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Cauliflower leaves

ShepherdsBarnShepherdsBarn Posts: 401
in Fruit & veg
I have just cut a leaf off each of two cauliflowers ... for dinner! They are around 2' high (the plants, not the leaves), but no flower is forming, as yet. Will they be affected?! 🧐 🤷🏼‍♀️
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Posts

  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    My consultant (the postie) tells me that, unlike most brassicas, those that form florets need a slightly more acid soil to do so.  It sounds as though yours should be producing at that size?
  • ShepherdsBarnShepherdsBarn Posts: 401
    Okay, I have checked the ph and it is reading alkaline. I have never really thought about ph levels before and know nothing! Is it something that can be rectified i.e. can I add anything to the soil to improve it for the cauliflowers ... or should I just leave it to grow for the leaves until I need the space? It is in a polytunnel and the compost was our own, taken from llama and goat manure which had been left to rot for a few years.
    Many thanks for your help @nick615. 😀
  • ShepherdsBarnShepherdsBarn Posts: 401
    Here is a photo ... and the ph reading.




  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Old gardeners and allotmenteers used to apply lime before growing brassicas.  

    However, I think the problem you have is that your plants are too close together ...  caulies need to be spaced well apart ... a good 60cm in each direction.  

    https://www.quickcrop.co.uk/learning/plant/cauliflower

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ShepherdsBarnShepherdsBarn Posts: 401
    Ah ... thank you @Dovefromabove ... and we have just emptied the remains of some lime wash in an unused corner of the garden! Can they be transplanted?! 
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    Hi @ShepherdsBarn  

    I would transplant what you can to give space to the ones in the box - @Dovefromabove has given you good advice - they're too crowded, so won't develop.   You've got nothing to lose.

    Also how long have they been in there for? - you're looking at a good 6 months for a brassica plant to  yield.  They take ages. Any plant sown from seed takes a long time.  Patience and let us know how you get on.  Good luck!  
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • ShepherdsBarnShepherdsBarn Posts: 401
    Thank you @tui34. The seeds were sown on 21st March and the cauliflowers were transplanted at the beginning of May.
    I will transplant some of them and will see what happens. 😊
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    S**te!!!  They've only been in the ground a month!!   

    Did you read the spiel on the packet?  Don't get your hopes up until at least August/September/October.
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493

    PS  The leaves look a bit like broccoli plants.
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • ShepherdsBarnShepherdsBarn Posts: 401
    Ah ... but I wasn't getting my hopes up - not at all; my original post was to ask if it was okay to 'steal' a leaf from a plant! 😂 Then @nick615 questioned the size of the plant and felt it should be 'producing' something by now - the rest was a follow on conversation. 😃
    Yes, I did read the spiel on the packet. It says sow in March and harvest in June ... set plants 30cm apart and in rows 45cm apart. And they don't like being transplanted (but like you say, I have nothing to lose!)
    It is Romanesco cauliflower, by the way. 😊
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