Thanks for your reply. the plant is vigorous everywhere else. with no sign of aphids. i did see a few early on, but i sprayed them off with my hose and it was fine.

Is it getting enough direct sun? maybe a bit of blanching going on? best guess.

Thanks for your reply - they are getting lots of direct sun - 6-10 hours a day depending on location. but all florets are yellow - both in the sun at the top of the plant, and also in the shade along the stalk under the other leaves (it's a type of broccoli that gives lots of side shoots).

I hit them with a half-strength high-N fertilizer just in case, as the plants overall look healthy (apart from a little snail damage on one).

Could too much N cause the plant to neglect floret development in favor of leaves, leading to yellowing of the florets?? I don't mind eating broccoli leaves to just make sure i get any type of harvest, but i'm trying to grow the florets here!

Any chance of a picture?

No the florets shouldn't be flowering immediately but they are still edible. The florets stems are actually the best part of broccolini types like Artwork so you aren't limited to just the leaves.

thanks for your reply - the florets are not yellow due to early bloom, but rather are coming in yellow. the florets are not budded up, they are still developing.

I will try to add a picture to show what i mean.

Are they yellow or more of a lime green? On regular heading broccoli the newly forming heads start as a lime green and then turn darker green when they get to a couple inches across. Artwork may do the same. The only broccolini or sprouting broccoli I have grown is Aspabroc and they start a darker green but only get to maybe 1.5" across and tend to go to flower fairly quickly if not picked regularly.

"they get watered whenever the soil is even a little dry"

It could be something as simple as over-watering as that often shows up as yellowed new growth. All depends on what you mean by "whenever the soil is even a little dry" as that could easily be interpreted as excessive watering. Surface soil that looks a little dry is in no way an indication that they need water. It is the moisture level down at the roots that counts. And even there the soil needs to be mostly dry before watering.

Dave

Thanks for your reply! They are in pots and get full sun - i wait until the soil is dry an inch down in the pot before watering. i was told that broccoli loves lots of water and lots of nutrients, but i don't want the roots to rot! I'll back off on the watering and see if that helps.

Where do you live? Maybe it's getting too warm for broccoli to form proper heads.

Mountain View, CA (zone 9b i guess). it's possible but we've got highs in the 60's and lows in the high 40's/low 50's, so i figured broccoli would actually still be doing fine...

And just to clarify, the type of broccoli i'm growing will never form a large head. This is a type of broccoli where you harvest the main broccoli "head" when it is still a small floret 1-2 inches across, then the plant vigorously sends out long-stemmed side shoots to enjoy until the plant peters out.

The side shoots on my regular Broccoli sometimes start out a very pale green almost yellowish colour when they are really small, but then turn a darker green quickly. A picture would definitely help.

Gail, Did you ever discover the reason? You are the only one I can find that describes my broccoli this year. I can't seem to find an answer.

I grew Artwork this year. Not impressed. Side shoots are prolific, but small and stringy. They flower VERY quickly.