How to Grow Cauliflower
Instructions & Advice for Growing Cauliflower
in Your Vegetable Garden
A cauliflower is a cabbage with a college education.
Mark Twain (more gardening quotes!)
| Nutrition | Watering Instructions | Harvesting |
| Climate | Fertilizing Instructions | Storage |
| Soil | Challenges | Tips |
| Planting |
Cauliflower is grown as a vegetable garden annual. Heads can be white, green or purple (depending upon which variety you select). You can also select varieties with short or long growing seasons.
Gardening this vegetable can be difficult, as it’s very intolerant of high heat or frost.
Because cauliflower has a large rooting system, it does not grow well in a container garden.
Nutrition Information: (back to top)
Cauliflower Provides: Dietary Fiber, Chromium,Vitmain C, K, B6, Folate, Panthothenic Acid, Potassium, Manganese, Protein, thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Magnesium and Phosphorus.
Climate & Growing Conditions: (back to top)
Gardening cauliflower can be done in most garden climates, but it will grow best in cooler areas. (They need cooler temperatures for the heads to form.)
Cauliflower does not grow well in garden climates with hot summer and low humidity.
Gardening Advice Tip: This vegetable's heads will discolor if exposed to full sunlight or to frost. (see "blanching" below)
How to Prepare the Garden Soil: (back to top)
Cauliflower is a heavy feeder, and will need a garden bed that has been well fertilized, and supplied with a healthy dose of compost to grow properly.
You will also need to feed them frequently with side dressings of fertilizer throughout the gardening season.
For best growing conditions, the garden soil pH for cauliflower should be between 6.0 and 7.0. (Information on testing your garden plot's soil pH level.)
A simple gardening practice to protect the head from sunlight provides the vegetable's white color. When the head is small, tie a few of the large leaves together over the head. As the head grows larger, replace the leaves with larger ones, always keeping the head shielded from the sun.
How to Plant: (back to top)
You can sow cauliflower seed directly in your garden from spring to summer. Plant seed ¼” deep in garden beds in rows 2 feet apart. Use a number of varieties with different maturity dates to extend your growing and harvest season.
If starting seeds indoors, allow approx 6 weeks for the cauliflower seedlings to appear. They can be transplanted when 6” tall. Plant the seedlings 24” apart, and only transplant in cool weather. For more information on starting seeds indoors, click here.
How to Water: (back to top)
Keep the garden soil moist and the air humid around the maturing plants, but avoid watering directly overhead. The cauliflower head may also need protection from heavy rainfalls.
How to Fertilize: (back to top)
Cauliflower does not grow well in acidic garden soils. Use dolomite, lime, and fertilizer to prepare the soil for planting.
Boost growing with a dose of fertilizer applied 4 weeks after transplanting seedlings. Side dressings of urea will promote growth, if applied after the heads first appear.
Gardening Challenges: (back to top)
Cauliflower tends to be succeptible to white cabbage moth caterpillars and aphids.
You may see the leaves wither or turn yellow - this is from a shortage of molybdenum or magnesium. Treat by watering with a solution of 1 oz sodium molybdate dissolved in 5 qts of water.
Gardening Advice Tip: Practice good vegetable gardening by rotating your crops within your garden space with each new season. This will prevent many plant diseases.
How to Harvest: (back to top)
Harvest this vegetable after growing in the garden soil for 4-5 months. Remove heads when about 8 inches wide by cutting. Be sure to harvest heads before they discolor or lose their firmness. Leaves can also be steamed and used as a vegetable.
Cauliflower does not keep long after harvested, so plan to process (freeze, etc.) soon after harvesting.
Storage: How to Freeze Cauliflower (back to top)
Divide heads into florets and wash. Blanch for 3 minutes in boiling water. Chill in iced water for 3 minutes. Drain and spread on a tray in a single layer. (Cover with plastic wrap so the strong smell doesn’t take over your freezer) Freeze for 30 minutes. Pack into freezer bags, remove air, seal and label. Freeze cauliflower for up to 6 months.
Gardening Advice Tips (back to top)
Have a helpful gardening tip (or even a fun story) to share about your cauliflower growing experience? Share it with us at: gardeningtips@howtogardenadvice.com
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