Sorry if the pic didnt come through...

That doesn't look anything like broccoli to me. Broccoli plants have thick large cabbage-like leaves, which sometimes are silvery and shiny.

But interestingly I am having the same problem but with the real stuff. I have about 4 broccoli plants I also planted in the spring, and they have survived the Texas summer, survived bouts of cabbage worms, but I have only gotten a tiny head of broccoli from just one plant. They plants are huge now, and thick, but no signs of any heads forming. Is there any hope for a fall harvest or should I just pull these up?

Hmmmm. We were wondering if it was something else. The stalks look like broccoli for sure. iv hear that growing plants from seeds sometimes doesnt work. Maybe we should prune the seeds and allow the plant to spend its energy on growing heads?

Definitely not broccoli, not even a Brassica.
{{gwi:67852}}

ccabal - if you leave your broccoli stand til fall, it may well start to produce heads.

I leave my spring broccoli over the summer and it starts heading again in fall, with big side shoots. I get more that way than if I start over with new seeding in the fall.

Your 'broccoli' is an Amaranthus, I believe, aka Pigweed.

flora is exactly right.

How did that happen?

Amaranth is a common weed in the US. Your broccoli probably got eaten by pests or overwhelmed by the much stronger plants. If you didn't recognise the weed seedlings you wouldn't have pulled them out in time.

LOL. Wow! This is funny. My wife and I have been "cultivating" this weed for months now. It has the really thick stalk like broccoli. Way back the first "seeds heads" started sprouting and that was our first warning. We decided to wait it out. We were sooo excited to have all of this broccoli to harvest. LOL.

Not the first time this has happened to us novices...
a few years ago we thought we were growing out a seedling from one of our trees. After posting a pic on here we learned it was a weed.

Thanks so much everyone. Last night I yanked out both weeds.

I thought it looked like pigweed, which is actually a nice, spinach-like green when you get the right variety at the right time.

That's too bad! I feel for you! Did you buy it as seedlings at a greenhouse or nursery? It does look like something that is edible but can't quite put my finder on it! Next yr, why not try starting broccoli from your own seeds! It's easy to do that in the summertime! Just start the seeds about mid July! I have a combined garden w/ an Amish neighbor and we have a ton of broccoli growing! We have caufliflower and br sprouts, celery, lettuce. You may be able to find some broccoli seedlings at a nursery yet! But go out now to look for it if you want to get some brocc this yr! lol!

That is the fun of growing plants we keep on learning everyday. I know there are times when I am weeding I pull plants that I planted and thought they were weeds. Pig-weed is only good when tender not like the one posted.

"I know there are times when I am weeding I pull plants that I planted and thought they were weeds."

Glad I'm not the only one.. I was weeding and ripped the flat leaf from my garlic out thinking it was more grass. Had completely forgotten I even planted garlic there.. After ripping three off I started to smell garlic and then it finally clicked..

It happens to us all. Last year, I started Collards and Broccoli from seeds: one flat each. I neglected to mark the flats believing I would remember which was which. Well, to my surprise, the seedlings of each are absolutely identical, and I was not sure which was which till the broccoli heads came out. I generously shared plants with others. I ended up with 6 plants of broccoli and 30 plants of collards...just the opposite of what I intended.
I marked every pot this year. :)

Congrats for introducing Red Rooted Pig weed to your garden. It is said that a single plant can produce over 100,000 seeds per plant in a summer. They can stay viable in the soil for at least 3 years. You will be stuck with this for a long time. Just speaking from experience, pull them when they are small. They can double in size in just a few days. You will need to pull them out by the root because they will regrow from the root if you just cut them off. Next to bindweed, pig weed is on my most hated weed list!

Jay

Yes, that's amaranth. It's a very easy grower even in our dry climate. I try not to cultivate it but when a few pop up in my greens garden I let it grow and supplement spinach or mustard with it. cause we like big pots of greens at dinner. I have read that the seed heads are an edible grain, but have not figured that out yet. The seed heads are amazingly dense and I clip them and toss in the trash.

I battle with amaranth every year. It sucks! At least they are easy to pull. I've learned lambsquarter is not so easy to pull if you let it get that large:-( I have to dig it with a spade or potato fork.

Now I know the name of my biggest weed nemesis! I hate pigweed :) !!

How about this monster?
The stalk looks like broccoli, but no flowers. It's about 5'6" tall and still growing.
I think this started from broccoli seeds, but now I'm not so sure...

This is one reason I dont do much direct sowing. If I start seed inside under lights, I can be pretty sure I am not cultivating weeds!.

And Gypsy - no thats not broccoli either.

Thank you, mandolls!

The leaves looked right when it was small but then it just skyrocketed! No more outdoor sowing for me!

Today, the giant falls....