Cauliflower in EBssome advice, please?

I accidentally bought three small plants of cauliflower today at the nursery--such a newbie; I didn't recognize what I was stuffing into my cart as I bought some leaf lettuce seedlings. The ID tag just says "Cauliflower, 1-2 pounds, 50-70 days to maturation." It's not Snowball or another small container-friendly cauliflower. My question is: does cauliflower do well in EBs, and should I put three into a box? (I know that the literature says 6 seedling to a box, but I find that reducing the number increases the yield, at least with my tomatoes, peppers, etc.) Any helpful hints? I'm assuming that cauliflower can go in now, despite the Cape Cod early spring cold.
(edited for clarity)

This message was edited Apr 11, 2009 9:05 PM

brocoli does well, so I dont see why not.
I would put one on one corner...the other in the middle on the other side and then another in the far corner from the first. Put the fertilizer down the middle. If it doesnt get to hot for it, it should be fine.

I agree, I grew 3 cabbage in a Earthbox with great success.

Thank you so much!
I look forward to growing my first cauliflower--in the pattern you suggested, gardenglory.

Remember that your cauliflower will produce leaves for most of 55 days. As soon as you see the crown, gather the outer leaves and tie them up over the crown to keep light out. Otherwise your crown will turn yellow while it's growing, and green when you cook it. Just a tip...

I did not know that, Gymgirl!! Sort of like asparagus. . . ? Thanks for the good tip. I've never grown broccoli OR cauliflower, but they are two of my favorite veggies and I'm looking forward to tasting some really fresh cauliflower from my EB.

Hey Cod,
I grew cauliflower and broccoli for the first time this past Fall, and it was a wonderful experience. No one schooled me, so I was concerned that my cauliflower took sooooooooooooooooooooooo long to develop the crown. Like I said, leaves developed for almost the whole 55 days, and then one day this little crown was buried down there in the middle! And, It seems like I turned my head for about 3 or 4 days and that crown grew OVERNIGHT! So, yeah, tie the leaves up around it as soon as you see it to keep it white.

I let my 4 cauliflowers grow to full size without any cover and they turned yellowish. I knew there wasn't anything else wrong with them, and being the bold soul that I am, I cut them and cooked them. They turned this brackish shade of green, and since I was still a bold soul, I tasted them. Sure enough, they tasted wonderful! They Just looked mighty unappetizing, and nothing my DH would've ventured to taste!

So, be warned!

Linda

Linda thanks for sharing that!!!!

Oh, that reminds me. I read somewhere in one a' these threads, that the broccoli can get little buggies. I never had that problem. I cut mine and steamed it. Excellant color and flavor. I did notice that once it bolted cause of the heat, when it started flowering, there was some additional wildlife on the stalks (mostly beneficial bumblebees which I encouraged by leaving the bloom alone -- I figured I'd need them come tomato season -- which is NOW for me).

If you encounter the buggies in your area, simply plunge the head into a salt brine solution and they'll roll off deader than a doorknob. Rinse thoroughly, and Voila!

I am soooooooooooooooo ready to plant my cole crops I can hardly WAIT for September to do this again!

Ya'll keep me posted.

Hold up Ggirl. I haven't had my summer yet. Season pusher...grumble grumble....