Brassicas
Cauliflower
Blanch heads by tying leaves; fall is more reliable.
- Indoors
- 6 to 8 wk spring; June for fall
- Outside
- Transplant
- Where
- Raised bed or in ground
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Every 3 to 4 days in July; any stall rices the curd
- Harvest
- 60 to 85 days
Care
- Water
- Every 3 to 4 days in July and August, every 5 to 7 in spring and fall. A long soak at the base until the top few inches are wet, then let it dry before the next. The thirstiest of the family; one dry stall and the curd rices and loosens.
- Sow
- In cells in March for spring, again in June for fall: 2 seeds a quarter inch deep per cell, keep the stronger. Set plants eighteen inches apart in the bed, rows two to three feet apart.
- Start inside
- No heat mat; at room temperature they sprout in 1 to 2 weeks. Under the lights as they break ground, 14 to 16 hours. Spring plants out in May, the fall round in August; the fall heads come truer.
- Feed
- A shovel of compost or castings worked in at planting starts the bed. A heavy feeder while it builds leaf, so side-dress with Garden-tone at four inches, up to a third cup a plant, then ease the nitrogen once the curd sets or it runs to rice.
- Ready
- Cut while the curd is tight and domed; once it starts to rice and separate, it is already past. At egg size, fold the outer leaves over to keep it blanched.
- Trouble
- Ricey, loose curd: heat, sun, or a water stall, keep moisture even and shade the head by tying leaves. Buttoning from a cold check after transplant: do not set out too early. Cabbageworms: net, then Bt.
In a bag?
- Yes
- Up to a 5–7 gal bag.
- Water
- Daily in July and August; bags dry far faster than a bed. 30 to 40 sec on the shower dial until it runs from the seams.
- Feed
- Top-dress monthly; every watering leaches the bag.
- Sow
- One plant per bag.
Cauliflower is the diva of the brassica bed, fussy about heat, indifferent to flattery, and worth it in October. The fall crop is the reliable one here; spring is attempted, not counted on.
Growing
Start indoors six to eight weeks before the May transplant for spring, and again in June for the fall set that goes out in August. It wants what all brassicas want, only without interruption: rich soil, steady water, no heat stalls, which is why September and October heads come out better than June ones. When a white head reaches egg size, fold a few outer leaves over it and clip them to keep it blanched. Cut while the curds are still tight; a ricey, loosening head was ready last week.
Varieties
Snow Crown is the forgiving one and the right first choice; Amazing earns its name in the fall slot; Graffiti is purple and skips the blanching step entirely.
Pests
Cabbageworms treat the leaves as an appetizer and the curd as dessert; net at transplant, or check weekly and bring in Bt when frass shows. Aphids hide deep in the wrapper leaves near harvest, and a firm dunk in salted water after cutting clears the stragglers.
In the kitchen
Whole-roasted with brown butter, or broken down for a hard sheet-pan char. Fall heads are sweet enough to eat raw with anything creamy.