Crop type: Broccoli
Brassica oleracea (Italica Group) 'Mendocino'
Common name: broccoli (purple sprouting) 'Mendocino'
Crop slug: broccoli
This Allotment Pro editorial draft summarises the cited RHS cultivar profile.RHS cultivar profile
1 - Overview
'Mendocino' is a hardy RHS Award of Garden Merit purple-sprouting broccoli, botanically biennial but cultivated as an annual vegetable. It is distinguished as an early maincrop cultivar that produces strong yields of good-quality, notably uniform purple spears from a clump-forming green plant.
Planting in August can provide an early harvest in March and April. The broader cultivation entry records April-to-June sowing, June-to-July transplanting and a potential harvest season extending from July into the following May, with the chosen sowing and planting date determining the actual window.
2 - Size
- Ultimate height
- 0.5–1m
- Ultimate spread
- 0.1–0.5m
- Time to ultimate size
- 1 year
3 - Growing conditions
- Suitable soils
- Loam, sand and clay
- Moisture
- Well-drained or moist but well-drained
- Soil pH
- Neutral or alkaline
4 - Position and hardiness
- Light
- Full sun
- Aspect
- South-facing or west-facing
- Exposure
- Sheltered
- Hardiness
- H5 — hardy in most UK locations even in severe winters, tolerating the RHS band of about -15 to -10°C
5 - Colour and seasonal interest
| Season | Flowers | Foliage | Fruit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | — | Green | — |
| Summer | — | Green | — |
| Autumn | — | Green | — |
| Winter | — | Green | — |
The profile's seasonal table records green foliage throughout the year but does not assign a flower colour. Its overview separately identifies the harvested spears as uniform purple.
6 - Botanical details
- Family
- Brassicaceae
- Native to Great Britain and Ireland
- No
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Habit
- Clump forming
- Name status
- Accepted
Genus
Brassicas may be annual, biennial or perennial, most with upright stems, alternate and often glaucous leaves, long taproots and clusters of cross-shaped yellow or white flowers. The genus includes food crops such as broccoli, cabbages, turnips, mustards and oilseed rape, as well as ornamental plants.
7 - How to grow
Cultivation
Grow 'Mendocino' in fertile, well-compacted, non-acid soil in full sun. Sow from April to June and transplant during June or July. The profile gives a broad harvest range from July through the following May, while specifically noting that August planting can yield early purple spears in March and April.
Use the parent broccoli guide for detailed sowing depth, spacing, watering, support and crop protection. Rotate brassicas and maintain free drainage to reduce disease pressure.
Propagation
Propagate by seed, using either indoor sowing or the appropriate outdoor vegetable-seed method.
Pruning
No pruning is required. Harvest the uniform spears while their buds are tight; further edible shoots can then develop from the plant.
Pests
The profile lists birds, cabbage whitefly, cabbage caterpillars, cabbage root fly, cutworms, flea beetles, mealy cabbage aphid, slugs, snails and swede midge. Fine mesh and regular inspection protect the crop from several of these threats.
Diseases
The profile lists black rot, club root, downy mildew, grey mould and leaf spot. Rotation, clean plants, firm but freely drained soil and sufficient air movement help reduce avoidable problems.