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GROWING CAULIFLOWER

Growing cauliflower in your garden can produce beautiful creamy white heads with a delicious taste. We can show you how to achieve this by giving them the care that they require.

cauliflower
It’s a very popular vegetable, can be eaten raw with salads, fried, steamed or boiled, and is rich in vitamin A & C but you’ll find that growing cauliflower can be  challenging.  As always, choose and prepare your site well in advance and you will get better results for your endeavors.

Prepare a plot that has good drainage and gets full sun, the ideal soil is reasonably heavy and rich in nutrients. Winter time is the ideal time for this to be done, as this allows everything to settle in and create a firm soil for the following spring. Growing cauliflower following these basic preparations will reward you handsomely. Also make sure you follow the rules of crop rotation, to avoid clubroot or blackrot disease, never plant any member of the brassica family, (Brussel sprouts, cabbage or swede) in the same plot the following 3 to 4 seasons.

Your soil pH should be in the range 6.5 and 7.5 (eliminate the guess work and buy yourself a Soil Test Kit). Be aware when growing cauliflower that it is a cool season vegetable and does not grow well in areas which have extremely hot summers.

poly tunnel
You can sow direct into your prepared plot; the time of sowing depends on the variety, make sure you read the instructions on the back of the seed packet as and when to sow in your locality. It’s also possible to start sowing a month earlier than directed on the seed packet by putting a garden cloche or Poly Tunnel in place a couple of weeks prior to doing that, so as to warm the soil.

For best results get your season off to a flying start by sowing seeds indoors or in a greenhouse, in seed trays or pots. Seeds should be planted ¼ inch deep in well drained potting soil and then moved outside into a cold frame to acclimatize. This is especially true for the early summer and summer/fall types. Starting seeds indoors or in cold frames several weeks before it’s time to plant out in garden beds provides the gardener with a head start and eliminates having to wait for the ground to warm up. When growing cauliflower it’s important to know your seeds germinate best at a temperature of 70° F (21° C). To protect your plants against drops in temperature or unpredictable frosts, invest in some cloches or cover them with plastic milk containers with the tops removed.

When its time to transfer your seedlings into the garden, make sure they retain as much soil as possible around the roots and transfer into a hole big enough to accommodate them. They should be spaced about 2 foot apart and 3 foot between rows. Make sure you firm the soil around the seedlings, water in well and apply a general fertilizer. When growing cauliflower its essential you don’t let them dry out, so, without turning the plot into a swamp, keep them well watered and use lots of mulch to retain the moisture. They can tolerate a mild frost.

All the essential information on growing vegetables is in this book
Burpee : The Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener

how to condition the soil, how and where to plant, sprouting schedules, what kind of yield to expect from each plant variety, and harvesting tips–in beautiful, illustrated detail.

Harvest time falls into the following general categories:
  • Sow in late spring for a harvest in winter to early spring.
  • Sow in fall or early spring for a harvest in early to mid summer.
  • Sow in mid to late spring for a harvest in late summer to early fall.
Use your local garden centre as a guide to which varieties are suitable for your area, some recommendations are:
  • Winter Glacier, Andes
  • Early Summer Snow King, White Summer
  • Summer/Fall Imperial, Snow Park, White Rock, White Sails
You can of course go for color when growing cauliflower:
  • Chartreuse & Romanesco (green)
  • Royal Purple King and Violet Queen (purple)

All in all adds a bit of color to the garden as well as the dinner plate. Kids might actually be tempted to eat it too.

A few varieties are self-blanching, meaning the leaves curl over the head. If growing varieties that are not self-blanching; when the curd reaches about three inches in size, pull leaves over curd and tie in place to cover the head. This stops the head receiving direct sunlight and keeps them sweet tasting and a nice white color. The curd will grow to about eight inches during this blanching period and then be ready to harvest. It should feel firm to the touch when ready, usually 7-12 days after blanching begins. Do not leave it until the head starts to loosen or the quality will reduce.

When growing cauliflower be aware of the following pests and diseases cabbage loopers, cabbage worms, cabbage root maggots, cutworms, flea beetles, leaf miners, slugs and snails, bacterial soft rot.

Check out the other vegetables which you can grow in your garden.