I am hopeless at caulis and seems I am not the only one. Would appreciated some good advice on how to grow nice big ones.
Got a few nice Romanesco and a couple of decent purple but my largest white one was miniscule.
I was going to say grow the purple winter ones!! :-[
is that another excuse to get more seeds...... ;)
But I'd appreciate info on cauli growing tips aswell !
Leave the ground a few months to consolidate it.
choose a sunny site, and avoid frost pockets.
plenty of manure and lime in winter, followed by a good sprinkling of growmore in spring.
sow as you would normally, then when ready to move dip in calomel dust paste if club root a problem.
leave about 2 foot between each one, then hoe on a regular basis.
feed regularly and water often.
with this in mind you should in theory have good plants, but as I have already posted earlier mine came to nothing.
I will try again next year to see whether if this works or no.
Morrisons. ;D ;D ;D
Lime? Only if you need it.
1. I'm afraid that I now buy in plants & have 100% success.
2. Mistake - plant too many. How many do you eat per what?
I had never grown a cauli until last year. I got the seed from marshalls and it is called SERAC. I plant about 10 seeds in the spring and then again in early summer.They have been lovely.
Pass. :'( :'( :'(
I got my best results from spring cauliflower (first time I've done caulis is this year) which I sowed indoors in October 2008 and then planted out. Unfortunately I still haven't started any off this year so may have to have a go at the trickier varieties.
There is plenty of good advice if you search " How to grow cauliflowers "
MY WAY
The best place to plant them is where you have grown your peas or beans the season before if you have dug the finished plants in.
If your brascica follow your potatoes and you manured them in then there is no need to dig in more manure. If not then turn over the part you where you want to grow them digging in plenty of organic compost or manure, do this months before as apposed to weeks before planting to allow the soil to consolidate, then lime ( if need be ) about 6 weeks later at the earliest. They prefer a neutral or slightly alkaline soil. PH
The soil should have been dug deep as the prefere a loamy well drained soil.
I set my seed away in small trays only half a dozen at a time three weeks apart so i don't get one crop all at once. They then get transplanted into pot ( plastic cups) to grow on. After hardening them off and they are ready to plant they go where i have already marked out with a plank which every time i walk near i walk along the plank to compress the soil. the plank is then moved to where my next lot is going to go.
I plant them about 18" appart 2ft between rows. When the plants are in i then place a ring of either growmore or fish blood and bone around the stem making sure none of the fertilizer is touching the stem. I also put a little calcified plus around as well ( high nitrogen ).
From then on they get a little drink every day just enough to keep the roots moist the encourage rapid growth and mainly to ensure they don't get checked in their growth any stress will reduce the size of the curd.
As soon as the curd appears i tie the leaves together with string to protect the curd.
I often give them a high nitrogen feed when the plant looks at it best but before the curd appears.
My main to types are Cornel and Candid Charm.
Hope this helps you to get good cauli,s.
Quote from: Borlotti on November 10, 2009, 18:13:34
Morrisons. ;D ;D ;D
Or trade them with more successful plot neighbours... :)
try the variety white sails it is very forgiving and grows massive heads
This was my first years success with caulis. Grew Candid Charm F1. Sow in succession late mar-jul for harvest end of jun-nov. Deakin were a disaster and won't be trying again. My Snow March F1 caulis are doing well so far and look like they will produce the goods in spring.
Actually a few cauliflowers are the only veg I have bought for months so I am will you Borlotti. But I will definitely try again to grow them myself.
I'm with Tim, there is plenty of lime around here.
I have some overwintering ones and shall also give it a go in the spring. Read that I should start the first seeds off in January.
Thought I had finally done it - had a huge plant and it got bigger and bigger but it turned out to be a Romanesco.
Another useless cauli grower here..till I tried Shasta..no problem ever since and they grew huge and white . I have grown several types together and only the Shasta were any good so type must have something to do with it.
XX Jeannine
Quote from: tim on November 10, 2009, 18:26:53
1. I'm afraid that I now buy in plants & have 100% success.
I was given some plug plants a friend bought, and guess what I got next to naff all ::). Memo to self must try harder next year.
And thanks
Davy for your way of planting out - I've got a better idea of what to do next year with my seedlings, walking on planks to firm up the ground, and using string to tie them in (i tried folding the leaves over and that certainly didn't work!)
In 2008 I planted All year round ones and gave loads of seedlings away and every one including me had a good crop.
Not all were great, some were undersized but you can always add a couple of them together and a few single neighbours were delighted with 'just enough for one meal' from my bounty.
I ran out of those I had frozen in what should have been exactly the right time to harvest this years.
I think I got two minging little caulis this year from the same variety.
So in answer to the question
I dunno.
Quote from: Jeannine on November 11, 2009, 05:07:40
Another useless cauli grower here..till I tried Shasta..no problem ever since and they grew huge and white . I have grown several types together and only the Shasta were any good so type must have something to do with it.
XX Jeannine
Another vote for Shasta here...Jeannine kindly gave me a pinch of seed to try when still in England, I've since sent off to Canada for some more as they are the only seeds I've had fab results from! ;D
Tried All The Year Round on several sowings this year and had remarkably consistent results, none of which were edible! Lance
Quote from: lancelotment on November 13, 2009, 12:29:35
Tried All The Year Round on several sowings this year and had remarkably consistent results, none of which were edible! Lance
Oh b*******r ! Having just taken delivery of my Kings seed order I have a packet of All Year Round! Oh well, I'll give them a try and if not put the rest in a swap and hope someone else has better luck ;)
I find them quite easy to grow as you can see in the pictures below, these were picked last week I think it was and I still have a few to pick yet.
I think the only tip I could give is avoid 'root disturbance'
Prick them out into 3" pots just as you can see the real leaves forming between the two seed leaves.
As I have said before and I will say again......I do not firm my soil prior to planting'! I think this hinders rather than helps the situation.
I like to see a huge root system (at least a foot across) when I lift them after harvesting!
I have tried the 'compaction technique' and find quite often when I lift the plants I can still see the basic shape of the pot they were in when planted out!
This to me can't be a good thing!!
I think variety plays a large part in success or failure....I only use F1's
The variety below is a new one I have tried this year it is called'Thompson F1 from Johsons seeds
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/Nov%202009/On9inchdiamplate-1.jpg)
nb the one above is sitting on a 9" diameter plate.
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/Nov%202009/TheHarvest.jpg)
Hi Tee Gee
Do you firm in all your other brassicas ?
Duke :)
Those cauliflowers are brilliant. Good enough to eat. ;D ;D Mine looked like golf balls, but think they were a small variety, and the slugs did like them. :( :( :( Next year will be better.
QuoteDo you firm in all your other brassicas ?
No!
It goes against all the principles of gardening that I know.
Why dig a garden then trample on it??
Deep bed systems were developed so you can plant closer and you don't need to walk on the beds, so is this not a contradiction from the experts, when they tell you to tread in your plants??
I like the closer planting system as I find that the plants support each other.
I plant out nothing greater than 15" apart between rows/plants!!
My theory is; if there is sufficient space for the root ball there is sufficient space for the plant! and as I mentioned before; my rootballs end up around 12" in diameter so 15" apart is enough!!
It is not that I am against the experts/writers but through trial & error over the years I find what I do is best for me! so I say .....each to their own!
I know my ground and I know my sowing dates and I know my local weather, or at least I did until this so called 'climate change' come along!!
Now I experiment with stuff to see how late a crop I can get. e.g. these caulies & calabrese!
This year it has worked quite well! I am happy to be picking a catch crop of these in November.
I guess other years I might not be able to do this but I keep my open to see what 'nature' is doing and take it from there!
My philosophy is; nothing ventured nothing gained!
Tee Gee What are the large red chillies in your photo? want to grow some.
Doubt if you will be able to get these as seed.
Roughly three years ago I saw them on a greengrocers shelf in Calahonda in Spain and I bought one.
We ate the pepper and saved the seed i.e. I sun dried it on the window sill of our apartment.
The carrot shaped one was bought as a packet of seed (also in Spain) and I bought a packet!
A lot of the stuff I grow was got this way!
ok Tee Gee thanks Looks like a trip to Spain then :o :o I wish
Over wintering caulies are a lot easier to grow than summer ones
Variates like winter St George. Walter welcherams thanet (spelling of this will be wrong) are reliable caulies to grow. Set plants out in Aug Sept and harvest caulies in spring. the downside to these are they take your ground up a long time and tend to grow too big.
Summer ones are harder to grow , They need growing quick so need plenty of muck dug in where they are going ,then BFB sprinkled round them occasionally as they are growing .Never let them dry out water them then if in doubt water them again.
I am with Davy on firming the soil prior to planting them out and firming them in well as you plant them . Reason for this is to stop the roots being disturbed as the wind rocks the plant which tends to make them blow.
Finally had to lift the remainder of my stock this morning.
I noticed that the rain & cold had got into a couple of the smaller heads I had not got round to covering with snapped/broken leaves.
So I thought be safe rather than sorry!
This is what I picked!
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/P1110932.jpg)
BTW the tiles are 6" wide!!
Cauliflower cheese for dinner tonight. ;D ;D ;D
Those caulis look brilliant. Something to aim for next year... or maybe the year after.
I did a bit of an experiment a couple of years ago with my brassicas, firming in half the row and leaving the other half - this was after being rotavated.
The ones in open soil did slightly - noticeably - better than the firmed in ones, quicker growth and ultimately larger. It contradicts what several very experienced gardeners on our plots tell me.
This is something that I will probably repeat next year, as this year I planted everything into consolidated ground which had been left overwinter with a mulch of manure, and only the PSB has really come good, and I reckon PSB would come good wherever and in whatever it was planted!
We are on fairly heavy clay, BTW.
Tee Gee I bought some brassicas from Dobbies 50 for £9.95 which were delivered at the end of September. among them were some cauliflowers. I did not have room in my raised beds for them so put them in very large pots. They are growing well nice and healthy when will I get heads on them? and yes please. ;)
I bought some plants from Dobies in September. They are Clapton, and are doing very well. The heads are forming now. I harvested one last week and there is another ready now. If yours are the same they should be ready for harvesting. I like the way the leaves cover the white part.
mine certainly have not got any heads yet the leaves are not even curling over.
Tomatoada How are your cabbages doing? mine are going great guns forming nicely. calabrese going well but nothing to pick yet.
Quote from: aggie on November 17, 2009, 09:02:06
Tomatoada How are your cabbages doing? mine are going great guns forming nicely. calabrese going well but nothing to pick yet.
Cabbages great for growing . I have picked 3 out of16. They are a bit bitter. How are yours?
The brassica pack from Dobies consisted of 16 cabbage,16 sprouts and 16 cauliflower plants.
All have done well. The sprouts are really good and coming along well. I am picking a few twice a week and they taste very good.
Like an idiot i put my sprout under the runner beans, thought i was being clever and saving space. thought when the beans were finished the sprouts would take over, well that's a lesson i have learnt this year the sprouts were rubbish in fact i pulled them up put them in the compost bin :-[ :-[ starved of light :'( :'(
I am a cauli failiure and am not ashamed to admit it, i have decided that they dont like me, i have therefore officially given up!!!!
L/D do you grow cabbage or sprouts? If so you can grow cauliflowers.
Well dug bed. Plant deep. Puddle in. Slug pellets. Net. Keep watered if necessary. Weed carefully so not to disturb. Await crop.
QuoteThey are growing well nice and healthy when will I get heads on them?
This is difficult to say as it can depend largely on the variety.
Having said that I find when the leaves start to curl inwards this is the first sign of curds forming (see picture)
(http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Cauli/Twisting%20leaves%20indicates%20first%20sign%20of%20head%20forming.jpg)
this year i used kings snow ball very good results quick growers picked and froze before the dreaded cabbage white and with my cabbage early queen , same again for 2010
At the moment I only grow fruit (no time or space for more).
Does it make economical sense to grow cauliflowers with the time you send on them?
Quote from: tomatoada on November 18, 2009, 09:54:50
L/D do you grow cabbage or sprouts? If so you can grow cauliflowers.
Well dug bed. Plant deep. Puddle in. Slug pellets. Net. Keep watered if necessary. Weed carefully so not to disturb. Await crop.
You make it sound soooooo simple! :)