Can you cut back broccoli?

[Vinca]

The neverending heat in the northeast is resulting in plants that look healthy but produce zilch. Has anyone every tried cutting them back to see if they would produce new growth and maybe a head of broccoli in the fall?

[Denninmi]

1. Yes, they will.

Cut it back to a stub about 2 inches tall. When new shoots emerge, select the strongest looking one, and remove all of the rest. Throw some high N fertilizer on it when you cut it back, and water the heck out of it (as appropriate for soil type, weather, etc., you don't want to rot it!). It will grow a nice stalk, and should make a decent head, although never as large as the original one would have been.

Alternatively, if you don't thin the emerging shoots, you will get multiple, small heads.

[Vinca]

2. Thanks. That's exactly what I needed to know.

[HopeHoops]

3. Yes - before it bolts. You'll get new "heads" but they'll be smaller. DO NOT LET IT BOLT!