When to remove cauliflower from the garden and how to store it

Harvesting time for cauliflower

Everyone wants to get a harvest with excellent taste, which will also be stored for a long time. First of all, it is necessary to focus on the characteristics of the varieties, since cabbage, like many other crops, has its own ripening dates that cannot be violated. There are a number of varieties intended for cultivation in different climatic zones.

Cabbage varieties:

• Early ripening. From the time the first shoots appear to maturity, at least 75 days pass (depending on weather conditions, another 3 weeks can be added here). It is approximately cut off in mid-June.
• Mid-season. Ripening period is 95–125 days from the beginning of germination. The harvest is harvested in summer.
• Late. You need to remove such heads from the garden after about 4-5 months - in the last weeks of August and until mid-September. Although they have the longest growing season, they are the ones that last the longest.

The inflorescences can be cut when their diameter reaches 11–13 cm and their weight reaches 400–1100 g. The heads should be elastic, fresh, and dense. There is no need to wait until they become large, otherwise it is very easy to miss the moment when the heads become overripe. Overexposure leads to a deterioration not only in presentation, but also in taste characteristics.

Cabbage that is not harvested on time turns yellow and takes on a purple hue. As a rule, normally the heads should have a milky white or light cream color, be prominent, with a dense structure. There should be no sprouted leaves inside. The defining sign that a head of cabbage can be cut is the presence of three adjacent leaves on the head.

When to harvest cabbage from the garden for storage for the winter according to the lunar calendar

Gardeners who attach great importance to the lunar phases, sowing and harvesting according to the calendar, can confirm that if the recommendations are followed, cabbage is stored much longer, and its taste is higher. Therefore, you should be guided by the information from the table and plan your work only for favorable periods.

Influence of external factors

It is important to learn how to determine ripeness not only by the information on the packaging and belonging to a particular variety, but also by external indicators. The fact is that temperature, air humidity, the presence or absence of precipitation, the number of sunny days - all this directly affects the timing of harvesting.

There are such nuances here:

• The optimal temperature for the formation of dense and tasty inflorescences varies from 16 to 24 degrees. If the summer is cold, the development of the heads is greatly inhibited. Heat also has a bad effect on the quality of cabbage; it quickly fades into color, forming small and falling apart defective inflorescences that are unsuitable for food.
• This vegetable crop loves moisture very much. Poor watering and drought are the main reasons for the formation of small heads with inflorescences loosely adjacent to each other.
• Experienced summer residents advise shading the ovaries from direct sunlight. But there are bred hybrid varieties that are self-covering. This means that their foliage closes over the inflorescence on its own, without any human effort.
• Artificial reduction of daylight hours is practiced everywhere. This makes it easy to grow strong cabbage.
• Like all other crops, on depleted soils the plant bears fruit poorly, forming heads late. The quality, volume and structure of the ovaries in such cases are also far from perfect.

During cultivation, you should not get carried away with nitrogen fertilizing, which will spoil the crop much faster.

Tips for storing cabbage harvest

To ensure long-term preservation, several important recommendations should be followed:

1. Medium-sized cabbage heads of regular shape are best. They are the ones that need to be selected for the longest possible storage.
2. Before planting, you should carefully inspect each head of cabbage individually; if there are dark spots or signs of rotting, you should discard it.
3. The best place for storage is a dark room with a temperature from 0 to +4 degrees and a humidity of at least 75%. It is also very important that there is normal ventilation in the pantry, otherwise the cabbage will begin to rot over time.
4. It is most convenient to pull out the heads of cabbage by the roots and hang them upside down, so they are stored normally until spring. The second option is to place it on a wooden shelf or in a box so that the individual elements do not touch each other. Another good solution is to wrap each head of cabbage in newspaper.

Important!

It is best to store cabbage separately from other vegetables. The exception is some root vegetables: potatoes, beets and carrots.

If you choose the optimal period for harvesting cabbage according to the lunar calendar, after making sure of its ripeness, and harvesting it in compliance with all recommendations, then it will be stored for a very long time. The main thing is to store only those varieties that are intended for such purposes.

Harvesting rules

To preserve all the beneficial properties of cabbage, when harvesting you need to follow these rules:

• Collect heads only on a sunny day - from lunch to 7 pm. A rainy day is the worst time, as the harvested crop will not be stored and will lose its taste and aroma.
• The cut should be 4–5 cm below the head. It is recommended to grab 5–6 leaves and cut them to the level of the inflorescence.
• Afterwards, immediately transfer the crop under a canopy for 2 hours, then to a dark place. You cannot leave freshly cut heads of cabbage in the sun, as it will become unappetizing and tasteless.

It is better to harvest the crop little by little, inspecting the beds every few days, choosing only the heads that have reached ripeness.

Interestingly, cabbage of early ripening varieties can produce a second harvest. But the plant must be healthy and have powerful leaves. In place of the cut head, young shoots appear from the axillary buds near the root neck of the stalk. It is advisable to leave no more than 2 new shoots, the rest need to be broken off. Abundant watering and timely fertilizing will benefit such plants, and a second harvest can be harvested from them. True, the heads will be small - only 300-350 g.

Signs of cabbage ripeness

While dates of exact ripening are not always a reliable criterion, the characteristic external features of a ripening vegetable can provide more reliable information. It is easier to focus on these signs to find out about the condition of the fetus:

1. The ripeness of a vegetable should be determined by relying on tactile impressions. The cabbage head should be firm. If the vegetable is pliable and easily wrinkles in your hands, it means that it has not yet had time to form;

Before harvesting, you need to feel the cabbage to determine its degree of maturity.

Yellowing of leaves is not always a clear sign of ripening and requires confirmation by other criteria

The influence of frost and growing in the cellar

Since cauliflower is heat-loving, when it gets cold, the growth and development of the central ovary stops, and spare shoots that look like small lateral heads begin to appear. Therefore, if the weather forecast promises cold and frost, it is best to dig up the plants and take them to a basement or greenhouse adapted for storing vegetables until they ripen. This technique is widely practiced by gardeners in the Urals and Siberia, since due to the climatic characteristics of the regions, the heads in the garden simply do not ripen.

Here you need to follow these tips:

• For growing, it is better to select specimens that have managed to form inflorescences. They can be small, about 5 cm in diameter, but well leafy (you need to count at least 20 leaves) and healthy. If there is obvious damage from pests, it is better not to take such plants.
• A couple of days before transplanting, you need to water the beds more abundantly.
• The cabbage must be dug up straight with the roots along with a lump of soil and planted deep in boxes with soil and sand. The main thing is that the substrate is moist. Sprinkle with soil almost up to the leaves.
• Recommended temperature is from 1 to 10 degrees Celsius. Humidity should be high - 90-95%, otherwise the heads will dry out.
• The basement needs to be regularly ventilated so that the cabbage “breathes” fresh air.
• One of the main conditions is the complete absence of light. Therefore, plants need to be shaded with shields, paper or other materials.

If such conditions are provided, the heads will continue to grow due to the nutrients present in the green foliage. The higher the air temperature, the faster the cabbage will grow. For comparison, at 15 degrees Celsius the head will ripen in 3 weeks, at 5 degrees in 2 months. But the faster cabbage ripens, the looser its inflorescences become. In this simple way, you can adjust the ripening period according to your needs. But such cabbage, of course, will not reach the same weight and diameter as from the garden. But on New Year’s Day you can get a decent harvest in your basement or well-insulated greenhouse. In any case, the weight of the heads increases 3–4 times compared to the original.

This method also makes it possible to store cabbage longer. In boxes with substrate at a temperature of 0 to 5 degrees Celsius, it remains fresh for 12–15 weeks.

How to properly harvest cabbage for winter storage?

When to harvest cabbage depends on the timing, variety and ripeness of the vegetable. It is also necessary to decide on the method of harvesting, especially if it is intended for winter storage. Harvesting cabbage for the winter can be divided into stages:

• Preparation of inventory and storage space . Here you need to choose a convenient shovel or fork and a large garden knife or ax for trimming roots and excess leaves. Cabbage is usually stored in basements, in places where a constant low temperature of 0 °C to +5 °C is easily achieved and maintained. The room is pre-treated to remove parasites and germs. Most often, the room is whitewashed with lime. It is also worth taking care to protect the fruits from rodents and excess air humidity;
• Collecting heads of cabbage from the garden . On the day of harvest, the cabbage is watered so that after a few hours it can be easily dug up by lifting it with a shovel or pitchfork. If you have to harvest during the rainy season, you should dry the cabbage by laying it in one loose layer under a canopy without access to direct sunlight and moisture for 5-6 hours . Direct sun evaporates a lot of moisture from cabbage leaves, which leads to rapid spoilage;
• Sorting and processing of forks . After being removed from the ground, the cabbage is inspected, excess, blackened leaves are removed, leaving 2-3 green covering leaves. Loose, cracked, heavily damaged by parasites heads of cabbage are not suitable for long-term storage. However, they are edible and can be used for fermentation, thus extending their shelf life. The long cabbage root does not need to be removed. By tying a rope to it, you can hang the cabbages from the basement ceiling, providing a convenient storage option that saves space. It is also permissible to chop off the root, leaving a stalk 3-4 cm long. If cabbage is to be stored in cling film, it is necessary to remove the green leaves, leaving the white ones, and immediately wrap the fruit in film.

cabbage is cut with a knife - in the photo

Ways to preserve the harvest

Cauliflower is a very delicate crop. In a freshly cut state, it can be stored for no longer than 7 weeks, and only if certain requirements are met.

• The most common and effective way to preserve ripened heads is to put them in wooden or plastic containers, and then send them to a room with high humidity (up to 95%) and a temperature of 0–2° C. This way, the cabbage will remain fresh for almost two months.
• If, under the same conditions, you simply hang the cabbage upside down, it will be stored without loss for 3–4 weeks.
• The labor-intensive, but longest-lasting way to store fresh cabbage is to transplant it into boxes with soil located in a dark and cool (+4–10° C) cellar. To do this, pre-watered plants are dug up along with their roots and planted very tightly in a prepared container, covering them with soil right up to the leaves. The main condition for such storage is absolute darkness. Therefore, if there is a light source in the room, the cabbage should be tightly covered with any opaque material. In this state, the crop will not lose freshness for several months (from 1 to 4, depending on the variety), and small specimens will even grow.
• You can save part of the harvest in the freshness zone of the refrigerator if you tightly wrap the inflorescences in cling film, after cutting off the leaves and stumps. If there is no film, use a regular plastic bag and seal it tightly.
• The longest storage of the crop (up to 12 months) is possible in frozen form. To do this, the heads should first be disassembled into separate fragments, thoroughly washed and dried, and then frozen. Some housewives recommend lightly boiling the cabbage with this storage method.

Product Matrix: Cauliflower