Cauliflower

1. Land Preparation Two to three ploughings with 8–10 tons farmyard manure per acre. Cauliflower is a heavy feeder and shows every shortcut taken at land preparation. 2.

Rabi Sowing Aug–Sep Harvest Jan–Feb 120–200 maund per acre

Land Preparation

Two to three ploughings with 8–10 tons farmyard manure per acre. Cauliflower is a heavy feeder and shows every shortcut taken at land preparation.

Nursery

Raise on a raised bed 6 inches high so water drains away — damping off is the commonest nursery failure. Sow thinly, water lightly, and transplant at 4–5 weeks when seedlings have 4–5 leaves.

Sowing Time & Method

Early varieties: nursery in August, transplant September. Main season: nursery September–October, transplant October–November. Spacing 18 x 18 inches. Matching the variety to the sowing date matters more in cauliflower than in any other vegetable — an early variety sown late will not curd.

Seed Rate & Treatment

100–120 g per acre.

Fertilizer

Two bags urea, one bag DAP, one bag SOP. Urea in three splits after transplanting. Boron deficiency causes hollow, brown-hearted stems — a boron spray prevents it.

Irrigation

Every 8–10 days. Never let the crop dry out at curd formation or the curd stays small and opens up.

Weed Control

Weed Damage Control Product
Bathu (Lambsquarters) Grows faster than the transplants and shades them through the first month, leaving small loose curds. First hoeing at 25 days, before it overtops the plants
Krund (Nettle-leaf Goosefoot) Spreads flat across the bed between the plants and takes the first dose of fertiliser. Hand weeding along with the 25-day hoeing
Purple Nutsedge (Deela) In an early-sown crop it takes water and nitrogen from between the plants through the warm weeks, so the crop grows slowly and heads late; once the cold sets in it stops growing and stops competing. Lift the tubers out while preparing the bed, and again at the 25-day hoeing in the early crop — hoeing takes only the top; in the main-season crop the December hoeings are not worth digging for tubers
Horse Purslane (Itsit) In an early-sown crop it carpets the bed through the warm weeks and smothers the small transplants. Take it out at the 25-day hoeing; the 45-day earthing up buries what comes after
Wild Mustard (Jangli Sarson) It belongs to the same family as the crop, so it keeps the same aphids and leaf spot going right beside the curd and passes them on. Pull it out by hand before it flowers

Two hoeings with earthing up at 25 and 45 days.

Insect Pests

Diamondback moth and cabbage butterfly larvae eat the leaves and bore into the curd. Aphid colonises the underside. Scout twice weekly once curds start.

Diseases

Black rot shows as V-shaped yellow patches from the leaf margin with black veins. Downy mildew in humid weather. Use treated seed and rotate away from the cabbage family for three years.