Hardening Off Cauliflowers

The Winter-hardy Cauliflowers (Avalanche) that I sowed back in October in the coldframe have grown very well. And part one of the Cauliflower plan has been completed. I’m desperate for some room in the coldframe right now though so I potted some up a few weeks ago with a view to hardening them off to plant outside soon.

They’re doing well underneath this fleecy wigwam that I constructed with the help of some Figo connectors. I had the fleece off all day today since it was sunny and sort of warm. But I did see a sneaky Cabbage White butterfly flitting around which means I’ll have to check the underside of their leaves for eggs before I tuck them up tonight.

I left some in the coldframe for now in an attempt to stagger the crop. I have never managed to grow an edible Cauliflower, but I’ll keep trying. Year after year, oh yes. Any tips, apart from liming the soil, planting them firmly and protecting from butterflies?

Category: Propagating     Tagged:

5 Comments on “Hardening Off Cauliflowers”

  1. managed a few last year, my only tip is to grow enough of them as you lose some along the way. They’re looking good!

  2. After double digging – sometimes adding manure to the bottom half – and packing down the soil, I add lime, crushed egg shells (for calcium), and compost in the holes where I plant cauliflowers.

  3. hi, looking ahead for when you have a lovely crop of caulis dont forget you can protect the appearance of the heads from rain damage by bending over and partly breaking one or two leaves over the cauli. mmm i love cauli cheese…

  5. I will ask one of the farmers around here in Brittany who grow, quite literally, hundreds of thousands of cauliflowers. All they seem to do is manure the ground, stick young plants in the soil(by hand) and wait several weeks/months and harvest, again by hand! Oh, and if they are not happy with the price they get from the supermarkets they dump hundreds of the things in front of the doors and around roundabouts having doused them in diesel first so you can’t get a freebie! They always win but its a hard life.