How to grow Cauliflower

Brassica oleracea

A cool-season brassica grown for its white head (curd). It needs steady growth without checks; cold, heat, dry soil or overgrown transplants give small "button" heads.

Quick facts

Type	Vegetable
Family	Brassicaceae
Light	Full sun
Soil pH	6–7
Frost	tolerates light frost
Soil for sowing	from 5 °C
Germination	7 days
Seedlings ready	35 days
Sowing to harvest	100 days
Where it grows	Greenhouse, Open ground, At home

When to plant

Sow for seedlings about 6 weeks before planting out.

It tolerates light frost: plant out in open ground about three weeks before your last spring frost.

In an unheated greenhouse everything moves about three weeks earlier.

The first harvest comes about 100 days after the shoots appear.

Frost dates · When to plant

Care

Greenhouse

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 2 days	15…21 °C	—
Growth	every 3 days	10…29 °C	nitrogen, 21 days into the stage
Harvest	every 2 days	—	—

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 2 days	15…21 °C	—
Growth	every 4 days	10…29 °C	nitrogen, 21 days into the stage
Harvest	every 3 days	—	—

At home

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 2 days	15…21 °C	—
Growth	every 3 days	10…29 °C	nitrogen, 21 days into the stage
Harvest	every 2 days	—	—

Growing notes

Light

Needs full sun, at least 6 hours of direct light a day, ideally 8–10. Strong sun can turn white curds yellow, so cover them with leaves.

Soil

Deep, fertile, firm soil that stays moist but drains freely, pH 6–7, with well-rotted manure or compost dug in.

Care

Plant out 5–7-week-old seedlings 45–60 cm apart; older, overgrown ones tend to button. Keep the soil damp at all times. Side-dress with nitrogen about three weeks after planting out. When the curd is about 5 cm across, fold the outer leaves over it to keep it white. Cut while the head is still firm and compact, before it starts to separate.

Pests and diseases of Cauliflower

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.