Smarter Planting Time

Get a great crop and avoid cauliflower pests

- Peter Seabrook

Freedom to travel and easier access to people have allowed more exchange between folk of all ages who are now actively growing things. However, the lack of practical knowledge becomes ever more apparent and is a worry, so I will try to include a little more detail in this column.

Growing summer cauliflowers, for example, can be fraught with attacks by cabbage root fly, cabbage white butterfly caterpillars, brassica aphids, pigeons and drought, to mention just some of the challenges to be faced. The easy way, however, is to sow cauliflower ‘All The Year Round’ in September, protect them in unheated greenhouses or under coldframes and harvest in May.

“You will not see insect pests throughout winter”