About Cauliflowers

Cauliflowers can be extremely tricky to grow but with a little bit of love and nurture anyone can grow them. We all love a challenge don’t we? Find out how to grow Cauliflower on this page with all our gardening and allotment tips and advice.

Planting and Harvesting times for Cauliflower

Sow	October – January
Plant	March – August
Harvest	May – March

Choosing the best site for Cauliflowers.

When it comes to choosing the best place to plant cauliflowers it is very important as mentioned they are tricky to grow but if you choose the best spot it will help.

First you need to choose somewhere that has full sun, which they require. The soil needs to be able to hold onto the moisture so you may need to help with this by adding plenty of manure to the soil – do this in the autumn so it has enough time to make the soil ready.

The soil needs to have a PH of around 7-7.5. It is good to use different areas for planting cauliflower each year so that you don’t spread club root.

Sowing Cauliflowers

There are many types of cauliflowers which you can grow at different times of the year. The summer variety of cauliflower can be sown in Autumn or winter in a greenhouse. The temperature needed for germination needs to be around 12-16 degrees.

The seeds can either be planted in seed trays and transferred to pots when they are big enough to handle or you can start them straight off in pots. Once they are big enough harden the plants off at the beginning of spring ready for them to be planted a couple of weeks later. They need hardening off or the weather can shock them and kill them.

If you do not want to start them off in the autumn or winter you can sow them in early spring either in trays/modules or straight in the ground where they are to grow. I would personally recommend growing them in trays and pots first.

Planting Cauliflower plants

The time to transplant the cauliflower plants are when they are big enough to handle. Usually at around 7 week old. Before transplanting them give them a drink of water shortly before you plant them.

The plants need to be planted around 60-80cm apart so that they have plenty of space to grow and you can keep them weed free.

If you are planting the winter variety transfer them to the ground in mid summer.

Looking after your Cauliflowers

Now this is the most important part on how to look after your cauliflower. The main thing is to make sure the soil is kept moist at all times through out the growing season.

If you want your cauliflowers to stay looking white and not discoloured bend one of the leaves over the curd to protect it.

Harvesting Cauliflowers

To harvest cauliflower, cut the heads while they are still small and before the curds seperate and go to flower. This lets you enjoy them over a longer period of time. When cutting them leave some of the leafs around the head to protect it.

You can find out more information on Cauliflowers here. You can also learn about growing other vegetables here. Why not try growing your own flowers with our tips here.