All CAULI, no FLOWER....

[Clara]

And all me broccoli too, no heads. What´s going on?

Some of the biggest have leaves over a foot long, I should have seen signs of a head by now right?

Can anyone shed some light?

Clara x.

[Wombat]

Not sure Clara, but I have had caulis take 9 months to flower depending on when I planted them......

Are the broccolis winter or summer varieties?

Nev

[ohareward]

Hi Clara, To grow cauliflowers well it is essential that you have a fertile soil, preferably manured during digging in autumn. The manure is important, because the soil should be moisture-retentive so that the plants are not checked during dry periods. The soil must not be acid; if possible adjust the pH level to 6.5 -7 by liming in autumn.
Keep cauliflowers well watered, especially in warm, dry spells. Once the curds begin to form, snap the larger outside leaves down over them to protect them. This will prevent discolouration. Or you can tie the large outside leaves together with twine.

Here are some varieties and time for sowing.
Early summer and summer:
All year round,
Alpha,
Mayflower,
Montana,
Snow crown,
White summer

Late summer and autumn.
All year round,
Autumn Glory,
Castlegrant,
Dok elgon,
Wallaby,

Winter
Arcade,
Cappacio,
Early feltham,
Jerome,

Broccoli is much the same as cauliflowers as far as cultivation is concerned. Cauliflowers do take a lot longer to mature than broccoli.
Summer and autumn varieties of cauli mature in about 16 weeks from sowing, and winter ones in about 40 weeks.

Robin

[Clara]

I bought them as plugs, sometime in March I think. Unfortunately have no idea what variety they are.

I water heavily once a day and they are mulched. They are healthy looking, but no heads as yet.

I was just wondering if I should give up, given how huge some of them are?

Clara x.

[ohareward]

Some of my caulis went like that and I thought that they had bolted. I cut off some of the bigger leaves on the outside to reduce the amount of effort going into the plant, and they eventually grew caulis.

Robin

[Wombat]

Another possibility is that there may be too much nitrogen in the soil resulting in too much leaf not enough other bits, the addition of a bit of wood ash (potassium) may help.

Nev

[Jack]

Gidday

I would say, relax and give them time. They sound like they are growing good so like Nev said, they probably need a few more months and when they do they will be huge.

[autumnleaf]

My first thought that there was too much nitrogen as well.