Cauliflower

[SMS6]

I have three or four cauliflowers in one of my raised beds. These were seeds sown way back and over wintered in a plastic greenhouse. The leaves on them are getting enormous, so much so that they are over taking the bed. If I look hard enough I can just find the beginnings of the Cauli heads in the centre, they are probably only about 1cm or so in size. Can I cut back some of the leaves to make some room in the bed? Will the head still develope?

[heebiejeebie]

I'd leave the leaves alone unless they were damaged. You could take one of the caulis from the middle as a mini-veg when it's a bit bigger to make room for its neighbours to develop.

[pjh75]

The leaves on my caulis are also huge and growing upwards rather than outwards - is that what is supposed to happen? However, there is no sign of any heads forming. They were germinated and planted out at the same time as my broccoli, one of which I will be harvesting today - do they normally take this much longer?

[lzyjo]

Blanching

Normally, when the curd (head) begins to form the leaves are wrapped over it and tied together. There's is also a variety called self-blanch which wraps it's leaves by itself. Here's are some good pictures of blanching in progress.
Cauliflower - Plant

[baggyman]

Are the leaves on cauliflowers edible? My cauli leaves are getting big and it seems a bit of a waste to just compost them!

[Demeter]

I'm sure I've eaten cauli leaves before... Just cook them the same as any other greens or cabbage etc. You can do it with broccoli leaves too, swede tops, I think all the brassicas (as far as I know!) have edible leaves.,

[Alice]

My father in law always ate the cauli leaves. It's just down to whether you like them.

[Cutecumber]

When did you sow these cauliflower?

I sowed "Mayflower" in February and have eaten two already!

I would hang on, if I were you, since they've been growing so long, but maybe think again next year about your sowing time.

[Wren]

When did you sow these cauliflower?

I sowed "Mayflower" in February and have eaten two already!

I would hang on, if I were you, since they've been growing so long, but maybe think again next year about your sowing time.

Please excuse me for sounding shocked and ignorant but...How!!!

How have you managed to sow, raise and harvest cauliflower in 12 weeks? I don't understand??
Mine were sown in march (Goodman summer verity) and have just reached the 7 inch high stage and about 8 leaves.
I am not due to harvest them until about august.

How do you get cauliflowers from seed to harvest in 12 weeks this early in the season.

What am i doing wrong?

Wren.

[hooraynana]

am gobsmacked also - I sowed some cauliflowers in March and only one has germinated out of 12 !!! its certainly no where near eating stage . How do you do it ?

[pjh75]

When did you sow these cauliflower?

I sowed "Mayflower" in February and have eaten two already!

I would hang on, if I were you, since they've been growing so long, but maybe think again next year about your sowing time.

Hi Cutecumber, wasn't sure if the question was aimed at me so I'll answer anyway... sowed undercover on 3rd Feb, planted out 12th April exactly the same as my broccoli which have done really well.

[Cutecumber]

pjh75 - no, I was asking SMS6 as he/she said that this crop had been overwintered!

In answer to the "how do you get cauliflowers from seed to harvest this early in the season?"...

I grow my cauliflowers to maturity in containers of about 15 litres capacity, using peat-free compost with some calcified seaweed substitute to keep the pH up. They seem to love it!

You must choose the right variety - Mayflower, Freedom or Candid Charm perform well for me. I sowed some Graffiti (purple type) at the same time as my Mayflower and they are about 2 weeks behind.

I sow in modules in the greenhouse at the end of February and pot up to 3 inch pots when necessary. Once the young plantlets have out-grown those pots, they get planted in their final container. I plant some on their own and some with lettuces to make best use of the space.

I then harden off the plants by putting them outside during the day, fleeced up. This year they got snowed on in April and then suffered a heat wave, but they still did well.

Basically, you need to grow summer cauliflowers quickly without any check - that's the key. They need a good growing medium and enough of it. I obviously had to water the containers, but I didn't add any extra feed after potting up - they showed no signs of nutrient deficiency.

You can do the same with cabbages too - they crop even earlier. Again, you need to choose the right type - try Advantage, for example.

One good thing about this early harvest is that you free up the space for other crops - or more brassicas if you wish.