I generally don’t like to eat the broccoli stems, so I typically by broccoli crowns and compost the large stem that is left over. However, last year I saw some broccoli growing in my lazy man’s compost pile – I hardly ever turned the thing. So, this is how to grow broccoli from a stem leftover from a grocery store broccoli crown. I have no clue what variety of broccoli this is, but according to google, it’s probably Calabrese broccoli, aka typical broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica ).
So, that got me thinking, can I grow a new broccoli plant from a stem from the grocery store? I propagate fruit trees and bushes all the time, so maybe i could use the same method for re-growing broccoli from a stem.
And that’s what I did. I took 3 thick stems that were approximately 3/4″ diameter and cut off the dried off bottom near a node. This gave me a fresh cut at the bottom of the stem, and I dipped 2 of the stems in rooting hormone gel, and just put the other one in the dirt without anything at all. I used seed starting soil, which is cleaner and lighter than typical potting soil, and it’s what I use to propagate my fruit trees.
It’s been about a month, and I’ve finally started to see new growth on one of the stems! This is still just an experiment, so we’ll see if this turns into a full fledged plant with a new head, or if it just dies off at some point.
