Growing Cauliflower (2024)

Growing Cauliflower:
Making Cauliflower Happy

Soil
Cauliflowerneeds very fertile soil, with plenty of nitrogen. You can do this by providingyour cauliflower bed with lots of high-nitrogen compost (well-rotted and madewith lots of coffee grounds or some manure) and giving it ahigher-nitrogen organic fertilizer once or twice during its life. Itlikes a pH in the 6.5 to 6.8 range, but how many of us tweak our soil pH toplease a single crop? A ton of compost usually buffers things well enough tomake most plants happy.

Cauliflower seedlings are also sensitive to transplant shock, andappreciate a dilute dose of liquid fertilizer when transplanted. Compost tea,manure tea, or fish emulsion can all help.

Timing
It’s best tostart growing cauliflower indoors where it’s warmer, in seed flats under lights. I liketo use "deep-root" seed starting trays that have ridges inside to keep roots from circling. Plan it so that your transplant-out date is 2 or 3weeks before your average last frost. Since your cauliflower seedlings shouldbe around 6 weeks old when you plant them out, that means to start them indoorsabout 8 or 9 weeks before your last frost.

I start mine indoors, but plant them out when they’re only about 3 or 4weeks old, because I put them under a temporary hoop tunnel which haswarmed the soil and gives the seedlings some frost protection.

Consistency
Cauliflower likes consistent conditions. Likethe 3 Bears, Baby Cauliflower likes it “not too hot and not too cold” as wellas not too wet, not too dry, not too many bugs and not too cramped. Theseedlings like consistent, middle-of-the-road conditions. Don’t let them dryout, get hot or cold, or grow spindly and root-bound in flats or 6 packs, or they’lldecide not to make proper heads.

Protection fromBugs
Cauliflower is susceptible to all the cabbage family bugaboos: cabbageloopers, cabbage root maggot, imported cabbage moth/worm, aphids, and fleabeetles (when little). The absolute best way to protect them from any of theseis mechanical, not chemical: grow them under floating row covers such asReemay, which will prevent the bugs from getting to the plants. Other organicpest control measures work too, but an ounce of prevention is worth a poundof cure!

Cauliflower is also affected by some common plant diseases like clubrootand downy mildew.

Growing Cauliflower:
Blanching

“Blanching” in this case does not mean dipping in boiling water prior tofreezing. It refers to the common practice of tying a cauliflower’s leaves upover the developing head to keep the sun off it so that it stays white. I’m notsure this is a nutritional improvement (chlorophyll is good for us, after all),but it is traditional, and we do seem to expect cauliflower to be white.

When the head starts to form and is about 2 or 3 inches across, tie the leaves up by loosely balling with cotton string. Leave plenty ofroom for the head to form, and make sure you check the plant frequently for thenext several days. Most cauliflowers form a completely ripe head within about aweek or ten days, and if you let it go too long it will start to get airy andspindly, and lose flavor.

After you harvest the cauliflower, the plant is finished, so pull it upand put it in the compost, with thanks.

Growing Cauliflower:
Conclusions

I think one of the reasons I love growing cauliflower so much is preciselybecause it is so finicky to grow. When I finally get a lovely cauliflower head,I feel like a proud parent, and enjoy every bite!

Blessings on your cauliflower crop, friends. Send me your success stories (or failure stories!) and photos, and I will post them here (on your very own page), where others can comment.