Harvest juicy cauliflower from seeds: quickly and easily!

Cauliflower is one of the most popular vegetable crops in the world. It is low in calories and good for health. It does not cause allergies and is often introduced first into a child’s diet when complementary feeding begins. The product is indispensable for those who adhere to proper nutrition.

Growing cauliflower yourself is not the most difficult process, which has a number of advantages. The main thing is a high-quality and environmentally friendly harvest from your garden. How to grow cauliflower on your own plot - later in the article.

Requirements for growing conditions

Basic recommendations for sowing cauliflower:

1. Choosing a location. Preference should be given to a site in full sun. In summer, the heads will need light shade. But only with the help of cabbage leaves. It is important. After all, even a small shadow from neighboring plantings or buildings can cause the seedlings to stretch out and the heads of cabbage to become smaller. At the same time, cabbage beds must be protected from wind and draft.
2. The soil. Cabbage grows well in loose, fertile soil. The soil pH should be within the neutral or slightly acidic range. If the soil is too acidic, it can be neutralized by liming the soil, which is carried out during autumn digging. In autumn, organic fertilizers (manure or compost) are also added to the soil. In the spring, future beds can be fertilized with mineral preparations (for example, superphosphate).
3. Planting methods. Cauliflower is best grown using the seedling method. Sowing seeds for seedlings can be done from mid-March. Planting in open ground - from mid-May. Specific timing depends on the variety.
4. Temperature conditions. Comfortable growing temperature for cauliflower is 15-18°C. If the thermometer drops below these values, the harvest will be small and will lose its true taste. At high temperatures, cabbage growth will slow down and the inflorescences will become loose.
5. Harvesting. It is important to comply with the harvest dates (see the relevant section). If this is not done, the heads will become overripe, disintegrate into inflorescences and lose their taste. Such a product is not suitable for storage, and you cannot prepare tasty dishes from it.

Nutrition

As already mentioned, cauliflower is more demanding on soil nutrition than white cabbage. This should be known at the stage of growing seedlings. By the way, if you grow it in pots, then sowing can be done as early as February. Then in June you will already have cauliflower. Planting dates vary greatly if you plan to sow seeds directly into the ground. Then you need to wait until the end of April, and only if you have a greenhouse installed. It can be sown in unprotected soil only in May, when the seedlings are not threatened by frost. In case of a strong drop in temperature, you should use covering material. Planting cauliflower with seeds requires regular fertilizing, only in this case can you expect a good harvest.

How to grow cauliflower seedlings

When to plant cauliflower seedlings depends on the variety. According to the speed of ripening, the following varieties are distinguished:

• early;
• mid-late;
• late.

Landing dates:

1. Early varieties can be sown for seedlings throughout March, and planted in open ground from late April to mid-May.
2. It is recommended to sow mid-late varieties throughout April and the first ten days of May. Planting in open ground - from late May to mid-June.
3. It is advisable to sow late varieties from late May to mid-June, and plant seedlings in the first ten days of July.

In order for the harvest to please the whole season, varieties of all three types should be sown. Then fresh cauliflower will be on the table in the New Year.

Substrate preparation

The substrate for sowing seeds can be prepared by mixing the following ingredients:

• peat – 1 part;
• sand – 1;
• humus – 10.

Before planting, it is better to heat the self-prepared substrate in the oven at 80°C for 5 minutes. This is one of the methods for disinfecting soil mixtures. It prevents diseases and pests.

You can also use standard store-bought soil for seedlings, which has a neutral pH and is immediately ready for use.

Seed treatment

Planting cauliflower seedlings is done by sowing seeds. High-quality seed material is the key to a good harvest. Therefore, it is important to prepare the seed in advance.

Stages of seed preparation:

1. Soak. Before planting, the seeds should be soaked in several stages. First in hot water (40°C), holding time - no more than 15 minutes. Then you need to immerse them in cold water, briefly, to cool. And the final stage is soaking for 24 hours in a nitrophoska solution (1 tsp per liter jar of water).
2. Drying. Cauliflower seeds should be thoroughly dried after soaking, after rinsing them in water at room temperature.
3. Cooling. It is advisable to keep the dried seeds in the refrigerator for 3 days and then they can be sown.

These procedures improve seed germination and protect future seedlings from diseases.

Sowing seeds

It is better to sow seeds immediately in individual containers, since picking is undesirable for cauliflower seedlings. And cabbage grown in a common box will be frail. Therefore, it is better to immediately purchase special plastic cups or peat pots. A drainage layer must be placed at the bottom.

Then the containers should be filled with the prepared substrate, lightly compacting it. The seeds should be buried no more than 5 mm, sprinkled with a thin layer of sand on top and carefully moistened with a spray bottle. What cauliflower seedlings look like and what care they require - read on.

Seedling care

Growing seedlings requires certain conditions. Cauliflower shoots appear about a week after sowing. But you can wait up to 10 days for the first sprout. Until this moment, the room temperature must be maintained at 18-20°C. After emergence of seedlings, the temperature should be lowered to 7°C. A week later, the temperature changes again: 15-18°C during the day, 9-10°C at night, but not lower than 8°C.

Sprouted seeds require high-quality lighting so that the seedlings do not stretch. Therefore, the pots must be exposed to light as soon as the seeds sprout. After the appearance of 2 true leaves, the seedlings can be transplanted into larger containers using the transfer method together with an earthen ball.

It is recommended to water no more than once every 7 days. It should be moderate so that water does not stagnate in the pots. In cauliflower seedlings, the root system is located superficially. Therefore, it is better not to loosen the soil after watering, so as not to accidentally damage the roots.

Cauliflower seedlings should be fed only leaf by leaf.

The first feeding is carried out when there are 2 true leaves, the second - when 4 leaves are formed on the young plant. It is better to use special mineral fertilizers for seedlings.

Growing seedlings in peat tablets

Growing seedlings in peat tablets is very convenient. The advantage of this method is that picking is eliminated, thereby saving time.

Planting seeds

First, the peat tablets are soaked in water. Place them in a container and fill with water. It is better to take well water, not chlorinated. Wait a bit for the tablets to swell. Then the middle of the tablet is compacted with a finger and a small bed is made. This is necessary so that after sowing the seeds do not go deep into the ground and may simply not sprout.

Using a toothpick dipped in water, pick up a cabbage seed and transfer it to the prepared hole. Then the seed is covered with soil along the edges of the tablet. The seeds should eventually end up at a depth of 1 cm. The container with the sown peat tablets is covered with a transparent lid or film and placed in the warmest place in the apartment. After 4-5 days, the first shoots should appear.

Growing temperature

As soon as the first shoots appear, the container with the tablets is transferred to a cool place. For the first 5-6 days it is recommended to keep them at a temperature of 6-8ºС so that they do not become pampered and stretch out. Your harvest will depend on this in the future.

And only after 5 days the temperature can be gradually increased and brought to 20-22ºС, but no more. It is quite difficult to do this at home, so you can use agricultural lamps.

Since the nutrition in peat tablets becomes insufficient, every 10 days the seedlings are fed with complex fertilizers.

Transfer

Another 15 days have passed, the first true leaves appear on the seedlings. This means that it’s time to transplant into separate cups. The seedlings no longer have enough nutrients.

First, prepare the soil.

• Purchased soil - 4 parts,
• Vermicompost – 1 part,
• Vermiculite – 1 part.

The soil is mixed and a little is poured onto the bottom of the prepared cups.

Vermiculite plays the role of a soil loosening agent; in addition, watering with it is reduced, since it absorbs excess moisture, and when necessary, on the contrary, gives it away.

The outer film is carefully removed from the tablets. The seedlings are placed in cups, sprinkled with soil on the sides up to the seven-lobed leaves, lightly compacting it so that there are no voids. Then water it with water, preferably with the addition of biological fungicides.

Feed the seedlings once a week with complex fertilizers, or dissolve 15 g of potassium and 5 g of urea in 10 liters of water. Seedlings are illuminated for up to 14 hours under fluorescent or phytolamps.

Planting seedlings in the ground

The ideal age of seedlings for transplanting into open ground is 40-45 days. There is no need to keep seedlings in cramped cups. Otherwise, the heads will set very early and will be small.

The cabbage bed is filled with compost and dug up. Make holes 20-30 cm deep, the distance between them is 40-50 cm.

The nutritional mixture is made:

• 5 liters of vermicompost,
• Saprogel (it improves soil quality) – 2 cups,
• Nitrogen fertilizer (granulated horse compost) – 1 cup,
• Universal fertilizer based on bone and fish meal - 1 cup,
• Cialite (source of silicon) – 2 cups.

A handful of nutrient mixture is poured into each hole and mixed together with the soil in the hole. The seedling is carefully taken out of the glass, placed in the hole, buried down to the first leaves. Then the seedling is watered.

Planting cauliflower seedlings in open ground

This section presents the basic rules for planting cauliflower seedlings in the ground. It is very important to properly prepare the beds, calculate the planting pattern, and also be aware of the timing.

Selection and preparation of beds for cauliflower

How to plant cauliflower for a satisfying harvest.

First you need to choose the right place for it. The bed should be located in open sun. Nearby plantings and buildings that create even a faint shadow are undesirable. In shade and partial shade, cabbage seedlings will stretch and the heads of cabbage will become smaller. The area should not be blown by winds: cauliflower is afraid of drafts.

You need to prepare the beds for planting in the fall. The area should be dug up with the addition of organic matter (manure or compost, a bucket per square meter), and deoxidized by liming, if necessary. In spring, it is advisable to dig up the soil again.

During digging, you can add mineral compounds:

• superphosphate (50 g per square meter);
• ammonium nitrate (30 g);
• potassium chloride (20 g).

At the end, you need to thoroughly level the surface of the bed, breaking up all the clods of earth.

Disembarkation dates and scheme

Planting cauliflower in open ground is carried out at different times. They depend on the variety and are presented above in the corresponding section. It should be added that early varieties are ready for planting in open ground after 25-60 days, mid-late varieties - 35-40, late varieties - 30-35.

The planting scheme for cauliflower is not complicated; even a beginner can handle it. How to plant cauliflower in open ground? You should dig holes about 20 cm deep. The distance between seedlings should be 35 cm, between rows - 45 cm. The bottom of the hole can be sprinkled with wood ash powder, and then add 1 liter of water. Planting is carried out by transshipment together with a lump of earth. It is necessary to bury the seedlings until the first true leaf.

Please note that seedlings need to be hardened off before planting. A couple of weeks before planting in open ground, seedlings should be taken outside or into a cool room every day, gradually increasing the time. Hardened seedlings will take root better in the garden bed, and after planting, all that remains is to provide them with proper care.

Planting seeds in a greenhouse

To cultivate cauliflower in greenhouse conditions, prepare the soil in the same way as for open ground, i.e. add organic matter and minerals, take into account acidity and observe crop rotation. In closed ground, seeds of early and mid-season cauliflower are sown immediately after the snow melts, since the soil in the greenhouse warms up much faster. The room temperature should not be lower than +15–18 ˚С.

The prepared seeds are sown to a depth of no more than 5 mm. With deeper planting, seedlings will appear much later. After planting, the soil is mulched with dry sand and watered abundantly with warm water. After 10 days, the seedlings are picked. When transplanting plants, holes are made according to a 70x30 cm pattern. A handful of humus, wood ash and complex fertilizer (for example, Kemira) are added to the planting hole.

Growing cauliflower in a greenhouse is easier than in open ground, since you can create and maintain an optimal climate for the plants.

Growing cauliflower indoors is much more convenient than in unprotected ground, since it is easier for the plants to create the necessary conditions

In the future, they provide the care that is necessary for this crop. The main thing is to monitor the air temperature, which should not exceed +16–18 ˚С, and humidity – within 70–80%. If these conditions are not met, the head of cabbage will become loose and begin to crumble.

Caring for cauliflower

Caring for cauliflower after planting in open ground includes regular watering, loosening the soil, mulching the soil, shading and fertilizing.

Watering, loosening, mulching

Watering should be moderate, 1-2 times a week. After moistening the soil, it must be loosened so that a crust does not form on it. By the way, for better growth, it would not be amiss to hill up the bushes and regularly remove weeds from the beds.

Shading

Sowing cauliflower requires shading the heads for a certain period (June-July). Do not confuse it with planting in a shaded area - this is harmful for cabbage. For proper shading, you should simply fasten 2-3 cabbage leaves over the heads.

Top dressing

It is advisable to feed cauliflower 3 times per season:

1. First feeding. Planted young plants must be fed 10 days after planting. As a fertilizer, you can use an aqueous solution of liquid mullein or mineral compositions according to the instructions.
2. Second feeding. It is carried out 14 days after the first one. You can use solutions of mineral fertilizers according to the instructions.
3. Third feeding. It is carried out 2 weeks after the second. Fertilizers are the same as for the first feeding.

Planting depending on region

Each region of Russia has its own climatic conditions, this should be taken into account when planting cauliflower, as this may cause planting dates to vary. The timing may vary not only by several days, but also by a week.

Sometimes you may need to plant a month later or earlier. Therefore, you need to take into account the climate characteristics of your region

The best areas for growing cauliflower: Moscow, Moscow region, Tula, Lipetsk, Voronezh. These areas have the most favorable climate in spring for growing this vegetable.

In these areas, it is best to grow early or mid-ripening varieties of cauliflower, since in August the nights are quite cold, this does not allow varieties that have a long ripeness to grow to maturity. Therefore, it is necessary to plant in these regions from the last days of February to mid-March.

In the Leningrad region, the climate is characterized by high humidity and lower temperatures. Therefore, cauliflower should be planted only in greenhouses and only in seedlings.

In the Urals and Siberia, you can also grow cauliflower, but only in seedlings and with further planting into the beds. But only early ripening varieties can be grown here, as they are resistant to low temperatures. These areas have fairly cold summers, so resistance to cold is a must for plants.

In the southern regions of the country, namely in such as the Krasnodar Territory, Kuban and the Crimean Peninsula, planting should be done at the very beginning of spring, or rather, when the air warms up to 7 degrees. A little coolness helps the plant adapt to the climate faster.

Some gardeners in Krasnodar plant cauliflower as winter garlic. That is, they sow cabbage in the fall, this little trick helps them harvest in the middle of spring. Also, such plants are much less susceptible to pests and diseases.

The warm climate allows gardeners to continuously grow first early-ripening, then mid-ripening, and then late-ripening varieties.
Such production allows them not only to stock up on cauliflower, but also to make preparations for the winter. In Belarus and Ukraine, the climate in the spring is similar to the climate in central Russia, so the time and timing of planting will not differ. You need to focus on the cyclone that arrives at one time or another.

Typical cabbage diseases and methods of combating them

Typical diseases of cauliflower include:

1. Fusarium. This is a fungal infection that manifests itself as a change in the color of the leaves. They turn yellow, a pattern appears on them in the form of black spots, and the veins darken. Solution: treatment with antifungal drugs according to instructions.
2. Wet rot. This disease affects inflorescences. Small dark weeping spots appear on them. Changes may also affect the stem. Elongated dark spots appear on it. Solution: There is no treatment as such. Severely affected plants are destroyed. At the initial stage, diseased areas can be trimmed while capturing healthy tissue.
3. Root rot. Most often, roots rot due to improper watering. Stagnant water creates a favorable environment for the development of fungal infections. Solution: arrange watering, loosen the soil.
4. Gray rot. It most often affects inflorescences on cut heads. Reason: incorrect storage conditions. Solution: cut off the affected areas while capturing healthy tissue.
5. Downy mildew. It appears as a coating on the back of the leaves and yellowing of their edges. Reason: excessive watering, rain. Sick plants should be removed. Treat the rest with fungicide according to the instructions.
6. Blackleg. This problem manifests itself by darkening of the root collar of the plant. There is no treatment. Infected heads of cabbage should be removed and burned away from the site.
7. Kila. With this disease, growths and swellings appear on the roots. Solution: add wood ash powder to the soil during the growth period. The area should be treated with a solution of colloidal sulfur, since the pathogen can live in the soil for up to 5 years.

Pests that like to eat cauliflower are the cabbage cutworm and cabbage white caterpillars. To combat them, you should purchase insecticides in a special store. Use strictly according to instructions, observing safety precautions.

Other problems when growing cauliflower:

1. Cabbage does not set heads. Reason: poor-quality seedlings, cramped seedling pots, planting too early, poor watering, lack of fertilizing, growing in the shade. Solution: comply with all planting and care requirements.
2. Small heads. Reason: lack of nutrition. Solution: adjust fertilizing, add compounds with boron and molybdenum.
3. The heads darken. Reason: exposure to direct sunlight. Solution: the inflorescences should be shaded in June and July by fastening several cabbage leaves together.
4. Loose, tasteless inflorescences. Reason: heat, sharp temperature difference, improper watering. Solution: monitor the temperature, water on time in hot weather.
5. The head crumbles into inflorescences. Reason: the head of cabbage is overripe. Solution: respect harvest dates.

Protection from diseases and pests

Prevention measures include:

• disinfection of the substrate before sowing seeds;
• proper preparation of seeds before sowing;
• crop rotation;
• adding fungicides to water during irrigation;
• proper root feeding;
• regular moderate watering, loosening the soil, removing weeds;
• spraying cabbage with infusion of burdock leaves (from pests);
• strict compliance with planting and care requirements.

Diseases and pests

Pests include aphids and cabbage butterflies. They are removed by mechanical assembly or treatment with chemicals. But remember that cabbage absorbs absolutely everything that comes into contact with it. In early spring, you need to treat the planting with antifungal drugs. Phytobacteria and fungi can severely spoil or completely destroy your harvest. Due to the susceptibility of cauliflower to various diseases, many turn away from this healthy vegetable, but in vain, because high-quality, modern preparations can solve these problems.