Yogas
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Beautiful broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage but no veggies!

I know that nitrogen produces healthy foliage and roots but what do I do if the plants look great but aren't producing? Is it too late to do something to help? I really haven't use any fertilizer at all.

johnny123
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It still may be early.
If you want to try some fertilizer try some Happy Frog.

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applestar
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If you are overdoing the nitrogen, cabbage will be fine but broccoli and cauliflower veg are flower buds. How long since you planted them? Are the cabbage starting to head up? (sounds like not?)

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rainbowgardener
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Agree, how long since you planted them (seeds or transplants?) and how big are they? Broccoli and cauliflower get to be big plants before they start to flower (I.e. produce heads). How much sun do they get?

What's the weather like where you are? Those are all cool weather crops that don't really like the heat. Broccoli is the one that I'm most familiar with growing. For me, if I start the broccoli too late and it gets hot before it makes heads, it tends to bolt. That is, it makes a few flower buds, but then those open right up to flowers without making a head. But still it does make those few.

If you have good rich organic soil, it shouldn't need fertilizing and I don't know anything you could add to make it form heads.

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jal_ut
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Patience! It will come. On good soil those plants will get very large before making a head. Sounds like you have some good soil. I want a pic when the broccoli makes a head. :)

Yogas
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I am in Chicago and planted them sometime in April. I started them all indoors and transplanted them. I do have a small cauliflower head starting. My mother and I were looking at them today. She was raised on a farm in Wyoming. She said she thought she remembered that her dad would take the cauliflower leaves and tie them around the head once it started growing. Anyone ever heard of that?

I guess I will just be patient! Thanks everyone!

TWC015
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Tying the leaves around the cauliflower head is called blanching. It keeps the head a purer white. If it is left out in the sun, it will be more of an off white or have a slight brown cast to it. Many cauliflower types now are supposed to be self-blanching; they types I tried this spring partially covered the head, but they left the center open, so I tied the leaves together. I didn't notice any different taste between the bright white heads and the brown colored types.

Yogas
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Two things: How do I know when cauliflower is ready to pick? And if I do tie the outer leaves together, again, how will I know it is ripe?

In addition, how do I know when to pick the brocollie and cabbage?

Thanks!

TWC015
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For the cauliflower, I don't really tie the leaves I just use a few rubber bands to pull 2 or 3 leaves together over the middle of the plant. You can undo the rubber bands each day to check on its progress.

You harvest cauliflower when the head stops growing larger and before it starts moving apart. You want the head to be tightly packed together. It is okay if it moves apart (sideways) a little before you harvest it, but once it does this, it needs to be harvested as soon as possible. I let mine grow until the first signs of it separating. At this time, it wont get any larger. This may be hard to understand; I can upload pictures if you don't understand what this looks like.

Broccoli is similar to cauliflower. This time of year, you will have to watch the broccoli even closer than the cauliflower. It tends to separate and become inedible more quickly than cauliflower does. Your broccoli may also not be as large as the cauliflower. Like cauliflower, you harvest broccoli once it stops getting larger, but before the stalks separate and the yellow flowers open. If you see a little yellow showing on the buds, harvest immediately or it won't be good.

I'm not sure on the cabbage; I haven't grown it (yet).

Yogas
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Pictures would be great!

TWC015
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Location: Jefferson Co., Arkansas

This first picture is when the head is first forming on a plant. This is when you want to use the leaves to cover the plant. This plant produced one of my larger cauliflower heads. You can see that the leaves are partially covering the head; they are designed to do this, but the middle of mine were still exposed to sunlight to I covered it.

[img]https://i766.photobucket.com/albums/xx309/TWC015/IMG_7871-Copy.jpg[/img]

The next picture is of a smaller plant, but you can see how the edge of the cauliflower is beginning to separate (Look to the left side of the cauliflower head and you can see the space in the head developing. I harvest mine when they are like this so that I know when they aren't going to get any larger. They taste fine like this. Do not let them sit on the plant longer though; cut them and put in the refrigerator if they aren't going to be used immediately.
[img]https://i766.photobucket.com/albums/xx309/TWC015/IMG_7911.jpg[/img]

I don't have any pictures of broccoli, but you harvest them the same way; you can notice the separation of the head on broccoli more easily, so I don't let it spread as far as I do cauliflower.



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