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Cauliflowers  (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis)

GROWING SUMMARY​

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  • Onions are frost hardy and germinate best between

  • Timing:  

  • Direct Seeding

  • Growing Seedlings
    Germination temperature

  • Bed Preparation
    Raised beds
    On the flat

  • Plant Spacing
    Germination temperature

  • Irrigation
    Germination temperature

  • Pests and Diseases
    Germination temperature

  • Harvesting
    November – January depending on variety & location

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GROWING SUMMARY​

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  • Cauliflowers are similar to broccoli. We eat their flowering heads/curds so they can be planted in autumn and early winter. The problem with these delicious members of the cabbage family is that they need extremely fertile soil, are slow growing and tend to all ripen together when the weather starts to warm in spring. They are not really aprpopriate in  small kitchen gardens.

  • Like all the large brassicas cauliflowers needs rich, well fertilised soil and plenty of space. 300-500mm between the plants. The pH needs to be about 6.5 so add lime or dolomite if your soil is acid.

  • If you have space to grow the the best way to extend the harvest is to grow a lot of different varieties at the same time. 

  • Cauliflowers alway surprise. They are big, slow growing, strappy leafed members of the cabbage family which can easily be ignored. Then you walk down the row and boom! there is a cauliflower head.

  • For conventional heads cauliflowers need to be harvested as soon as the heads reach full size and are still tight. But dont disregard 'blown' heads. As long as they have not started to flower harvest the and chop them up as baby cauliflower. Unconventional but still tender and delicious.

  • Cabbage moths and butterflies are a problem in summer ans eaerly autumn but can be easily controlled organically with Dipel (Bacillus thuringiensis) or by using some sort of exclusion net.​

VARIETIES​

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There are lots of really beautiful and interesting varieties to choose from. The season can be extended a bit by growing different varieties

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  • White- lots to choose from. Old fashioned open pollinated varieties and modern hybrids. Traditional curds and the ones that form amazing Fibonacci spirals

  • Green,purple & Orange - same as white.

  • Romanesco - often confused with broccoli. A really tender, darker green cauliflower with accentuated  Fabonacci spirals. Exqusite and tasty.

MORE INFORMATION

 

Timing

Cauliflowers can be planted later than the big cabbages because we eat the flowers not the leaves but this said they will run to seed very quickly in spring no matter when they were planted.

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Pest Control

The worst pest of Cauliflowers is the cabbage white butterflies (and moths) that hover around the plants when they are first planted.  

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You must be vigilantas long as the weather is warm. If you see even one white butterfly there will be eggs and caterpillars. The eggs are easy to spot, they are small, round and yellow and you will find them on the underside of the leaves. If you only have a few plants it is easy to squash the eggs off with your thumb.  The best solution is to check all your seedlings for eggs when you plant them then put some sort of insect exclusion cover over the top of the plants. If the butterflies can't get on the leaves they can't lay eggs. Another great biological control is Dipel, a bacterial poison specific to caterpillars and which will not harm all the wonderful beneficial insects. â€‹

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Weed Management 

​​Because of the wide plant spacing cauliflowers are easy to hoe when they are small. They are also great candidates for heavy mulching. When using mulch be vigilant with slug control because slugs love young Brassica plants.

 

Once the plants are well established weed problems disappear. The large shady leaves protect the soil and when the outer leaves die off they put small amounts of germination suppressant chemicals into the soil. 

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