6/7/2014

Growing Cauliflower, Planting Cauliflower, How to Grow Cauliflower in a Backyard Vegetable Garden Or Top of House

Growing Cauliflower, Planting Cauliflower, How to Grow Cauliflower in a Backyard Vegetable Garden Or In Open Terrace.

- Paul Joseph Moonjely

cauliflower is a member of the cabbage family or technically known as brassicas.

Cauliflower is the slowest crop to mature among the other members of its vegetable family.

All brassicas thrive under the same conditions as well as suffer from the same diseases and pests.

Although, the crops are treated individually in the garden, their care is identical.

Other members of the brassica family include broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and kale.

How to Grow Cauliflower from Seeds

In March, sow the first of your cauliflower seeds indoors. 

Sowing about 18 seeds in 4 inch pots filled with commercial potting soil should produce a dozen plants of growing cauliflower. 

This allows for a percentage lost to poor germination and weaklings. 

Set the pots of cauliflower where they will receive lots of bright warm sunshine.

Transfer the seedlings to individual six-packs when they grow to be about an inch high. 

The plants will grow quickly inside, so after several weeks, begin the hardening off process. 

The plants will soon be ready for the outdoor vegetable garden.

Cauliflower Transplants

You can also purchase small cauliflower transplants from your local garden center in time for spring/early summer planting.

Soil Preparation for Cauliflower

·         Before planting cauliflower, prepare the soil with 2 inches of well-aged cow manure or compost. 

·         To provide the cauliflower with continuing nourishment, add 10-10-10 fertilizer at a rate of 5 pounds to 100 square feet. 

·         Work in four handfuls of ground limestone per a 6 foot row, which helps the cauliflower plants fight clubroot disease. 

·         Once the seedlings have been hardened off, plant them at 18 inch spacing, leaving 3 feet between rows.

Companion Planting Cauliflower

You can set lettuce seedlings in between your cauliflower crop.

The lettuce will be ready for harvesting before the growing cauliflower needs the room to grow.

Cauliflower Pests

Begin your pest patrol as soon as the cauliflower is set in the vegetable garden.

It is important to develop an early routine of control measures to protect the plants from a wide variety of pests that can demolish your crops.

Put a cutworm collar around each plant and give the plants a dose of Bacillus thuringiensis.

Continue dosing the growing cauliflower at 7 to 10 day intervals until harvest time to manage the cabbageworm caterpillar.

For protection against the root maggot, the most dangerous insect of all, add diazinon to a mixture of foliar fertilizer and water and repeat this application at 10 day intervals throughout the growing season.

If you want to use a nonchemical alternative to the diazinon applications, many avid gardeners recommend using a root maggot mat.

The mats not only restrict the maggots but the cutworms as well.

Cauliflower Diseases

A generally fatal disease that can strike your growing cauliflower is the dreaded clubroot.

This disorder is usually traced to plants that have been grown in unsterile conditions.

The problem is typically attributed to infected seedlings, which is one of the hazards of buying plants rather than starting your crops from seed.

If you notice the plants wilting even though the soil is damp, this is a danger sign of clubroot.

If you suspect clubroot, remove the cutworm collar and brush away the soil from the plant.

Affected plants will bear a tumor-like growth on the stem, just at the soil line.

The disease chokes off the water-carrying cells within the stems causing the plants to die.

In an effort to save your cauliflower, add two clubroot enemies to the soil: ground limestone and a fungicide such as Terraclor.

Hill up the soil several inches around the plants to encourage new roots to form higher up the stems.

Growing Cabbage, Planting Cabbage, How to Grow Cabbage in a Backyard Vegetable Garden.

Growing Cabbage, Planting Cabbage, How to Grow Cabbage in a Backyard Vegetable Garden or In Open Terrace Of The House.

- Paul Joseph Moonjely

Medicinal Properties of Cabbage

The cabbage is a popular cultivar  of the species Brassica Family  and is used as a leafy green vegetable.The only part of the plant that is normally eaten is the leafy head; more precisely, the spherical cluster of immature leaves, excluding the partially unfolded outer leaves. Cabbage is used in a variety of dishes for its naturally spicy flavor. The so-called "cabbage head" is widely consumed raw, cooked, or preserved in a great variety of dishes.
Cabbage is an excellent source of vitamin C. It also contains significant amounts of glutamine, an amino acid that has anti-inflammatory  properties. Cabbage can also be included in dieting programs, as it is a low calorie food.
It is a source of indole-3-carbinol, or I3C, a compound used as an adjuvant therapy for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, a disease of the head and neck caused by human papillomavirus that causes growths in the airway that can lead to death.
In European folk medicine, cabbage leaves are used to treat acute inflammation.A paste of raw cabbage may be placed in a cabbage leaf and wrapped around the affected area to reduce discomfort. Some claim it is effective in relieving painfully engorged breasts in breastfeeding women.Fresh cabbage juice has been shown to promote rapid healing of peptic ulcers.

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)

Energy                                                                       103 kJ (25 kcal)
Carbohydrates                                                          5.8 g
Sugars                                                                        3.2 g
Dietary fiber                                                             2.5 g
Fat                                                                             0.1 g
Protein                                                                      1.28 g
Thiamine (Vit. B1)                                                  0.061 mg (5%)
Riboflavin (Vit. B2)                                                 0.040 mg (3%)
Niacin (Vit. B3)                                                        0.234 mg (2%)
Pantothenic acid (B5)                                             0.212 mg (4%)
Vitamin B6                                                               0.124 mg (10%)
Folate (Vit. B9)                                                        53 μg (13%)
Vitamin C                                                                  36.6 mg (61%)
Calcium                                                                     40 mg (4%)
Iron                                                                           0.47 mg (4%)
Magnesium                                                              12 mg (3%)
Phosphorus                                                              26 mg (4%)
Potassium                                                                170 mg (4%)
Zinc                                                                           0.18 mg (2%)

1. Climate:

Cabbage is a cool season crop. It grows well at the temperature of 15°C - 25°C.Optimum Temp. for Germination is 25-30°C. Plants grow weak under high temperature conditions. However, some heat – tolerant varieties can grow well in a hot and rainy season.


2. Soil:

Cabbage thrives best on deep loam or sandy loam soil with pH 6- 7, rich in organic matter and good drainage.


3. Seedling Bed:

Usually 120gms seeds are required for one acre.
Apply 480Kgs of dry manure in to a seedling bed of 160 m², and then sow the seed on the seedbed. This should produce sufficient seedlings for one acre of field.

4. Transplanting and spacing:

Transplant the seedlings at 4- 5 true leaves stage, about 25 days after sowing. Usually space them 45 cm apart in double rows of 45-60 cm apart on each bed of 90- 100 cm wide.
Spacing:
Early maturity - Row to Row : 45 cm, Plant to Plant : 30 cm
Late Maturity - Row to Row : 60cm, Plant to Plant : 45 cm

5. Fertilizer:

It is better to use urea instead of Ammonium Sulphate where the soil is relatively acidic.
If the soil is boron deficient, 5 –10 kg/ha borax should be applied before land preparation.
For basal fertilizer, manure should be applied into the rows before chemical fertilizer.
Chemical Fertilizers: Fertilizer application varies with soil fertility.
Basal application before transplanting: 25:50:60 NPK kg / acre.
First top dressing 10-15 days after transplanting: 25:50:60 NPK kg / acre. 
Second application 20 – 25 days after first top dressing: 25:00:00 NPK kg / acre.
Third application 10-15 days after second application: 25:00:00 NPK kg / acre.
Boron & Molybdenum should be sprayed at button stage.