cauliflower advice please

[dru`s haven]

hi all,
as you know im abit of a newbie to growing but i will always try
now last im going to say prob sept time i picked up a tray of cauliflower plugs ,i popped them into my raised bed and let them get on with their growing ,which if i remember correctly they should have been ready for around may/june?
i cant find the tag with info that comes with them grrr so im at a loss i cant google to see if these are ok??
my question is am i wasting my time with these now as they seem to have been in forever ,there are no heads just all leaves ,which yes plenty of and they have really shot up since the new year,but if no heads are ever going to happen id rather cut my loss pull them out and move on
ive added a couple of pics for you to see ok thank you for any help/advice on this

[snakeshack]

don't give up on these, they grow a lot more slowly through the winter, give them a sprinkle of BFB as a spring boost and they will reward you soon. They grow much quicker if planted now as the light levels and temperature are higher, it's just that yours went in late in the year.

[Snoop Puss]

They look OK to me, the second one looks like it might even be trying to start a curl of leaves in the middle, a good sign that it will eventually produce a cauli head.

One question, how close are they planted? They do grow to quite a size. If they're very close together, you might only get small heads, but any cauli is better than no cauli!

[vixylix]

They look exactly like cauliflowers... just without the cauliflower part!!

I can't be helpful I'm afraid because I haven't grown them. Are you being impatient or do you actually need the space?

[dru`s haven]

aww thank you so much ,i will do that now ,hubby was ready to get rid this morning i said no leave alone i will ask first because i was sure something in my head told me june yay happy now again thank you snakeshack

[dru`s haven]

thank you snoop puss ,yes they are wuiet close together as ive only got small space , i really wanted to prove hubby wrong that you could grow cauli ,i wasnt bothered that they werent going to be massive a few small heads would be fine ,as they went in after all else has finished so fingers crossed now ,or we got cauliflower leaves for veg lol

[dru`s haven]

prob abit of both ,thought i would have seen something by now and thought if nothing was going to happen then get rid and get bed ready for new ,but no i shall hold on now little caulis they maybe but its still a cauli off to give them a feed of bfb right now thank you all ,you have just saved their lives hehee

[muddled]

you're going to need a lot of patienc for this veggie growing lark!
Lots of things take up to a year in the ground before harvest.

The bit you eat on a cauli is actually the flower.
I bet you have lots of other plants in your garden that flower in June, July, August and september!
When you think of it like that it doesn't seem so late does it?

[Muddy_Boots]

If you plant cauli's late they will overwinter (unless there's a horrendous winter) and flower the following spring. I planted some Romanesque cauli's late last year that are just starting to form the flower heads now so give them a bit longer.

Also when the heads start to form if you break a couple of the leaves to cover the forming head it will stay white else it will go yellowish under the sunlight.

[Martin H]

While we're talking cauliflowers, can anyone advise how to tell the right moment to harvest them? I usually let them get bigger until they suddenly bolt, at which point I eat bolted cauliflower rather than use them for compost.

If only I could tell the day before they start to bolt!

Any ideas?

[Snoop Puss]

To be honest, I eat them when the heads are quite firm and tight and when I want one for the kitchen, even if they are perhaps a bit on the smallish side. I used to do the same as you and it drove me mad, all that effort for nothing. That or half a dozen giant caulies all to eat at once.

[snakeshack]

I wait till the curds are just big enough for a meal for 4,thats about the size of 2 fists together before I start harvesting, when the curds are starting to show the slightest sign of bolting I harvest the remainder and freeze /pickle for later use

[dru`s haven]

my cauli`s have grown

just wanted to share a pic or two of my cauli`s
earlier i put a post on here asking whether to dump or leave ,well i decided to leave them they werent in the way and woohoo how happy am i just harvested 4 beauti`s
so thank you for your help and advice i did listen and now i have been rewarded
and as you can see they have been replaced with greyhound cabbages

[Containergardener]

Well done, they look great

[veggiechicken]

They look fantastic, Dru
I've merged your 2 threads as its great to see a result after a question. Thanks for showing us your caulis