All Year Round Cauliflowers

I've had a poor year for veg, and seem to be going backwards in terms of my ability to actually grow stuff. I have some "All Year Round" cauli seeds which it said could be planted in September, so I planted these around 28th Sept. They've germinated OK, but I'm not sure they're not stalling. At the moment I'm keeping them outside (in a greenhouse but with a room that needs fixing back on), so around 15 degrees C in the day, moving them in to a heated incubator at night. I'll move them permanently outside this weekend. The stems are purple which I believe isn't a good sign. Any thoughts on how to encourage them to grow in advance of the Winter? I'm based in Essex, UK.

 

While cauliflowers are not my favourite thing, I think your seedlings are fine. I would pot them on in to 115mm pots of compost/sharp sand and place in a cold frame to grow bigger They require maximum light rather than heat, as well as moist conditions. Protect from slugs/snails and space the pots out when they have grown, so the leaves barely touch; they need space to grow bigger.
Plant out when they have roots showing in the bottom of the pot, under net protection from pigeons, at 450mm centres. Firmly compact, refirm if site is windy. Blood,fish and bone would be a healthy option for them.
What do you think has given you a poor season ?

 

I’m not getting the hang of greenhouse gardening so I think I overwatered some seedlings and fried some others. Something ate my sweetcorn and bean plants and my courgettes got powdery mildew so very poor this year. Think I’m trying to do too much - also redesigning another part of the garden while doing a full time job.

 

Take heart @Tpearce28 - we've all done it! Re greenhouse, why not use it for simple short term crops eg using dried peas as a start for lovely pea shoots for salads and side dishes? The dried peas (lion brand) are cheap and will sprout if soaked and laid on layers of damp kitchen paper. So you get something without having to worry while sorting rest of garden

 

Oh yes, its so easy to spread yourself too thinly!.
Retirement brings some advantage.
Having had a 12hr/6 &1/2day a week job while trying to garden 1/3 acre plot <I can understand this.
But you have learnt by mistakes, so all good for next time . 20 minutes every day is the minimum .

 

Easier said than done I know but perhaps concentrate on just one aspect of the garden - probably the redesign work you mention would be the best bet over Autumn/Winter and fit better with your full time job as the days get shorter. At least you have a GH already so you can have a think over winter as to what you could best use it for next year. Take into account what you/your family like to eat in the way of fresh fruit/veg and what space you can manage for your choices. As they say Rome wasn't built in a day and neither is your garden Take it slow or you risk getting fed up with the whole idea which would be a great pity. Good luck

 

In time constrained circumstances ,its a case of operation rather than immersion. ie just do the vital, a quick scan tells where your ten minutes is necessary, the aesethetics can wait.
So long as you can catch up ,perhaps a longer period once a week, the 80% will survive.
Pre-emptive slug control, rodent awareness (set the trap just in case..), mental if not actual notes all help.
Never surrender ! If it were easy, others could do it.

 

Good advice. I need to (a) read my book on greenhouse gardening and (b) fix the roof. Will do that and take from there!

 

I don't get fed up easily, the occasional moment of despair but then back on the horse and go again :-) Yes, I'm focusing on the garden design at the moment which is some hard labour and digging. I'll keep the caulis going but other than that see how far I get for next Spring.

 

Not sure if this helps or not but as my tag line says I'm a lifelong Allotmenter. Every season is different. I still have failures as well as sucesses, as long as you have more sucess overall thats what matters
The advantage of an Allotment space is it's dedicatwd to one purpose, growing edibles. So i hedge my bets, I always grow climbing French beans and Runner beans, they prefer differnt conditions.
This year the FB were great, but it was too hot and dry for the runners. I usually plant 3or 4 courgette plants, plant one and it will fail, 3-4 is too many so if I'm overwhelmed, I can grub out the excess and plant something else in the space. Most brassicas are long term crops, 12-18 weeks at least, especially if they have to stand over winter, but they will come. As I've posted before, green Calibrese is a better value crop than Cauliflower, with the former you get a main head then weeks of secondary shoots, with the Cauli you only get one head. Be brutal if its not working try something different rather than trying to rescue an ailing plant, but just because it fails this year don't give up, next year it could be great.