Description
Botrytis Group – the ordinary white cauliflowers, a popular vegetable with a history stretching back to the Renaissance. The densely massed, tiny, abortive flower buds and the stalk that bears them are white and tender, with a mild flavor. It is a vegetable, with a mild flavor. It is a vegetable that is not easy to grow to perfection, preferring humus rich soil for large, compact head production. The flower buds are easily bruised and damage. Apart from white, cultivars with pale green, pink and purple heads are known.
Grow in fertile, well drained, ideally lime rich soil in full sun.
Prone to leaf miners,
caterpillars, aphids, harlequin bugs, root maggots, nematode, cabbage white
butterfly, flea beetle, black leg, white rust, black leaf spot (Xanthomonas),
downy mildew, powdery mildew, damping off, white mold, clubroot, root knot
nematodes, Magnesium, boron, and potassium deficiency.
matures in 75 days and produces 6″ inch head, space 18″ inches apart, they grow 18″ inches wide and 12-18″ inches tall
harvest – cut heads when large and fully developed, with tight buds. Judge harvest time by bud tightness not overall head size. Cut stems below heads. Once cauliflower buds start to crack open stems and buds loose their appealing texture, becoming mealy and even woody. Cut any head immediately if you see buds begin to open.
Typical white cultivars are:
‘Snowball’ – large headed and late maturing
‘Mini’ – early maturing with heads of 4″ or so
‘Early Perplehead’ – is purple green, but the purple disappears on cooking
