Cauliflower

Cauliflower is a popular garden vegetable belonging to the cabbage or cole family. Cauliflower is a cool season crop meaning it hates heat; no sunbathing for cauliflower. The edible head of cauliflower is called the curd.

Cauliflower Is Tricky To Grow- In fact you want to think carefully before you take on cauliflower in your home garden. This vegetable is probably one of the more difficult plants to grow for beginners and sometimes gives the expert fits.  It is very demanding in terms of its growing conditions.  Cauliflower requires cool temperatures when it is a seedling and a humid climate to properly develop center heads or curds. Temperatures that are too cold can cause stunting and premature heading. Temperatures that are too warm can cause the plant to “bolt” and go to seed without producing an edible head. Once you break the code and know how to handle those critical demands, cauliflower can be a very satisfying productive crop. 

How Many Cauliflower To Plant

Think about how long a single head of cauliflower lasts when you buy it at the store.  If the family loves cauliflower and one head covers one meal, then you might want to try to grow as many as six plants in the spring and another six in the fall.  If that single head took two or three meals to disappear, then try two or three plants in the spring and you’ll know better how many to plant in the fall.

Remember, just because the cauliflower seedlings at the garden center often come in a container with six plants, you don’t have to plant them all just because they are there.  You are not a bad person if you plant only three and let the rest die.

 

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