Cauliflower

Sowing: Cauliflower is a cool-season crop whose planting dates shift by region, and gardeners can start it from purchased transplants, greenhouse-raised seedlings, or seed sown directly ¼ to ½ inch deep. Plants are spaced 12 to 18 inches apart, with row spacing ranging from as tight as 12 inches to as wide as 40 inches depending on the variety being grown.

Feeding: Fertilizer can be worked in before, during, or shortly after planting, with further applications through the season as needed, particularly after heavy rain, though soil should be tested first to avoid over-application. Soil pH is best kept between 6.0 and 7.0.

Cauliflower heads can suffer premature, undersized formation known as buttoning if the plant runs short of nutrients or irrigation, or if it spends ten or more days at temperatures between 35 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit; a buttoned head never reaches full size. Growing transplants at 55 degrees Fahrenheit or higher helps prevent this from happening.

Pests reported on the crop include aphids, leaf miners, cabbage loopers, diamondback moth larvae, imported cabbageworm, grasshoppers, cutworms, wireworms, flea beetles, and mole crickets, alongside diseases such as damping-off, wire-stem, downy mildew, leafspot, black rot, blackleg, yellow sclerotinia, anthracnose, and bacterial soft rot.

Blanching: Once the developing curd reaches roughly three inches across, the longest surrounding leaves are pulled over it and secured with twine, raffia, tape, or rubber bands to block all light, since exposed heads can discolor and lose flavor; because plants mature unevenly, growers often mark blanched heads by date so each can be checked in turn.

Harvest: Heads are cut once fully developed but before the curd begins to separate, and they develop faster in warm weather, so mature plants need prompt checking. After cutting, the sensitive heads need immediate refrigeration and should be eaten or preserved quickly to avoid spoilage.

Cauliflower is grown as a garden vegetable for its dense curd, valued both for its nutritional content and for its visual appeal in the garden.

Cauliflower belongs to the group of cole crops derived over many centuries from wild cabbage, an uncultivated plant native to western Europe that has long served as the source material for hybridizing today's kale, broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, cabbage, and kohlrabi.