How To Grow Cauliflower
2011-02-20 at 12:27 pm pshipley
How To Grow Cauliflower
Welcome to our guide on How To Grow Cauliflower. Growing cauliflower is relatively straight forward. Cauliflowers are grown either as annuals or biennials and are grouped as winter, early summer and summer / autumn. They produce an edible head usually 20-25cm across on plants of 40-60cm in height.
Soil For Growing Cauliflower
Cauliflowers are best grown on moisture retentive soil, with medium levels of nitrogen and a pH of 6.5 to 7.5.
Sowing and Growing Cauliflower
Sowing time depends on the cultivar that you are growing, so you should follow instructions according to the seed supplier as to when you should sow the seed.
Cauliflowers do dot like being disturbed to much, for example, transplanting. They are usually grown in modules, trays or a seed bed, but you can sow them in situ and thin them as they grow to reduce disturbance.
Seed for cauliflower germinates at temperatures around 21 degrees C. Generally the later the sowing the larger the cauliflower so later sowings need larger spacing.
For early summer crops, you should sow seeds in modules or trays in Autumn, then pot up the seedlings and place them in a frame, or cloche for winter. In the spring they should be hardened off before planting out.
For later crops sow indoors in spring with gentle heat for germination and then pot seedlings into pots and then plant out as before.
Summer / Autumn crops you can sow indoors in modules or trays or direct to their planting position under cloches or frames.
Occasionally hoe and keep weeds down.
Cauliflowers require regular supplies of water during the growing period, so in dry conditions you should water at a rate of 22litres per square metre every 2 weeks.
For overwintered cauliflowers, they need lower nitrogen levels in the soil, otherwise they produce too much soft, green growth. Add a nitrogenous liquid organic feed or fertiliser in the spring.
During sunny weather the heads /curds may get discoloured, to prevent this tie leaves over them. This also good practice in the winter.
Keep an eye out for:-
Pollen Beetles
Flea Beetles
Slugs and snails
Damping Off
Cabbage Root Fly
Caterpillars
Cabbage whitefly
Mealy Aphids
Clubroot
Birds
Whiptail – Caused by a lack of molybdenum (dip in moly dip before transplanting)
Harvesting and Storing Cauliflower
Knowing how to grow cauliflower and growing cauliflower is one thing but you also need to know how and when to harvest and store your cauliflower.
From sowing to harvest is around 16-17 weeks for summer / autumn cauliflowers and 40 weeks for winter varieties. Cut the heads /curds while they are still firm and tight. Cauliflowers freeze well for storage.
Suggested Cauliflower Varieties
Winter – `Vilna`, `Aprilex or `Walcheren Winter 3-Armmado`.
Summer – `Idol`, `Snowball` or `Perfection`.
Autumn – `Autumn Glory`, `Plana` F1, or `Snowcap`.
Thank you for reading our simple How To Grow Cauliflower guide, why not check out all our other vegetable growing guides and articles from the menu on the right side of the page. Good luck growing cauliflower!