Cauliflower

[worth1]

I only wish I could grow such things without our winter catapillers eating everything up.
Had no idea how bad they could be until last winter.
What a nightmare.

[MrBig46]

I measured the lowest temperature in that tunnel - 7.1 ° C and outside - 8.5 ° C sometimes around 8.00 am on 27.12.2020. There is usually 1.5 ° C more in that tunnel.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

I only wish I could grow such things without our winter catapillers eating everything up.
Had no idea how bad they could be until last winter.
What a nightmare.

For many years, I also did not grow cauliflowers due to caterpillars (white butterfly and cabbage moth). It worked for me to protect the brasicas through a tunnel of netting (curtains).
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

Cauliflowers and broccoli are still alive.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

I'm not even trying to go to the garden. My gate is frozen in ice from melted snow. I have to wait for it to warm up and everything to thaw. It will be frost for a whole week, so I'll go to the garden in about ten days. I'll just look at what cauliflowers look like and take a substrate for tomato germination in the shed. I'm glad it's so cold, at least I'll see if I can grow cauliflowers again next year. The temperatures around -12 ° C are common in my garden in winter, of course elsewhere in our country they are even lower, down to -20 ° C. I think the record is -42 ° C, but that was long ago.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

Today I finally got to the garden. I opened the tunnel, took a photo and downloaded the measured temperature to the computer from 1.1.2021. I was quite surprised at how the tunnel protected the cauliflower. At the lowest temperatures, the difference was up to 10 ° C.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

I was quite surprised by the difference in temperature in the tunnel and outside. I explain it so that the tunnel is large enough moisture when the temperature drops below 0 ° C and the water freezes on the fabric and creates such an igloo. A new experience for me.
Vladimír

[Nan6b]

That's great! You won't be worrying about caterpillars any time soon!

[ponyexpress]

Today I finally got to the garden. I opened the tunnel, took a photo and downloaded the measured temperature to the computer from 1.1.2021.

What are you using to keep track of the temperatures? I have some Aqara sensors that I wonder if they will work outside under the hoop house.

[MrBig46]

Mine are such boxes with an outlet for connection to a PC, originally the outlet for USB was covered with a rubber like some cameras, but the rubber broke and I lost it. Even without that cover, it works well, it just can't stay in the water. I bought one Datalogger for twenty dollars, the other was given to me by a friend who didn't use it. I have temperature and relative humidity measurements set every hour. The only downside is that I have to take a computer to the garden to read the values. For my birthday, my son bought me a Tablet, so it will be more convenient, but he will still have to set it up for me. I don't know if it will help:
https://www.zarovkarna.cz/product/elekt ... ---us/1056

Vladimír
PS.: They have stated that it is sold out, I think it is a product from China and that is why it was so cheap

[MrBig46]

Cauliflowers - as time went on.
Winter has returned to us. The nights are still cold (even -5 ° C). With the arrival of spring, I gave away nonwovens. Yesterday I looked at the photos I took during the winter. Cauliflowers do not bloom yet, but it looks promising. Probably the biggest problem was in the autumn, when snails attacked cauliflowers. Some of the most weakened plants did not survive the winter. If this attempt is successful in the end, I would like to repeat it this year, but I have to look after the snails!
Vladimír

beautiful male names

[JRinPA]

You might get some massive heads off them...I am impressed they held up that well. Looking good.

[bower]

Oh wow, that is really awesome Vladimir. Don't know how I missed this thread earlier.
So I notice you dropped some varieties from the photos as time went on. Is it that Aalm and Walch are the two best ones you found for overwintering?

We use a type of pellet product here for slugs and snails. It is said to be non-toxic, contains iron only which kills the pest when it's eaten. We sprinkle it on the ground between the plants.

[MrBig46]

So far, it is premature to assess the success of this project. But I already know today that the most durable cauliflower is really Aalsmeer and the second best is Walcherin Winter 5. All Aalsmeer cauliflowers in the tunnel (5 pieces) survived and even out of four just covered with non-woven fabric, three survived. The worst is Roscopf. The other two Celebrities and Galleon the lesser half OK, the other misery. Persistent broccoli Nine Star ... excellent. I am adding pictures from April 18, 2021 to illustrate what the others look like. Finally, three Aalsmeer cauliflowers, which were not in the tunnel but only under the fabric (they look good even after - 15 ° C outside.
Vladimír

old sawmill restaurant

[MrBig46]

I finished this project a few days ago. All the flowering plants formed heads, but the size was not large. Practically the bigger the plant, the bigger the head. Overall I am disappointed with the size, the largest head was 14 cm in diameter. The lesson for me for next season is that I have to grow as biggest plants as possible before the winter. That's why I start pre-growing a fortnight earlier and I also have to deal with snails. I still left the smallest cauliflower heads in the flower bed. I want them to bloom, pollinate them and grow seeds. So are the side heads of that broccoli. I cook the harvested cauliflowers and broccoli and taste them drizzled with butter.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

I managed to pollinate the flowers of the best winter-hardy cauliflowers Aalsmeer and Walcherin Winter 5, as well as Nine Star broccoli. During the winter I will grow only these two varieties. I don't know yet if I will grow broccoli again from sowing or leave the three plants I only have. On Friday, I sowed the seeds of early cauliflower Beta at home, which I should harvest sometime in the autumn. This sowing date has already worked for me last year. This autumn I will no longer grow broccoli (there is not such interest in it at home) or cabbage and kale. I will use all the space in the tunnel for cauliflowers.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

I managed to pollinate the flowers of the best winter-hardy cauliflowers Aalsmeer and Walcherin Winter 5, as well as Nine Star broccoli. During the winter I will grow only these two varieties. I don't know yet if I will grow broccoli again from sowing or leave the three plants I only have. On Friday, I sowed the seeds of early cauliflower Beta at home, which I should harvest sometime in the autumn. This sowing date has already worked for me last year. This autumn I will no longer grow broccoli (there is not such interest in it at home) or cabbage and kale. I will use all the space in the tunnel for cauliflowers.
Vladimír
PS.: I hope the seeds will be germinating. If someone also wants to try growing cauliflower during the winter, I will be able to send seeds (of course, when I check germination)

[MrBig46]

After two years, I started growing winter cauliflowers and winter onions again. Everything from the cultivation of seedlings to their planting took place in the same way as in the winter of 2021/2022. I concentrated on protecting the plants from the slugs that decimated some of my cauliflowers that time. Today I can already say that I succeeded. I keep my cauliflowers in a non-woven tunnel that provides partial protection from freezing temperatures and snow. The first stress test has already arrived, yesterday it snowed 10 cm and tonight the temperature dropped to -10 °C. The forecast for the next ten days says that there will be frosty nights and the temperature will sometimes only rise to 2-3 °C during the day. I will get to the garden when it warms up because the entrance gate will be frozen to the ground. The photo is from Thursday, when the temperatures were not so low, they were around 0 °C.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

Cauliflower today. It looks promising.
Vladimír

[MissS]

Do the cups around the plants and the weed barrier help against the slugs?

The plants survived the cold nicely. Hopefully you are over the coldest part of the season and spring will be on the way.