Broccoli planted too early?

[DHB]

Hello all. New to gardening, but just directly sowed some broccoli seeds outside, using the package directions to "direct sow in early spring," with a color-coded map that corresponded with my zone. Since then, everything I've read and watched suggests that I should have waited, and that broccoli seeds need warmer soil temperatures than "early spring" in zone 5 provide. Predictably, nothing's happened yet, three weeks after planting. My question is, will my premature planting just delay eventual germination, or have I screwed up entirely? Edit: there have been 5-6 frosts, and 2-3 "hard freezes" since planting, but daytime highs have generally not been lower than mid-40s, with a lot of mid-50s to mid-60s days in the mix, if any of that helps. And, of course, I've tried to make sure they weren't over- or under-watered.

 

[Bughunter99]

Yeah too early for cuke seeds in the ground in zone 5 and a big cold front is coming in another week. They stand a good chance that they will rot in the ground, I'm sorry. You can try to make them a little micro environment to try and save them. Put a plastic cloche over them to try and get them more insulated. If you have more seeds, you can start them inside and then move them out once soil temps warm up. They get big fast though so make sure your pot is big enough.

 

[Icecold]

you should be able to get away with planting early this year considering the temperatures.

 

[marlingardener]

DHB, in future you will want to start broccoli inside in grow cells, and when they germinate, under grow lights. Here in Texas (zone 8) where we are a lot warmer than you, we plant out starts in late February or early March.
I've found that for the amount of broccoli we plant (12-18 plants) it's just easier to buy starts and not take up my growing space inside. Oh, for a greenhouse . . . .

 

[DHB]

Thanks for the responses, peeps. Got a cold snap coming next week, with lows getting close to 20 F a few nights in a row...of the things I planted early, broccoli is probably most at risk. Guess I'll toss some sort of insulation over it and hope for the best. The potatoes, radishes, garlic, lettuce, kale, and onions should be okay, I think. And the carrots, since they haven't even sprouted yet. I'm definitely hooked on this stuff after having some success with corn and tomatoes last year. I guess it's easy to get impatient, but even I know better than to get my peppers and tomatoes outside yet...

 

[CanadianLori]

This thread is a good reminder for people to add more details to their profile such as growing zone, perhaps their state. Nothing that would pinpoint one but enough to aid others in offering advice. pretty please ?