For a long time I tried to grow cauliflower, but all the time I made some mistakes. Only this year, luck smiled at me. The daughter-in-law Oksana planted seedlings - brought in the form of two leaves at the end of May. I put it in the greenhouse for a week, and I myself began to prepare beds for other vegetables. I prepared the beds 3 m long as follows: removed the top layer 5-10 cm, and laid down stems from flowers, grass that did not rot over the winter, they were very thick. Then she returned the earth to the stems.

And then the eldest son Viktor said that I chose the wrong place: there is not enough sun behind the greenhouse. And I wanted to plant two zucchini and two pumpkins here! But I had to agree, and I decided to plant cauliflower here.
I made holes, put a little ash and poured. She planted in the evening and not on a sunny day, then watering every other day.
Seedlings got accustomed perfectly: 12 from 15 roots. Bushes grew and pleased with their greens, twice I fed them with a solution of A.P. Bessaraba. I loosened every 10 days, sprayed ashes once for prevention, but surprisingly did not observe any pests.

The leaves were bright, dark green, powerful. The first three heads of cabbage plucked large ones - 25 cm in diameter, the next three -15 cm, then 10 cm.
Yes, I forgot to say that I cut off the first heads at the very beginning of August.
In general, it turned out a good harvest. I was inspired, I will now be sure to plant cauliflower. And in the new season I'll try broccoli.

I want to share last year's experience in growing cauliflower. I bought seedlings at the market, the bushes looked very seductive - they were strong, green, and they asked for a bed.

They brought them, the weather was sunny, so they planted them in the “mud”: poured the holes plentifully, broke twigs in the forest and stuck two twigs to each bush of seedlings - on both sides of the bush. I began to observe how plants will develop. Last year, the summer was cool, just to my seedling's liking. And it grew perfectly, gained strength, but heavy rains became frequent, snails -threats for all plants, especially for cabbage, multiplied in the garden. I thought what to do, remembered what readers of the Summer House recommend. Here is one of the recipes.

For each bush of cabbage poured pounded eggshell. And snails, and slugs did not have the chance to treat my cabbage. But then another attack - in July, the butterfly butterflies granted. We must also outwit them. And again I remembered the recipe of readers of our beautiful magazine-stuck the sticks (above the plants) and placed the same eggshell on their ends, not just pounded, but "caps" (photo 1). And this method worked: there were no caterpillars, the inflorescences were intact, without damage. Then I gently tied the largest leaves above the inflorescences so that they remained white, and in August I already harvested (photo 2 and 3).

Here such simple actions, and the crop turned out quite good. This year I do everything the same way, just planted, except for colored, broccoli cabbage.
Anastasia KALININA

To get a good harvest of cauliflower, special attention is paid to fertilizing.
When leafy rosettes grow actively, I spray the cabbage with a solution of complex mineral fertilizer. If this is not done, the plants may not have enough nutrition, the heads will not form or will be very small. For the season, I feed the plants 2-3 times with infusion of cow manure (insist and dilute with water 1:10) or nettles. I do nettle top dressing like this: I chop the plants - it should turn out half a bucket - and fill it with water.

I insist a minimum of a week (but better longer). I scoop the 2-liter scoop of infusion, pour into the 10-liter bucket, top up the water and feed the cabbage. In addition, I increase the watering in the drought. A day later in the evenings, I water abundantly under the root or turn on the sprinkler.

The garden has been feeding us delicious and healthy vegetables for many years. Planting different vegetables, trying new products, you will gradually find out their features. Over the years of gardening, I realized that cauliflower is very sensitive to ambient temperature. If in the spring it suddenly drops to + 4 ... + 5 ° С, then the inflorescences can be crushed.

Due to hot weather with high night temperatures, the inflorescences also become small and, as a result, are not so tasty. Therefore, in the heat, not only regularly water the beds in the evening, but also spray the plantings. This summer has become optimal in temperature for my cauliflower, because she likes it when it’s about + 18 ... + 20 ° C in the yard.

I bought purple cabbage seeds to play a trick on my mother - her name is Klara, and the variety is called Coral Klara. Solemnly handed “corals” to my mother, but she didn’t appreciate my present and said that I myself grew cauliflower, and that it was enough trouble for her with white cabbage.

I had to tackle the “corals” - I planted the seeds in the greenhouse in early May. And in June, transplanted cabbage to a permanent place in the open ground. Survival rate -100%!
Moreover, it was cool nights, but not a single plantlet was harmed - indeed, as was written on the bag with seeds, the variety was resistant to temperature extremes.
When the heads began to form, I planted the plants. Watered almost every day and 1 once a summer fed a solution of complex mineral fertilizers (dissolved according to the instructions on the package). Cabbage actively accumulates nitrates, so it's not worth while zealous with mineral fertilizers.

"Corals" grew up excellent! Even mom liked the purple cabbage! This year, not only Coral Clara sowed, but also mid-ripening varieties with a ripening period of about 120 days - Purple Ball and Purple.

Tell me, are there any varieties of cauliflower that can protect the head from the sun? E. Shkulamov Moscow Region.

Cauliflower - until deep autumn
Try to keep the cauliflower harvested in July until November - it will never work! It
quickly begins to flabble, lose its juiciness, dry ... Of course, you can freeze it, but I have a very small freezer, and it is enough only for berries. But do not refuse now from your favorite vegetable! So that I have fresh head cabbage until late autumn, I sow late-ripe cauliflower for seedlings in mid-June and, accordingly, plant it in open ground at the end of July.
I fertilize the soil - I bring in 1 square. m about 50 g of ammonium nitrate, 40 g of superphosphate, 20 g of potassium chloride. I dig, loosen, dig up small holes in a checkerboard pattern and plant seedlings. Before planting, I definitely harden the plants -
for 7 days before transplant I put all the seedlings on the street under a canopy and 3-4 days do not moisten at all. I water copiously just before landing in the open ground.
As the cabbage grows, I loosen the soil, spud, water, remove weeds. A big plus is that in August, slugs are not so actively attacked by plants, and butterfly hives do not drop in. Minus late landing - long head formation, up to 35 days. However, if it rains heavily or early frosts hit, plants with unripe heads can be transplanted into a greenhouse or basement. The main condition for growing is the absence of light. And then you will have fresh cabbage even in October-November!

Good illumination, unfortunately, I do not have, so I can not boast of a vegetable garden on the windowsill in winter. But there is a reliable basement, so I became interested in the opportunity to grow vegetables without light.
For example, fresh heads of cauliflower I cut until the New Year. For seedling for autumn-winter forcing, sow cabbage in the middle of summer. I use varieties with medium-sized white heads: Snowman, Snowball, Movir-74. You can take high-yielding varieties, but they still will not give a big return when forcing.
Seedlings in the garden are planted twice as thick as in normal cultivation. I necessarily spend one additional feeding with boron. My task: to get by September, small adult plants with rudiments of heads. It is very important that the cabbage is healthy. Until the frosts I dig out the plants, I cut off part of the lower leaves, and the rest I gently tie to make a compact bag. As densely as possible I put vertically in wooden boxes, falling asleep between the roots of the earth. Moderately watered and cleaned into the basement. In the future I water every 10-15 days. The heads grow small, according to 100-150, but the taste is practically the same as the garden ones.