Dining and Cooking
What's in my Broccoli?
In Vegetable Gardening

What’s in my Broccoli?


I cut open a head of broccoli and this was inside it. It looks like a weird webbing. Does anybody know what this is?

by GRYMLOCH75

16 Comments

  2. CommunicationBroad38

    Its a type of fungi. Its growing on the inside of the broccoli. Probably moist in there or possible decay.

  10. gard3nwitch

    Probably just inconsistent watering or nutrition.

  12. No_One7894

    I agree with another poster that you’re getting a whole lot of different answers and my immediate guess is that they waited too long to pick it. This is kind of what happens with veggies like cucumbers, squashes and turnips… if you wait too long, they get overly fibrous.

  13. California__girl

    Looks like the beginning of hollow heart.
    https://www.vegetables.bayer.com/au/en-au/resources/growing-tips/agronomic-spotlights/managing-brown-bead-hollow-stem-broccoli.html.

    Symptoms of hollow stem start as small cracks in the internal stem tissue. As the stems grow, the cracks expand and cavities form. The cavities may extend up into the head (Figure 3). The hollow areas in the stem and head can lead to colonization by secondary pathogens, resulting in rotting of the tissues.

    Figure 3. Broccoli heads showing symptoms of hollow stem. Figure 3. Broccoli heads showing symptoms of hollow stem.
    The occurrence of hollow stem is affected by soil moisture levels, N levels, and warm weather. For hollow stem, anything that promotes rapid plant growth increases the incidence of this disorder. For example, high levels of N can increase the incidence of hollow stem, especially during periods of warm weather.5,6 Wide plant spacings and rapidly growing cultivars are also associated with higher levels of hollow stem. Closer plant spacing and lower fertilization levels, especially N, will lower the incidence level of hollow stem. A brown discoloration of the internal hollow stem tissue may be associated with a boron deficiency. Some recently developed varieties are resistant to hollow stem.