Harvest
When to harvest broccoli
The short answer
Cut calabrese when the main head is 10 to 15cm across and still tightly in bud. Pick sprouting broccoli when the spears are well formed but still in tight bud. Either way, harvest before the flowers open, and keep cutting: side-shoots follow the first head for up to a couple of months.
“Broccoli” in a UK shop is usually calabrese, one big green head in late summer. Sprouting broccoli is a different habit, many small spears over a long season. Both are ready at the same stage: full buds that have not opened.
When it's ready in the UK
Calabrese crops in late summer and autumn. Sprouting broccoli takes four to ten months to start cropping, depending on when it was sown and the variety, and regular sowings can give spears from June to the following March. Summer varieties crop much more quickly than winter ones.
Vercro's catalogue has calabrese and purple sprouting broccoli as separate crops, shown below.
| Window | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calabrese: sow indoorsFebruary to April | January: no | February: yes | March: yes | April: yes | May: no | June: no | July: no | August: no | September: no | October: no | November: no | December: no |
| Calabrese: sow outsideApril to July | January: no | February: no | March: no | April: yes | May: yes | June: yes | July: yes | August: no | September: no | October: no | November: no | December: no |
| Calabrese: plant outApril to July | January: no | February: no | March: no | April: yes | May: yes | June: yes | July: yes | August: no | September: no | October: no | November: no | December: no |
| Calabrese: harvestJune to October | January: no | February: no | March: no | April: no | May: no | June: yes | July: yes | August: yes | September: yes | October: yes | November: no | December: no |
| Sprouting broccoli: sow indoorsApril to May | January: no | February: no | March: no | April: yes | May: yes | June: no | July: no | August: no | September: no | October: no | November: no | December: no |
| Sprouting broccoli: sow outsideMay to June | January: no | February: no | March: no | April: no | May: yes | June: yes | July: no | August: no | September: no | October: no | November: no | December: no |
| Sprouting broccoli: harvestFebruary to April | January: no | February: yes | March: yes | April: yes | May: no | June: no | July: no | August: no | September: no | October: no | November: no | December: no |
Months from Vercro's crop catalogue, the data the Vercro app plans with. It allows about 11 to 14 weeks from sowing to the first harvest. Weather, variety and where you garden move every one of these.
93 UK gardeners had recorded broccoli in Vercro by 19 September 2026. What Vercro gardens are growing.
How to tell it's ready
- Calabrese: the main head is 10 to 15cm across and still in bud.(RHS)
- Sprouting broccoli: the spears are well formed but still tightly in bud.(RHS)
- Garden Organic snips sprouting spears at 10 to 20cm long, before the flowers open.(Garden Organic)
How to harvest
- Calabrese: cut the main head first. Further small heads then develop on the side-shoots.(RHS)
- Sprouting broccoli: take the central spear first, then the side-shoots as they form, cutting each whole shoot at its base with about 10cm of stem.(RHS)
- Check every few days. The more shoots you harvest, the more the plants produce.(RHS, RHS)
What moves the date
If you leave it too long
After picking
Where the sources differ
Two good sources, two answers. We show both rather than picking the convenient one.
| Question | RHS | Garden Organic |
|---|---|---|
| Sprouting spear length | Cut the whole shoot with about 10cm of stem. | Snip spears when they are 10 to 20cm long. |
Keep a record of what each bed gave
Log what you pick, and how much, bed by bed. Vercro keeps the record, so next year you know what worked where, and Today shows what your crops need next.
Keep going
Where this comes from
Crop windows, growing times and plant families come from Vercro's own curated crop catalogue, the same data the Vercro app uses. Where a published source says something different, we show both rather than choosing the convenient one. Reviewed 19 September 2026.
- How to grow Calabrese, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- How to grow broccoli, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Sprouting broccoli, Garden Organic. Read 19 September 2026.