Vegetable · Brassicaceae
When to plant cauliflowers
The least forgiving brassica. Any check to growth produces a small premature curd.
Start seed indoors
7 weeks before
Counted from your last spring frost.
Plant out
2 weeks before
Counted from your last spring frost.
Days to maturity
65-95
From planting out to a first picking.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Seed packets rarely give calendar dates, because a date that suits one latitude is wrong at another. They give offsets from the last spring frost instead, and those offsets are what make cauliflowers plantable anywhere.
- Start seed indoors 7 weeks before the last frost.
- Plant out 2 weeks before the last frost.
- Expect 65–95 days to maturity, counted from planting out.
- Can also be sown in late summer for an autumn crop.
Getting the timing right
Steady moisture and steady temperature matter more than the exact sowing week. Autumn maturity is easier to achieve than spring in most climates.
Frost tolerance
Tolerates light frost but the curd itself is damaged below about -3C. Fold leaves over developing heads when frost threatens.
Classified as half-hardy, with damage expected below -5°C (23°F)23°F (-5°C).