How To Get A Guaranteed Yield Of Cauliflower

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Brassica oleracea L - cultivation and varieties

Cauliflower is a type of cabbage plant belonging to the genus Brassica of the cabbage family. Her homeland is the eastern Mediterranean. It is considered an annual plant, it is grown to obtain heads - the productive part, consisting of numerous branched flowering shoots-heads.

Cauliflower has high taste and useful properties, for which it is appreciated by many gardeners. She ripened early, so I get her consistently high yields on the site for a long time, sowing seeds at different times and using growing. Moreover, he began to grow this crop in the early 60s, soon after receiving the site.

At that time, cauliflower was little known to anyone, so I, apparently, was one of the first in the Leningrad region who began to master its agricultural technology.

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In the beginning, I was constantly pursued by various failures, it turned out to be not such an easy crop as ordinary cabbage. More than once I gave myself my word: I will not deal with cauliflower anymore, but after a while I again sowed seeds for seedlings, having previously studied the literature (which at that time was very small). And then one day, having grown a successful harvest and having tasted dishes made from this cabbage prepared according to my recipes, I still do not stop practicing this culture. For my family I grow at different times 10-15 pieces of cauliflower plants in the spring, summer and autumn seasons.

I am sure that any gourmet will like this dish. I hope that with my example I can captivate those who have not yet tried growing cauliflower, and they will get down to business, overcoming all the difficulties of this culture.

It would seem that today this is not a problem - I went and bought cabbage in a store or in the market, cooked it and eat it. But it won't be that. It is important to grow it yourself in compliance with all agricultural practices, then it will be three times tastier and healthier.

Nowadays there are many different varieties of cauliflower on sale from various suppliers, including those from Holland. In appearance, the heads of this cabbage are of high quality, in taste - I don’t know, I haven’t tried it. I sometimes buy a head of Dutch cauliflower to grow seeds from on my plot, and then harvest the cauliflower the next year.

I buy the head without the slightest signs of disease, healthy appearance, snow-white color, without any dark spots.

Growing cauliflower is much more difficult than, say, white cabbage. It is more demanding for a constant temperature, especially during head formation. With the slightest, even seemingly imperceptible deviation, this will immediately negatively affect the size of the future head and its quality. Also, a lot depends on the moisture in the soil and on the humidity of the air, on the fertility of the soil, its composition, fertilizers and microelements and their quantity. The illumination and the length of daylight hours are also significant for her.

Before you start growing the future harvest of cauliflower, you should decide on the variety, think it over and choose the most suitable place for it. Only in this case you can count on a good harvest. For example, over the years of cultivating this crop, I have tested many different varieties of cauliflower, but I chose two - Movir-74 and Garantia. For more than a decade, they have taken their place in my beds.

Both varieties have an early ripening period, with amicable ripening, 70-98 days after germination, the weight of mature heads is up to 1.3 kg. The total yield of these varieties is up to 4 kg / m². These varieties are similar, but they also have differences, which must be taken into account in order not to reduce the yield. For example, the Movir-74 variety is cold-resistant and heat-resistant, responsive to watering. Variety Guarantee is intended for open ground in the spring-summer period and for growing under film shelters. Both varieties have excellent taste. The best way to water them is by sprinkling. Of course, every gardener can decide for himself which varieties are best for him - the choice is now large.

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To get an early harvest of cauliflower with good heads, I use potted seedlings, at a later time, you can sow directly on the garden.

Potted seedlings have significant advantages: when transplanted to a permanent place with four to five leaves, the roots are completely preserved, which means that it takes root well and quickly in a new place, does not delay in development. Long-term practice has shown that it is most advisable to grow cauliflower in three terms. I sow its seeds for seedlings in early April, then again at the end of April and a third time at the end of May. I grow potted seedlings in a cold greenhouse.

Before sowing cauliflower seeds, I prepare them as follows:

- I calibrate them by size, choosing the largest seeds, this allows you to further increase the yield of heads by 30%;

- I disinfect them in a solution of garlic (one part of garlic juice in three parts of water - for 1 hour), before cooking, the seeds can also be warmed up for 20 minutes in water with a temperature of 50 ° C;

- I soak the seeds in a solution of trace elements for 6-8 hours (for 100 g of water I take 0.3 g of boric acid, 0.05 g of potassium permanganate and 0.3 g of molybdate).

All these measures increase the resistance of plants to diseases, increase productivity, and improve the quality of heads.

After the prepared and disinfected cauliflower seeds are placed in a container with soil to a depth of no more than one centimeter, I cover them on top with clean, dry river sand with a layer of up to 0.5 cm. This is necessary to protect against black leg disease and other diseases.

For seed germination, temperatures up to 25 ° C are needed day and night. With the emergence of seedlings for 7 days, I provide them with a daylight hours of 12-16 hours, using, if necessary, backlighting with fluorescent lamps, and the temperature during this period should be 8-12 ° C during the day, and 4-6 ° C at night (I use a refrigerator, where the temperature about + 6 ° C).

After seven days have passed, I start picking seedlings, at the same time rejecting damaged, frail or diseased plants. At the same time, I transplant the seedlings into larger boxes, for example, in 0.5-liter sour cream packages. After that, I take the seedlings to the growing area in a prepared greenhouse with double walls of film. So that the double layers of the film do not stick together, I sew foam blocks between them in different places with fishing line.

The main thing here is to prevent the cauliflower seedlings from being exposed to frost at a young age. In this case, they will either die, or receive such stress, which will later affect the quality of the heads: they will grow prematurely.

I prepare the soil for growing cauliflower in the fall. The best predecessors for her are beets or potatoes (by the way, cabbage, in turn, heals the soil from late blight). I cultivate the soil in the garden to a depth of 10 cm, no more, while adding bleach dry lime - 100-150 g per 1 m², half the rate of potassium and phosphorus and organic humus compost (preferably without manure) up to five buckets per 1 m². Poplar leaves give good results.

When preparing, I shovel them several times with earth, lime or baking soda. Poplar leaves are a valuable organic matter for cauliflower and gladioli, but in the fall in city yards they lie underfoot. It should be borne in mind that when growing, cauliflower plants are especially demanding to provide sufficient nutrition at a young age, from the beginning of leaf formation. Indeed, only with a favorable beginning of the development of the leaves will a dense head form, because there is a certain connection between them. Then the heads will not crumble and darken for a long time.

When a high-quality and healthy rosette of leaves forms on the plants - in mid-early varieties from 9 to 12 pieces - cauliflower heads begin to form, and its yield will now depend on the number of subsequent days with favorable conditions. If we learn to create these conditions through timely agricultural practices, then we will thereby ensure a reliable harvest. For example, the air temperature has risen above 18 ° C. In this case, watering the cauliflower plant by sprinkling will lower the ambient temperature, increase its humidity, improve plant respiration, and hence the growth of green mass and the outflow of nutrients into the heads.

It is necessary to monitor the temperature of the soil, there must be a thermometer in it. The temperature of the ground where the roots of cauliflower are located, preferably not higher than + 12 ° C. I water the plants with water from a well, the water in which is not higher than + 7 ° C. While pouring it into a watering can, while carrying it to the cabbage, it heats up to + 10 ° C. I pour the water under the root.

Cauliflower is a moisture-loving plant in a temperate climate, requiring increased (but not excessive) moisture in the soil and the environment. With excessive humidity, for example, if there are prolonged rains, and with prolonged exposure to low temperatures (10 ° C during the day and about 0 ° C at night), it stops the growth of the leaves of the rosette, and they become purple in color. The same phenomenon occurs at normal temperatures, but with a lack of phosphorus nutrition in the soil. It should also be remembered that with a lack of trace elements in the soil, the heads begin to darken.

I do not huddle the cauliflower, it injures its root system. I replaced this agricultural practice with a repeated addition of the nutrient mixture over the season, in a layer of up to 3 cm.

I wish all gardeners to master the cultivation of this culture, useful in all respects, and not be afraid of the difficulties associated with this. And then the cauliflower will delight you with a generous harvest.

On April 6, in the building of the administration of the Frunzensky district of St. Petersburg, a group of war veterans was honored. Among others, the jubilee medal "60 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War" and a valuable gift from the governor of the city were presented to the author of our magazine, Alexander Izmailovich Malyukov.

We sincerely congratulate the veteran of war and labor on this award and the anniversary of Victory and wish him and all those who defended the country in those harsh years good health and prosperity!