Cauliflower
(Brassica oleracea botrytis)
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Cultivars
To us, at least, cauliflower seems like a wimp's broccoli. As with zucchini, there is a huge literature on ways to sauce up cauliflower--cheese sauces seem particularly popular--but,
as we say elsewhere, wouldn't kraft paper taste good in such yummy sauces? Does anyone actually eat plain steamed cauliflower with, at most, a little butter?
Well, we like cheese sauces, so we dabble in cauliflower; if nothing else, it is--being such a pain in the butt to grow--a good way to test soil conditions and the gardener's diligence.
As with so many vegetables today, hybrids now much outnumber open-pollinated types in the catalogues; but even sticking with OP types, the choices are several, and useful information about
most scant and dubious. (Some vegetables are just harder than others to get good cultivar information on--especially those for which hybrids are popular.)
As with so many crops, the hybrids have nearly driven the OP types from the seedsmen's catalogues, save the few that specialize in OP, and even with them, the lists are usually short.
While "Snowball" gets some favorable mention, the one that struck us as by far the likeliest goes by the awkward name of All The Year Round (probably a translation of
something more elegant in another tongue). Originally, only Bountiful Gardens carried it, but one now sees it in several catalogues (U.S. catalogues, that is--it's long been in many
European catalogues). It is a legitimate "summer" cauliflower ("winter" types are more cold-hardy, but normally produce small heads). It is an old heirloom (that is not redundant--some
heirlooms are only half a century old).
Planting
Cauliflower is much like broccoli in its needs and treatment, but is a much fussier grower, one of the
fussiest in the garden.
Timing
Timing is annoyingly tricky: we are squeezed at both ends of the vegetable's growing life.
On one hand, non-overwintering cauliflower cultivars need to produce a certain number of leaves before curd development will begin, and the optimum temperature for that is about 60°
to 65° F.--but at temperatures above 68° or so, the curds will either be of poor quality or nonexistent. Obviously, one wants them to finish up their growth before daily air
temperatures hit the 70s.
On the other hand, early cultivars can be damaged by even light frosts. Moreover, cauliflower (and broccoli) plants exposed to prolonged periods (four or more days) of temperatures
below 50°F may form heads prematurely--a process called "buttoning"; plants that button will not form usable heads. (Buttoning in cole crops occurs when plants are exposed to
any stressful conditions--prolonged periods of cold temperatures, dry conditions, infertile soils, overlong stays in seedling cells.) Large plants are more likely to button than
young plants.
At the far end, in this area we want our cauliflower plants ready by about May 1st, when temperatures are last below 68°; at the near end, we want them in no sooner than mid-March,
when temperatures last fall below 50° (all that, of course, on average). But there is no way a cauliflower is going to mature from transplant in 6 weeks! (From 10 to 12 is
more like it.) So, we need to make concessions at one or both ends.
After poring over our local weather records, we reckon that planting out on March 1st with an anticipated harvest in mid-May is the best we can figure. It's a little cool in early
March, so we need to provide as much help as we can--Walls o'Water or water-filled plastic jugs among the seedlings; but in mid-May it's only--as always, on average--about 69 at the daily
high, so even if they're a little slow, we should be OK. And a March 1st transplant date means a January 15th indoors sowing date.
Starting Seedlings
Get your seeds started timely, because you want to transplant them when they're vigorous, but while still young: plants that remain too long in seed flats notoriously produce "button"
heads soon after planting and then grow no more. A good compromise is to allow about 6 weeks for indoors growth.
Plant seed ¼ to ½ inch deep. Cauliflower germinates best at a soil temperature of about 80° F., so keep your seed trays warm (there are pad-like electrical warmers
that can keep nice, even temperatures in your seedling flats)--but keep the air temperature around seedlings, once they have germinated, mild, say 60° or so. Give them as
much light as possible--use artificial light (plant-growth fluorescent tubes suspended about 2 inches above the seedlings' tops) if necessary--else they'll be leggy and weak. Provide for
good air circulation around them, too. Keep developing seedlings at least an inch apart if using trays, or give them each a 2-inch pot.
The Bed
Unlike many other vegetables, cauliflower actually prefers a rather heavy soil, firmly tamped. (Light-textured soils can produce earlier crops, but heavier soils better hold moisture.)
The soil pH is ideally "sweet" (non-acidic), hence the frequent references in the literature to liming the soil for them--but it's not lime as such, it's the right pH that they need (a
high pH also helps control clubroot disease, but you and we carefully rotate our Brassicas--you do, yes?--so that's not much of an issue with us). Something about pH 6.8 seems about
right. The soil should not be fertilized heavily, since rich soil since can encourage soft, sappy growth that is more susceptible to cold damage. Cauliflowers want a sunny spot
for growing.
Transplanting Out
When transplanting, take care to look for and cull "blind" seedlings--those with no tiny bud visible in the middle--for they will never set curds. Space cauliflower transplants like
broccoli: at 15 inches apart.
Growing
Cauliflowers need lots of water, supplied on an even, regular basis. They don't mind wet leaves--indeed, they seem to rather like them--so water heavily. At recommended spacings, you
should have a "living-mulch" leaf canopy, but nonetheless weed scrupulously. Top-dressing the plants mid-season with fish or seaweed feltilizer is a good idea.
Older cauliflower types required "blanching"--having their leaves tied over the developing head to shield it from direct sun--to stay that desired white color. Many of the modern
cauliflower types "self-blanch", that is, fold their leaves over the head naturally (as we understand it, all cauliflowers tend to do that--it's just that the habit has been encouraged in
the modern forms). But the worst that can happen is that the heads yellow up somewhat, whcih does not affect their eating quality.
Be sure to harvest promptly, before the heads start to "rice" and the curds to loosen. Cut a good bit of the stem along with the head.
More
Relevant Links
Besides any links presented above on this page, the following ought to be especially
helpful:
Odds and Ends
Biology
Cauliflower is a member of the Brassica family, which also includes broccoli (a close relative), Brussels sprouts, kale, rutabagas, turnips, kohlrabi, radishes, and various lesser crops
like seakale and the true cresses (notably watercress). It is naturally a biennial plant; its flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are typically pollinated by
bees, making the plant self-fertile.
History
The history of cauliflower is part of the overall history of cole crops (for which see the page on broccoli). As tastes in southern Europe shifted to eating the immature flower buds of cole crops, the newer varities began to emerge from their common ancestor. By the 15th century,
the vegetable we today know as cauliflower had developed (this is, curiously, about a century before modern broccoli emerged.) Cauliflower was mainly restricted to Italy till the 16th
century, when--with so much else of food from Italy--it was introduced to France, and thence eventually to other areas of Europe. It was first grown in North America in the late
1600s.
Envoi
The growth pattern of cauliflower curds is one of many things in nature that illustrate the curious mathematical series known as Fibonacci numbers.
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