GardenBiennial Plant · zones 2–11 · 24 varieties
Cauliflower
Brassica oleracea Cauliflower & Broccoli Group
Brassicaceae — the same plant family as cabbage, radish, broccoli, kale and 12 more here. Relatives share pests and diseases, which is why rotation plans group by family.
Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea Cauliflower & Broccoli Group) is a biennial plant for USDA zones 2–11. It wants full sun and pH 6–7 soil, with about 1–2 in of water weekly. It matures in about 50–80 days from setting out a transplant. Watch for aphids and black rot. Below: its full sourced profile from 11 extension sources, plus a planting calendar timed to your frost dates.
Typical dates for zone 6b — set your zone or ZIP for yours. This calendar assumes the crop is started indoors. Timing is a guide from the crop's sourced growth stages; confirm with your local frost dates and extension before you sow.
What we will not put a number on
We do not give a feeding rate for this crop, and that is deliberate rather than a gap. The figures published by extension services are pounds of nitrogen per acre for a production field — they do not convert safely to a raised bed or a pot without knowing your soil test and your fertilizer's analysis, and guessing errs toward burning roots. It is also why every chart you find online disagrees with the next one.
We give watering as a depth per week rather than gallons per plant, because that is how it is actually measured and how the published figures are written. A gallons-per-plant number depends on your spacing, your soil and whether the plant is in a pot — so it would look more precise than it is.
Site & soil
- Hardiness zones
- 2–11
- Sun
- Full sun
- Soil pH
- 6–7
- Soil texture
- Sandy, Loam, Clay, Well drained
- Frost tolerance
- Half hardy
- Suffers in days above
- 86 °F
No published figure for the temperature frost starts to hurt it, the temperature that would kill it and a warm-night limit. We looked — where a number is missing here it is missing from the research, not skipped. The crop’s frost and heat tolerance above still applies.
The plant
- Mature height
- 1–2.5 ft
- Mature spread
- 1–2 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderateest
- Spacing in row
- 18–24 in
- Between rows
- 24–36 in
- Planting depth
- 0.25–0.5 in
- Container size
- 4–6 gal — low end is the minimum, high end is better
- Support
- Self-supportingest
- Grown from
- Transplant, Direct sow
Water & feeding
- Water needs
- Moderate
- Water per week
- 1–2 in/wk
- Critical water
- Establishment, Headingest
- Feeding
- Heavy
Timing & fruiting
- Days to maturity
- 50–80 days from transplant
- Harvest cues
- Head forming
There is no line here for how long before or after the last frost to sow it and how long from sowing to the first pick, because we have no figure to put there. We went looking and wrote down what we read — it is missing on purpose, not because nobody checked.
Planted again for autumn
- South Carolina — Piedmont
- Jul 15 – Aug 31
- South Carolina — Coastal Plain
- Aug 15 – Aug 30
Published by the extension service for its own regions, and quoted here for those regions only — converting them would mean assuming a frost date somewhere else. The chart says when, not whether to sow seed or set out plants, so we do not either. Only South Carolina so far.
- Set plants out by
- early Sep typical · zone 6b
50 days to maturity from setting a plant out — that is what our sources measure for this crop, so this is a date for planting out and not a sowing date, counted back from the first frost above. Not published for anywhere in particular: it is your own frost date and this crop's own figure, which is why it works wherever you are. A days-to-maturity figure is a catalog number for a good season rather than a promise, and a cold month moves it.
Edible parts per source: flower, stem.
Compiled from the extensions cited below. Which ones actually show up depends on your region — your extension's local list is the last word.
Mixed, strong-smelling plantings make brassicas harder for pests to find — real research, modest effect. Keep mint in a pot.
Dill flowers feed the tiny parasitoid wasps that hunt cabbage worms. Let some of it bloom near the bed.
A trap strip pulls flea beetles off young seedlings. UMN found mixes of three-plus trap species beat any single one.
On the classic chart's companion list for the cabbage family.
On the WVU companion list, with an aphid-magnet reputation. If aphids pile on, pull those plants before they breed.
Old chart pairing; both hold cool-season beds.
Old chart pairing.
Chart canon says no. Nobody's proven why. Cheap to respect.
Flagged on the classic charts, including WVU's. Mechanism murky; the canon is consistent.
Flagged on the classic charts, mechanism murky. Skip the pairing if you've got the space.
Companion pairings from university extensions; badge = how strong the evidence is.
Open one and add it to your garden — it lights up here. The rest of the 24 are in the full list below.
| Variety | Type | Days | Color | What it is known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazing | White | 68 | White | Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this astakes the heat · takes the cold |
| Amethyst F1 | Purple | 59 | Purple | |
| Bishop F1 | White | 65 | White | |
| Cheddar F1 | Orange | 58 | Orange | |
| Clementine F1 | Orange | 55 | Orange | |
| Denali F1 | White | 73 | White | Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this astakes the heat |
| DePurple F1 | Purple | 68 | Purple | |
| EarliSnow F1 | White | 45 | White | |
| Early Snowball Heirloom | White | 55 | White | |
| Flame Star F1 | Orange | 62 | Orange | Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this astakes the heat |
| Fujiyama F1 | White | 45 | White | Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this astakes the heat |
| Graffiti F1 | Purple | 80 | Purple | |
| Paxton F1 | White | 67 | White | |
| Puntoverde F1 | Green Romanesco | 55 | Green | |
| Purple Moon F1 | Purple | 62 | Purple | Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this astakes the heat |
| Purple of Sicily Heirloom | Purple | 90 | Purple | |
| Sierra Madre F1 | White | 73 | White | |
| Skywalker F1 | White | 80 | White | |
| Snow Crown F1 | White | 50 | White | Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this astakes the cold |
| Snowball Y Improved Heirloom | White | 75 | White | |
| Twister F1 | White | 62 | White | |
| Veronica Romanesco F1 | Green Romanesco | 60 | Green | |
| Vitaverde F1 | Green | 71 | Green | |
| Whitaker F1 | Green Romanesco | 65 | Green |
- Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center
- Johnny's Selected Seeds
- Michigan State University Extension
- Missouri Botanical Garden
- NC State Extension
- UC Cooperative Extension, Sacramento County (UC ANR) — Garden Notes GN 154
- University of Maryland Extension
- University of Minnesota Extension
- Utah State University Extension
We compile bare facts from these university-extension and horticultural sources, never copied prose. 18 of the 21 values on this page carry a citation. The rest are marked est; hover one and it says why — either nobody publishes a figure we could point at, or a person set it and attached no source. Figures vary with climate and seed source; confirm with your local extension before you buy.
Growing more than cauliflower? Browse all crops, or grab the spacing calculator and frost date lookup. The GardenTrack app (now in beta) remembers what you planted and where, then tells you what to do and when. Join the beta →