How to Plant and Grow Broccoli Rabe (Rapini)

Brassica rapa var. ruvo

If you’re the culinarily adventurous type, you’ll probably want to add a diverse assortment of leafy greens to your garden – and if that’s the case, you don’t want to overlook broccoli rabe!

While broccoli rabe may be somewhat uncommon fare in North America, it is a popular ingredient in both Asian and Mediterranean cuisine.

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Versatile in the kitchen, this cool-season vegetable is easy to grow at home.

Ready to learn more about broccoli rabe? Here’s what we’ll cover:

Contrary to what its name suggests, broccoli rabe is not a type of broccoli – in fact, it’s more closely related to turnips.

It was given the common name “broccoli rabe” because it forms little clusters of buds that look similar to heads of broccoli, only smaller.

Most broccoli rabe varieties tend to have a central “head,” but plants can produce side shoots as well.

Along with edible bud clusters, the leafy greens and tender stems are delectable – that is, if you enjoy a slightly bitter flavor profile.

In addition to some slight bitterness, broccoli rabe has a pungent flavor, much like a mix between turnip and mustard greens, but with a nuttier taste.

Broccoli rabe is a cultivated variety of the species Brassica rapa, a plant that is native to Northern Africa, the Mediterranean region, and the Middle East.

Other cultivated forms of the B. rapa species that you are no doubt familiar with include turnips, bok choy, napa cabbage, and some types of mustard greens.

In addition to “broccoli rabe,” it is also commonly known as “rapini,” “Italian mustard,” or “Italian turnip.”

There are also many variations on “rabe,” including “raab,” “rapi,” and “rapa.”

Oh, and we’re just getting started.

It is also called “broccoletti,” “broccoli turnip,” “broccoli di rape,” “broccoletti di rape,” “spring broccoli,” “spring raab,” “American gai lan,” “friarielli,” “cime di rapa,” “taitcat,” and “grelos.”

Whew! That’s just one vegetable, but there are a whole bundle of common names.

You may have noticed that many of the names come from the Italian language, and Italy is indeed one location where it has a long history of cultivation.

In Italy, rapini is widely used in cooking. For instance, the traditional dish of the Apulia region in southern Italy is orecchiette alle cime di rapa, ear-shaped pasta served with broccoli rabe.

Note that in some areas, rapini is considered an invasive species. To prevent unwanted spread in susceptible locations, be sure to harvest the buds before plants go to seed.

How to Sow

Broccoli rabe is a cool-season plant that can be grown as an annual in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 through 10, planted either in spring or in fall.

When planting in the spring, make sure to time sowing so that your crop will mature before the hot weather kicks in, which will cause the plants to bolt.

For spring plantings, start seeds four to six weeks before your last average spring frost date. For an autumn crop, sow eight to 10 weeks before your first average fall frost.

After you decide when to plant, your next decision is to choose whether to direct sow, or to start your crop indoors and then transplant. Let’s have a look at direct sowing first.

1. Prepare your planting beds by mixing plenty of well-rotted compost into the soil.
2. Water your the day before you sow seeds or wait to sow until the day after rain. Soil that is slightly damp but not wet makes sowing easier.
3. When you have your seeds and are ready to sow, first smooth the soil down to create a level planting area.
4. Make a hole approximately a quarter of an inch deep in the soil for each seed. Space the holes one to two inches apart.
5. Drop a seed in each hole and cover with soil.
6. Lightly water in with a gentle spray from your watering wand.
7. It generally takes a few days for rapini seeds to germinate.

When the broccoli rabe plants start to become crowded, thin them so the plants are four to 12 inches apart.

Snip off the unwanted seedlings at the soil surface to avoid disturbing the roots of the others.

Thinned rapini seedlings make excellent additions to salads or sautes.

Transplanting

To get your broccoli rabe plants going indoors, start as you would other annuals. Need to brush up on your seed-starting skills? Be sure to read our primer on starting annuals indoors.

When the young rapini seedlings are hardened off and ready to transplant outdoors, prepare your planting area by mixing well-rotted compost into the soil.

Mix a bit of the medium from the nursery pot into the garden soil. Then situate the seedling into the hole so that the crown is flush with the soil level.

Pat and smooth the soil around the newly transplanted seedling and water in well.

How to Grow

Broccoli rabe should be grown in full sun or light shade in well-drained soil that has been amended with plenty of well-rotted compost.

Keep soil moist but not soggy, increasing water during hot, dry weather.

In addition to providing enough water, make sure you water at soil level not on the foliage which can promote fungal disease.

So forego watering with a sprinkler, and instead use drip irrigation or a watering wand.

Apply a layer of mulch around your crop. Mulch will help with both water retention and weed control.

When mulching, leave a few unmulched inches around the base of the plant for good airflow, which will lower the risk of disease.

Feed your broccoli raab with a foliar spray of compost tea or a side dressing of compost a couple of times during the growing season.

Cultivars to Select

While popular in Italy and China, broccoli rabe is a rather rare vegetable in the US, so cultivars available from nurseries aren’t as numerous as with some other veggies.

Here is a selection of some of the best varieties available:

Early Fall

‘Early Fall’ is the variety you want if you are growing broccoli rabe for a fall harvest.

This cultivar is adapted to the shortening days of late summer and fall and reaches maturity in just 45 days, growing up to 24 inches tall.

‘Early Fall’

You can purchase ‘Early Fall’ seeds from Everwilde Farms via Amazon.

Novantina

‘Novantina’ is a broccoli rabe variety that has large, mildly flavored florets.

Also known as ‘Di Rapa Novantina’ this variety will grow to be 14 to 18 inches tall.

You’ll be harvesting your first crop of ‘Novantina’ in 40 to 55 days.

Sessantina

The thick, succulent shoots of ‘Sessantina’ hold aloft large, tasty buds.

This cultivar can be grown for crops in spring, fall, or winter, and grows to be 12 to 14 inches tall.

An early variety, ‘Sessantina’ will be ready to harvest in just 30 to 35 days.

‘Sessantina’

You can find ‘Sessantina’ seeds from La Semiorto Sementi via Amazon.

Sorrento

Unlike other varieties, ‘Sorrento’ does not have a central head, and is more branching. Florets are large, measuring three to four inches wide.

‘Sorrento’ is early maturing, growing up to 30 inches in height, and will be ready to harvest in just 40 days.

Spring

Also known as ‘Spring Rabe’ or ‘Spring Raab,’ this variety prefers the lengthening, warm days of spring and has some bolt resistance.

This fast-growing broccoli rabe reaches 30 inches tall and matures quickly, in 40 to 45 days.

Spring Raab

You can find ‘Spring’ for purchase in an assortment of seed pack sizes at True Leaf Market.

Zamboni

This high-yielding cultivar has small blue-green leaves and large buds. Rather than producing a central head, it sends out many side shoots. Plants reach 18 to 24 inches tall.

‘Zamboni’ is slower to mature, requiring up to 70 days, but is also slower to bolt and more heat resistant.

‘Zamboni’

‘Zamboni’ seeds are available for purchase in a selection of package sizes from Zamboni Raab Seeds via Amazon.

Pests and Disease

Broccoli rabe will tempt the palates of a variety of critters if they find their way to your veggie patch, particularly snails and slugs.

A number of insect pests can also cause damage.

Insects

Here are some of the most common culprits likely to nibble on your broccoli rabe crop:

Cabbage Loopers

You can use floating row covers to protect your crop – and check out our guide to controlling cabbage loopers for more ideas.

Flea Beetles

Flea beetles also enjoy feasting on rapini leaves. They are most recognizable by the damage they do – leaving tiny, round “shot holes” in the foliage.

Before you kill any other tiny garden beetles thinking they are flea beetles, however, make sure you have correctly identified them – there are some beneficial insects, such as spider mite destroyers, which can be mistaken for these pests.

Flea beetles don’t usually do enough damage to harm broccoli raab, In my own garden, I ignore the minimal damage caused by these pests.

Instead I focus on attracting natural flea beetle enemies such as braconid wasps, which love the umbel-shaped flowers of cilantro, dill, and yarrow.

You can learn more about managing flea beetles here.

Leaf Miners

Leaf miners leave distinctive maze-like marks in the foliage.

These pests are actually flies, but it isn’t the adults that create the damage, it is the larvae feeding as they burrow through the leaf tissue.

In addition to aesthetic damage, these burrows can interfere with photosynthesis.

As with flea beetles, parasitic wasps are important in keeping leaf miner populations down.

To encourage parasitic wasps, grow plants they like nearby. In addition to cilantro and dill, cosmos is another beneficial wasp favorite.

Remove any damaged foliage and give your plants a chance to recover before resorting to pesticides, which are harmful to beneficial insects.

Disease

There are a few common diseases that can affect your crop, but they are not very common if plants are grown in optimal conditions.

Alternaria Leaf Spot

Alternaria leaf spot is a fungal disease that causes brown lesions on the foliage with white or gray centers. These lesions are often surrounded by yellow halos.

The fungi that cause this disease flourish in hot, humid conditions.

To prevent infection, provide adequate spacing between plants and encourage good air circulation.

Also, rather than watering your crop with a sprinkler, water close to the surface of the soil instead.

Treatment of this disease is much the same in rapini as it is in its close relative, the turnip.

To learn more, read our article on identifying and treating Alternaria leaf spot on turnips.

Damping Off

Damping off is caused by a soilborne pathogen that causes young seedlings to suddenly wither and die.

Cool, wet conditions and poorly draining soil put seedlings at risk for this disease. As a preventive measure, make sure the soil is well-draining, and don’t overwater.

To learn more about preventing this disease, read our article about damping off.

Downy Mildew

Downy mildew is a disease caused by fungus-like organisms called water molds (oomycetes). It is a risk when the weather is cool and humid.

Affected plants have yellow lesions on the surface of the leaves and white or gray fungus-like growth on the undersides.

Lesions eventually turn brown and the entire leaf can become papery before falling off the plant.

To prevent this disease, water at the soil level with a watering wand or via drip irrigation rather than with an overhead sprinkler.

To learn more, read our article about treating downy mildew and other cabbage family diseases.

Harvesting

Your crop should be ready for its first harvest about six to eight weeks after sowing, depending on your selected variety.

However, rather than sticking strictly to the calendar, keep an eye on the buds and make you harvest before they open.

If possible, plan to harvest for the morning, when the foliage will be at its freshest.

A pair of scissors or garden snips will be helpful here – just make sure they are clean, to reduce the risk of spreading diseases.

Cut most of the vegetation back for your harvest, leaving the plant just a few inches tall.

For continued harvests, make sure to leave a few leaves on each plant, to encourage regrowth.

Plan to pick more every time the buds are ready. Some gardeners can achieve three harvests from each plant.

Preserving

Like other leafy greens, these are best when eaten fresh from the garden.

It will keep in the fridge for up to a week, but for the best flavor, try to use broccoli rabe when it’s fresh!

To freeze your harvest, blanch it first. Place the greens in boiling water for two minutes, then dip them in an icy water bath to quickly cool.

Drain, then place in freezer-proof containers and store in the freezer, where it will keep for up to 12 months.

Rapini can also be preserved in jars, much like other greens such as spinach. Since this vegetable is low in acid it will need to be pressure canned.

To learn more, find tips on pressure canning at our sister site, Foodal.

Cooking Ideas

In addition to being used in Italian and Chinese cuisine, this green is a staple in traditional Spanish and Galician cuisine as well, such as in the soup caldo Gallego.

Rapini can be cooked like any other leafy green – steamed, sauteed, added to an omelet or quiche, mixed with pasta, or used as a pizza topping.

The pungent flavors marry particularly well with hot peppers, ginger, or garlic.

Raab also combines well with beans, such as in this recipe for cheap and easy Italian style beans and greens soup, from our sister site, Foodal.

For a light meal or appetizer, you can also use it as a topping for toast, such as in this recipe for tartines topped with broccoli rabe, chilies, and pecorino. Find it on Foodal.

The Best Bitter Buds

You now have all of the information you need to sow, grow, harvest, and even cook up a delicious batch of homegrown broccoli rabe. So, what are you waiting for?

Are you a fan of these pungent greens? Tell us about your gardening or cooking experiences with rapini – and let us know what you call it – in the comments section below.

If you are growing other cruciferous vegetables along with your rapini, you might want to review these growing guides as well:

• How to Grow Broccolini
• How to Grow and Use Chinese Broccoli
• A Flavor You’ve Come to Love: How to Grow Brussels Sprouts
• How to Plant and Grow Daikon: Add Some Zing to Your Garden