Location: ireland
All though you’ll rarely find anything but pure white curds in the supermarket not all cauliflowers are white. Over the last few years a lot of breeding work has been done to bring us coloured cauliflowers purple, green or even orange curds, all tasting great and because of the colours containing different antioxidants it makes them healthier for us to eat. All these colours make cauliflowers a versatile vegetable in the kitchen cooked, added to a stir-fry or eat raw with dips. It is possible to grow this vegetable and have it available to eat nine months out of the year from your plot – all it takes is the right varieties and planning.
The most important thing to remember when growing cauliflowers is to keep them growing at all times with no check to their growth at any stage throughout their growing season. If you can achieve then succulent homegrown curds will not be a dream but become the norm on your plot.
Sowing the seed
In February make your first sowing of summer cauliflowers. These are best sowed in a heated greenhouse into 9 cm pots filled with multipurpose compost. The pots are watered with a fine hose attached to a watering can. Once the seeds are sown, lightly cover them with fine grade vermiculite-they are then placed in a heated propagator set at 18-21C. Germination can be as quick as 3 to 7 days, at which time seedlings can be pricked out [transplanted] into module trays ready for planting outside in mid-April.
If you don’t have the luxury of a heated greenhouse you can make a sowing of summer cauliflowers in a seed bed inside a cold frame, mid-February to mid-March. Sow each variety in a shallow drill 1 cm deep and about 25 cm between the rows. These will germinate more slowly, it was still have plants ready for transplanting out into their final positions towards the end of April or May depending on how cool the spring has been.
Late summer/autumn cauliflowers that will be ready for harvesting from August through to the end of October can be sewn in mid-April outside in a seed bed. From late April to early May if sown under glass in pots ready for planting when large enough.
Winter and spring cauliflowers are best sown in late April or May in seed beds outside or in mid-May if sown under glass in pots and pricked out into pots for transplanting later when ground becomes available.
For really early summer cauliflowers you can sow seeds in October. These are best sown under glass, pricked out into 9 cm pots and then placed in a cold frame to overwinter. These plants will then be ready for transplanting into your vegetable plot as soon as the weather and ground conditions allow in early March and ready to be harvested by June.
Growing on young plants
If sowing in pots, once the seedlings are large enough to handle they can be pricked out into 5 cm² trays filled with multipurpose compost to grow in. The pricked out seedlings are placed on shelves in the greenhouse, so they are near to the glass, preventing them from getting too leggy. They stay there until they are large enough to move into a cold frame for hardening off, before planting out into their final positions. Growing cauliflowers in trays helps prevent them from stunting their growth, plus I find they take better once planted. Unlike plants that have been lifted from a seed bed, which can sometimes lie in the ground all limp for several days before they pick up.
Plants that are growing in a seed row require a really good drink of water the night before lifting so some of the wet soil stays attached to the bare roots once lifted. It’s always wise to plant bare rooted plants on wet or dull days as this will reduce the stress they would experience if planted on a sunny day.
After planting barefoot or pot raised plants I make sure they are given a really good watering in. I like to put them in to soil that is really saturated around each plant so they are standing turgid by the following day.
Soil prep and aftercare
Cauliflowers like a rich fertile soil that was dug over with plenty of manure added in the autumn. Before planting, the ground is pulled down to a fine till. As cauliflowers are hungry plants it is important to plant them at the correct spacing in order to get the best curds. I plant summer cauliflowers 30 – 38 cm apart in the row with 38 – 45 cm between the rows. Late summer/autumn and winter/spring cauliflowers are generally planted 45 cm apart in the row with 45 – 60 cm between the rows.
Keep the plants well watered, especially in the first few weeks after planting if the weather is very warm, so your plants become established quickly. It is also important to keep the plants well watered during hot weather as the curds are beginning to develop. Once the curds are about 5 cm across, it is very important to keep the soil moist at all times, this will keep the plants growing and produce bigger curds.
Keep weeding throughout the year so the site is clean around your plants, but take care while howing not to damage the stems of the plants as this will check their growth.
Harvesting
Most hybrid varieties develop quickly and will often be ready to harvest within a few days of each other. So to avoid a glut cut the largest curds first, allowing smaller ones to develop further. Most varieties freeze well should you find yourself with a glut.
Pests and disease
If any part of your plot has club root disease it is best to avoid growing any type of brassica in this area for at least 7 to 10 years. However, going plants reduces the risk of club root problems, as they grow away quicker. Recent breeding has developed some club root resistant varieties that may be the answer to many gardeners’ prayers. Pigeons or doves attacking young cauliflower plants can be a big problem in some areas so growing plants under nets is the answer.
Cabbage fruit fly can attack plants and make them collapse; they can be deterred by putting a brassica collar around the base of each plant preventing the butterfly from laying its eggs. You can buy proper mats or make your own, cut out from an old carpet.
Cabbage white butterflies can be a real nuisance laying their eggs on plants, when they hatch out into caterpillars that soon chomp away at your crop. I check my plants regularly and rub off any eggs, and then later on I pick off any developing caterpillars
This is a guest post by Neil, please check out his site My Garden Hammock
