Cauliflower without curds

by Jane
(Shoreham VT)

Only one of my six very healthy cauliflower plants has produced curds. It's quite large and about to be harvested, but the others show no signs of producing anything at all. Everything else in my veg. garden is flourishing and producing very well, but these five plants (which I bought as seedlings from a good nursery), so I don't think there could be too much nitrogen, though I did mix a couple inches of thoroughly composed manure into the soil, as I did in the whole plot. A half dozen Brussels sprouts plants in the next row are doing just what they're supposed to and are loaded with small sprouts.

Weather was dry, sunny and pretty hot for us in June, but lots of rain in July and enough sun to keep things happy since my garden gets sun from 9AM to sunset. Soil here is very fertile, with a good dose of clay but not too heavy to work.

I'm mystified. Any thoughts?

Doug says that the main cause of non-heading in cauliflower is trying to grow a late season variety and planting it too late. The heat of summer simply shuts them down. You have to get late varieties planted *very* early to get them to head up. That's my best guess without being there or knowing what varieties and weather you've had. But next year, either get early varieties or get 'em in the ground as soon as possible.