Growing Hydroponic Cauliflower
Yes! You can grow cauliflower in your indoor, hydroponic garden. It’s fun, and you can grow many varieties, including orange and purple varieties with unique tastes that you won’t find at your local supermarket.
Like broccoli, cauliflower is related to cabbage, and the plants are usually rather large. It also takes 3 months or longer for cauliflower heads to fully form. But there are many smaller varieties of cauliflower that you can grow much more quickly while using up less space. This includes our Fioretto 70 Sprouting Cauliflower variety.
Cauliflower is a versatile, healthy plant. The leaves are also edible. They taste a lot like cauliflower with a bit of bitterness. Some describe them as tasting similar to kale, but sweeter. They can be used in a variety of ways, including making cauliflower chips in the same way you make kale chips! Salads, stir-fries, soups, sautés, green juices, and smoothies are also great options.
Cauliflower contains ~75% of your daily vitamin C needs and also has healthy amounts of vitamin K and B.
| Hydroponic Cauliflower | ||||
| Germination | Light | EC Range | pH Range: | Time to Harvest |
| Easy | 12-16hrs | 0.5-2.0 | 6.0-7.0 | 3+ Months |
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Nutrient and Health Info - Cauliflower contains ~75% of your daily vitamin C needs and also has healthy amounts of vitamin K and B.
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Tips & Tricks - Consider growing a micro-variety like our Fioretto 70 Sprouting Cauliflower to grow cauliflower more quickly and in a smaller space.
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Germination:
Give your cauliflower 7-14 days to sprout. You can plant more than one seed in each growing pod, but you will have to thin them out to just one as they begin to grow, unless you’re growing a micro-variety in which case you may be able to keep two plants growing in a 2” net cup.
Light:
Cauliflower is typically grown in the spring and fall, so it does not require significant amounts of light. But, for fastest growth, give your cauliflower 14-16 hours of light per day.
EC Range:
Cauliflower is not a particularly heavy eater and grows well with leafy greens. If your EC is between 0.5 – 2.0 You’ll be growing cauliflower in no time. Higher EC levels may negatively impact your growth.
pH Range:
Cauliflower grows well with any pH between 6.0 – 7.0.
Nutrients:
The only nutrients you’ll need to grow cauliflower are our IGWorks® Green Machine nutrients. That’s because cauliflower is a big fan of the nitrogen minerals in those nutrients. Your cauliflower won’t ever need a flowering mix of nutrients to be grown successfully because cauliflower heads, or ‘curds,’ are actually undeveloped flower buds that prefer more nitrogen and less phosphorous than flowering nutrient mixes provide.
Time to Harvest:
You can begin harvesting cauliflower leaves in about a month. They’re healthy and tasty. But if you want the curd to form, you will want to have lots of leaves to give your plant enough energy to grow its head.
Pruning and Harvesting:
Aggressive harvesting of cauliflower leaves will reduce the opportunity for your cauliflower to form its head, so try to keep as many leaves as possible if you you’re growing it for the curd. If you want to harvest some of your leaves before or while your cauliflower head is growing, consider trimming/harvesting only the end of your longest leaves to give your cauliflower the energy it requires to continue growing its curd. This may also allow more space for other plants to grow near your cauliflower without being shaded by the largest leaves.
Cauliflower is usually only grown until after the curd has been harvested, and then replaced. However, occasionally a second curd will grow.
Conclusion:
Growing full-sized cauliflower for its head or ‘curd’ is a fun experience for those with patience. Smaller varieties of cauliflower can be grown much more quickly and provide a great deal of flavor while taking up much less space. Growing cauliflower simply for its healthy and uniquely tasty leaves is another option that will allow you to grow a significant number of greens in a smaller space that you keep well pruned.
Check Out Our Cauliflower Recipes!
Let’s grow together!