Hi,
New gardener here. Got lots of cauliflower heads but they have bugs. What to do. Little tiny pods of miniature bugs. Also the stems of each flower is purple. What's up with that?
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heidischroeder
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DoubleDogFarm
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heidischroeder
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- Location: middle of washington state
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heidischroeder
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photo of bugs and purple stems
[img]https://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x402/heidischroeder1/P9190032.jpg[/img] Here is the picture of my buggy purply cauliflower. Help please 
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stella1751
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I grew some Brussels sprouts one year that went purple. I found out that it was a calcium deficieny. I've since learned through THG that the calcium deficiency can be caused by over-watering, so the plant isn't able to process the calicum in the soil, or some such thing. I used Epsom Salts to fix the problem.
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jal_ut
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The cole crops are favorites of bugs, especially little green worms and aphids. Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, kale, and turnips, are all in the cole family. To be successful, with these crops you must address the bugs.
I can't say for sure about the color, but suggest it is because of stress, and possibly the stress comes from the aphids.
It is sometimes desirable to blanch the cauliflower heads. You can do that by tieing the leaves up over the head, or by putting a brown paper bag over the head and tieing it. Then you get white heads.
In any case, you need to get the bugs off it. They will ruin it. Try a mild soap solution in a spray bottle, spray the bugs and wait 5 minutes then rinse with water. A soap solution kills aphids very quickly. It has no residual effect though, so you have to keep an eye out for reinfestation.
I use Dawn dish washing liquid. A couple of teaspoons in a pint of water. Now as soon as I say that, someone will come along screaming that Dawn is a detergent and you can't use it ........... Oh well, hide and watch.
I can't say for sure about the color, but suggest it is because of stress, and possibly the stress comes from the aphids.
It is sometimes desirable to blanch the cauliflower heads. You can do that by tieing the leaves up over the head, or by putting a brown paper bag over the head and tieing it. Then you get white heads.
In any case, you need to get the bugs off it. They will ruin it. Try a mild soap solution in a spray bottle, spray the bugs and wait 5 minutes then rinse with water. A soap solution kills aphids very quickly. It has no residual effect though, so you have to keep an eye out for reinfestation.
I use Dawn dish washing liquid. A couple of teaspoons in a pint of water. Now as soon as I say that, someone will come along screaming that Dawn is a detergent and you can't use it ........... Oh well, hide and watch.
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DoubleDogFarm
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Keep your head down Jim. Belly crawl.I use Dawn dish washing liquid. A couple of teaspoons in a pint of water. Now as soon as I say that, someone will come along screaming that Dawn is a detergent and you can't use it ........... Oh well, hide and watch.
But I wash my dishes at Dusk.
heidischroeder,
Are the leaves purple or only the heads?
Eric