Tips For Growing Cauliflower

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

Popular among culinary experts and so far underestimated by gardeners culture

Cauliflower - it is already widely known to Russians, first of all, with the help of vegetable departments of supermarkets, but this cabbage is not yet actively grown on six acres. Its fruit-heads are not only the usual snow-white color, but also green, yellow, purple. Its head consists of accrete inflorescences, which in one head can be up to … two thousand!

In terms of nutrient content, dietary properties, taste, it surpasses all other types of cabbage - white cabbage, broccoli, red cabbage, kohlrabi. It contains less fiber, it is better absorbed by the body and less irritating to the gastric mucosa. Doctors allow the use of cauliflower even for peptic ulcer disease.

Cauliflower is a relatively early maturing crop. Like all other types of cabbage, it is grown through seedlings. Seeds for seedlings planted in the ground in May should be sown in late March - early April. You can plant seedlings at several times - from the last days of May and the whole of June in such a way as to cut off the ripe heads without interruption and for a long time. In this case, the seedlings will need to be grown several times. Seedlings of cauliflower are prepared for early spring (planting on May 1-10), spring-summer (planting in late May) and summer-autumn planting (late June). With a favorable summer, cauliflower produces two crops from the same area.

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It is only important to remember that she does not like temperatures above plus 25 ° C, she cannot stand low-lying places where cold air can stagnate.

Now there are many varieties and hybrids of cauliflower on sale - for every choice and taste. In the conditions of the North-West region, of course, first of all it is worth paying attention to early maturing varieties. Here are some of the varieties and hybrids that I have grown myself or that I have heard good reviews from other gardeners: Snow Globe, Bianca, Guarantee, Express, Alpha F1, Amethyst F1, White perfection NK F1, Yarik F1.

The fertile layer for planting this type of cabbage should be at least 20 cm. When preparing a bed for cauliflower, 4-6 kg of humus, 15-20 g of ammonium nitrate, 20-40 g of superphosphate, 20-30 g of potassium sulfate are added per 1 m2. Two-thirds of the fertilizer goes for digging, and one-third is applied to the holes before planting. Seedlings are planted at a distance of 40 cm from each other in a row.

Cabbage heads begin to set after 15-20 well-developed leaves are formed. For normal vegetation, they need a moderate temperature (16 … + 18oС) and diffused light. Therefore, the plants must be shaded and watered regularly. Regularly, but not often - better less often, but more abundant (one bucket for 6-7 plants). After all, from a lack of moisture, the leaves shrink, and this instantly affects the harvest: the more leaves, the more head of cabbage. In direct sunlight, the heads overheat, turn yellow, become loose, and disintegrate.

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To prevent the heads of cabbage from burning out, you need to cover them - tie or bend two or three top leaves above the head. For the first time, cauliflower is fed 5-7 days after planting the seedlings with solutions of urea (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water per 10 plants) and potassium nitrate (1 tablespoon) with the addition of 2 g of boric acid, 3 g borax, 2 g of molybdenum-sour ammonium and 1 g of manganese sulfate. The second time - after two weeks: 3 tbsp. l nitroammophoska for 10 l of water. Or you can feed it with organic matter: bird droppings (1:20), mullein (1:10) or slurry (1: 4).

Cauliflower has a lot of pests. Cruciferous fleas attack it immediately after planting seedlings. These are small black bugs 2-3 mm in size. When the first bugs appear, it is necessary, having well moistened the leaves of the plants, pollinate them with tobacco dust. Cruciferous fleas cannot stand the smell of tomatoes and garlic. Therefore, we can recommend sowing these crops on a garden bed with cabbage as a compactor.

This cabbage is loved by the caterpillars of the cabbage whitefish and the cabbage scoop. In the fight against them, you can first try to do without chemistry: having examined the plants, crush the egg clutches, and later collect and destroy the small caterpillars that have appeared. In gardening stores there are bacterial preparations that are much safer than chemical ones, and their use is allowed at any stage of plant development, but no later than a week before harvesting. For the fight against caterpillars of butterflies, as well as aphids, the microbiological preparation entobacterin-3 at a concentration of 0.5% is very effective. The required consumption of a suspension of entobacterin-3: 10-30 g per 10 liters of water.

The cauliflower heads are harvested as they ripen. It is important not to overexpose them in the garden. Otherwise, the heads will become loose, the pulp will coarsen and darken.

Have a good harvest in the new season

Tamara Barkhatova

photo by O. Filippova