. In the highlands rainy season plantings live largely on the rain, on beds that drain. In the lowlands broccoli is grown only in the coolest months and needs a furrow, sprinkler or watering can. Mulch the beds to stretch the water.
In the dry season. Furrow water every 7 to 10 days, or sprinkle two to three times a week, more often on light soil. Water when the leaves stay limp into the late afternoon or the soil a few cm down is dry.
In the rainy season. Use raised beds or ridges that drain, and skip watering in rainy weeks. Soaked soil rots the stems and heads, and wet heads rot fast after cutting.
- Too little water: Leaves droop and turn dull, the plants stay small and the heads come out small, loose or yellowing early.
- Too much water: Lower leaves yellow, the stem base rots, and the heads turn soft and brown in spots.
To water better for a higher yield: Mulch with plastic, rice hull or straw: it keeps the soil moist and cuts how often you water. Keep the watering steady from transplanting to head cutting for tight, heavy heads.
Spacing, water and fertilizer for brokoli
Spacing
Rows 50 to 75 cm apart with plants 30 to 50 cm apart, or double rows on 75 cm to 1 m beds with holes about 30 by 40 cm. One seedling a hole.
Water
Watered before and right after transplanting, then by furrow every 7 to 10 days or by sprinkler two to three times a week in dry weather. Mulch cuts the watering.
Fertilizer
Rotted chicken manure with carbonized rice hull worked into the beds, a little 14 14 14 in each hole at transplanting, and a side dressing of urea, often mixed with potash, two to three weeks later. Many growers add manure tea or fermented plant juice every week or two. To read what a bag really gives, see our guide to fertilizer for this crop.
Care and harvest
Care while it grows
Raising seedlings under a net tunnel, mulching the beds, weeding before each side dressing, intercropping with onion family crops or marigold, and close watch for diamondback moth.
When and how to harvest
Heads are cut while tight and green, usually 50 to 70 days after transplanting, with a piece of stem and some leaves. Growers cut early in the morning and keep the heads cool. Side shoots give a smaller second picking.
Common mistakes when planting brokoli
- Planting in the warm months in the lowlands, so the heads stay small and loose.
- Sowing the seedbed too thick, which brings damping off.
- Fertilizing over weeds instead of weeding first.
- Growing broccoli after cabbage family crops on the same beds again and again.
- Cutting late, after the buds open into yellow flowers.
How to get a higher yield of brokoli
The traditional way gets a crop, but small changes add up. These are the first things to change, one season at a time.
- Choose a variety for your elevation and season and buy fresh seed.
- Test the soil, lime sour soils and feed by the result.
- Raise clean seedlings under a net tunnel and harden them before transplanting.
- Rotate with crops outside the cabbage family and remove old crop debris to cut diamondback moth.
- Scout twice a week and act only when pests build up.
- Harvest on time in the cool morning and keep heads cold to market.
anee.io helps with each of these. The NPK Plus calculator checks that your fertilizer plan feeds the yield you want, the pest and disease finders tell you what is on the leaves before you spray, and Anee, the smart farm technician answers your questions in Tagalog or English.
Members open this guide in the How to Plant tool and send every step to the Protocol Builder in one tap, each on its own day. There you can change the seed, the spacing and the fertilizer, then turn it into a cropping calendar for your lots.
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