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HORT410 - Vegetable Crops
Cauliflower - Notes
Common name: cauliflower.
Latin name: Brassica oleracea var. botrytis.
Family: Cruciferae (Brassicaceae) [Brassicaceae Images].
Dicotyledon.
Biennial, mostly grown as an annual.
Direct seeded or transplanted.
Harvested organ: mostly white [but in some varieties, purple], enlarged flower-head, called a curd.
Cool season, cold hardy.
Temperature optimum: 10 and 20 C.
Soil pH optimum: 6.0 to 6.5.
Hand harvested (typically when heads 15 - 25 cm in diameter).
Heads may become discolored and develop an undesirable flavor when exposed to sunlight.
Longest leaves are loosely tied together over the head to "blanch" the head for 5 to 10 days before harvesting.
Heads cut with 1 or 2 whorl leaves to protect the head.
Major diseases of cole crops in the Midwest:
Major insect pests of cole crops in the Midwest:
(see: ID-56: Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers 2003 - Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, and Brussels Sprouts (PURDUE) [pdf] for information on cauliflower varieties, spacing, fertilizing, harvesting, and specific disease, weed and insect control recommendations for cauliflower)
Sources of information:
Eastman, C., Mahr, S., Wyman, J., Hoy, C., Oloumi-Sadeghi, H. Cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. In "Vegetable Insect Management With Emphasis on the Midwest", (ed. R. Foster, B. Flood), Meister Publishing Co., Willoughby, Ohio, pp. 99 - 112 (1995).
Nonnecke, I.L. "Vegetable Production" Van Nostrand Reinhold, NY (1989).
Phillips, R., Rix, M. "The Random House Book of Vegetables", Random House, NY (1993).
Maynard, D.N. Cauliflower. In "The Software Toolworks Multimedia Encyclopedia", Version 1.5, Grolier, Inc. (1992).
Crisp, P., Tapsell, C.R. Cauliflower, Brassica oleracea L. In "Genetic Improvement of Vegetable Crops", (ed. G. Kalloo, B.O. Bergh), Pergamon Press, Oxford, U.K., pp. 157-178 (1993).
Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers, ID-56, eds. R. Foster, D. Egel, E. Maynard, R. Weinzierl, H. Taber, L.W. Jett, B. Hutchinson, Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service, 2003.
Madhavi, D.L., Ghosh, S.P. Cauliflower. In "Handbook of Vegetable Science and Technology: Production, Composition, Storage, and Processing", (ed. D.K. Salunkhe, S.S. Kadam), Marcel Dekker, Inc., NY, pp. 323 - 336 (1998).
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