Cauliflower in my raised bed!!

[rigardengal]

Hi,

Well, my raised bed is booming and draining so much better now that I've added the composted material and occasional tilling. I've also started mulching with dried grass clippings, but I can't get past the look of it! LOL I'd love to share pictures soon, but for now I have a cauliflower question.

I've read that to protect the heads from getting brown, the leaves are to be wrapped around the head? Right now they are almost golf ball size. When should I wrap the leaves and more importantly, how?

OK, maybe one more question. When the bottom leaves of a plant get yellow, droop, or brown(like with lettuce), should I be snipping those off or just let them droop there?

Thanks and have a great weekend. It's going to be very humid here in New England.

[Roger]

I'd go ahead and start tying them now, when the heads first start forming. Just use some twine, gently curl the bigger leaves upwards so they sort of wrap loosely around the developing head, and loosely tie them with your twine. Or strips of cloth. Or nylons. Not too tightly, you don't want to cut into the leaves or break them. You'll have to check them every few days, to make sure the head is shaded still, and that your ties haven't loosened.

Another way is to use landscaping fabric to make little 'caps' that tuck down inside the leaves and covers the developing head.