Veloz* (BR 854) New broccoli for the winter

The perfect pre-pack broccoli for winter is here to stay. Veloz is an early-maturing broccoli that was trialled in different areas around South Africa with great success over the past two years.

Veloz was sown in January 2021, transplanted on 2 March 2021 and harvested on 4 May 2021 (after 63 days) at Tala Valley in KwaZulu-Natal. John Salgado also trialled this variety during the winter season with great success. John is always on the lookout for quicker varieties without compensating on quality. The early maturity of Veloz was impressive. Veloz had excellent uniformity and a dome head-shape with good quality.

Veloz is an ideal winter variety that you can sow from January to mid-June. In coastal areas, the growing period is approximately 75 days and in the colder Highveld areas of KwaZulu-Natal Veloz can take up to 100 days to mature.

In the Southern areas, over ten trials were done from Cape Town to Uitenhage. The transplanting dates varied from May to July, Veloz days to maturity varied from 70 to 100 days after transplant. Veloz had a good frame size and good general leaf disease resistance, as well as even bead size and smooth head appearance.

Specifically in the Western Cape, Veloz has been trialled and tested for some time now and has proven itself from the start. Veloz was trialled in the Philippi area with great success (transplanted on 21st of May and harvested the 9th of August) taking only 80 days to mature. This quick maturity is very impressive for a winter variety, especially when considering the short spear length and excellent uniformity that makes this variety perfect for pre-packing.

Veloz was trialled in the Northern Region of South Africa with great success. In the Brits area at WD Boerdery it outperformed the standard varieties. Veloz was 10 – 14 days quicker than any other variety in the trial. The excellent quality was evident with dome shape heads and medium fine beads.