Brassicas
Romanesco
Striking; spring and fall.
- Indoors
- 6 to 8 wk spring; June for fall
- Outside
- Transplant
- Where
- Raised bed or in ground
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Every 3 to 4 days in July; a checked plant buttons
- Harvest
- Jun to Jul, then Sep to Oct
Care
- Water
- Every 3 to 4 days in July and August, every 5 to 7 in spring and fall. A long soak at the base until the top few inches are wet, then let it dry before the next. Cauliflower-grade thirst; let it check dry and the head comes in a knuckle, not a spiral.
- Sow
- In cells in March for spring, again in June for fall: 2 seeds a quarter inch deep per cell, keep the stronger. Set plants two feet apart in the bed, rows two to three feet apart.
- Start inside
- No heat mat; at room temperature they sprout in 1 to 2 weeks. Under the lights as they break ground, 14 to 16 hours. Spring plants out in May at two feet, the fall round in August; fall is the surer bet.
- Feed
- A shovel of compost or castings worked in at planting starts the bed. A heavy feeder while it builds leaf, so side-dress with Garden-tone at four inches, up to a third cup a plant. Keep the water and nitrogen even, or the spiral never forms.
- Ready
- Cut when the lime-green spiral is full and tight, before the points begin to separate; a loosening head is a day late.
- Trouble
- Buttoning, a knot instead of a spiral: growth stalled by a cold or dry check, keep it fed and evenly watered. Cabbageworms: net at transplant, Bt once frass shows. Aphids in the crevices near harvest: check at the board.
In a bag?
- Yes
- Up to a 5–7 gal bag.
- Water
- Daily in July and August; bags dry far faster than a bed. 30 to 40 sec on the shower dial until it runs from the seams.
- Feed
- Top-dress monthly; every watering leaches the bag.
- Sow
- One plant per bag.
Romanesco is the lime-green spiral brassica, cauliflower's showpiece cousin, with spring and fall chances here and better odds in fall. It takes cauliflower-grade care and repays it in geometry.
Growing
Start indoors with the spring brassicas in March, transplant in May at two feet each way, and keep water and nitrogen steady, because a stalled plant buttons, trading the spiral for a marble. The May planting heads in June and July if summer arrives politely; the surer bet is a second round of transplants set out in early August that heads up in the cool of September and October. Rich soil, no drought, no shortcuts: this is a cauliflower in a fancier jacket and just as demanding.
Varieties
Veronica is the reliable F1 and the right first try; open-pollinated Romanesco Italia is cheaper seed with more variable heads.
Pests
The white butterflies make no exception for artistry; net at transplant like every brassica here, with Bt as the fallback once frass appears. Aphids find the crevices near harvest, so give the head a hard look at the cutting board.
In the kitchen
Roasted florets keep their spires and brown at every point. It eats like cauliflower with better texture and much better table conversation.