Growing cauliflower
Brassica oleracea var. botrytis · also called Phool gobhiA cool season cole crop grown for its white curd. Varieties fall into early, mid and late groups, and each group needs its own sowing time.
Deccan plateau: interior Maharashtra, Telangana, north Karnataka
At a glance
Cauliflower in the Deccan plateau
Cool season crop: nursery from August to October, curds from November to February
No published guide covers this for the Deccan plateau, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.About 3 to 5 months from nursery sowing to harvest.
No published guide covers this for the Deccan plateau, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.August to mid-October
No published guide covers this for the Deccan plateau, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Across India
When to sow it
Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.
Too late this season
The window here was August to mid-October. The next one opens in August.
- Nursery
- Transplant
- Harvest
- Under cover
- Today
Compare all 12 regionsShow fewer regions
See the dates as a table
| Region | Sow | Nursery | Transplant | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deccan plateau | August to mid-October | September to mid-November | Late November to February | |
| Temperate Himalaya | April to May (early varieties, mid hills)July to August (mid-season varieties, mid hills)September (late varieties, mid hills)April to May (late Snowball varieties, high hills) | |||
| Cold desert | Under cover: April, under polythene | Late May to early June, once frosts end | August to September | |
| Sub-tropical foothills | May to June (early varieties)August (mid-season varieties)September to October (late varieties)May (intermediate low zone, first crop)August to September (intermediate low zone, second crop) | October to early November (late variety Kt-25) | End of January to end of March (late variety Kt-25) | |
| North-west plains | Mid-May to mid-June (early groups)Late July to late August (mid groups)Late September to mid-October (late Snowball group) | June to July (early varieties)August to mid-September (main season varieties)October to the first week of November (late varieties) | ||
| Gangetic plains | Last week of July to the second week of August (early variety Kashi Gobhi-25)Late July to late August (mid groups)Late September to mid-October (late Snowball group) | Last week of August to the second week of September (25 to 30 day old seedlings) | Last week of October to mid-November (Varanasi) | |
| North-east hills and valleys | Mid-July to the first week of August (early)First week of September to the last week of October (mid)Up to the first week of November (late)Last week of August (early, North Bank Plain Zone)First week of November (late mid, North Bank Plain Zone)Last week of November (late, North Bank Plain Zone) | October (early crop)December to January (mid crop)February to March (late crop) | ||
| Arid west | September to mid-October | October to mid-November | December to February | |
| Central plateau | July to early August (early varieties)September to mid-October (mid varieties) | August to early November, 4 to 5 weeks after sowing | Late October to February | |
| South interior | September to mid-October | October to mid-November | Late December to February | |
| West coast | August to November | |||
| East coast | September to mid-October | October to mid-November | Late December to February |
From seed to harvest
One season, day by day
Days from sowing
Before sowing
Field preparation
Well rotted farmyard manure or compost
20 to 25 tonnes per hectare
Mix into the soil while preparing the land.
About a month after transplanting
Vermicompost
about 100 to 150 g per plant
Place around the plants before earthing up.
No published guide covers this for the Deccan plateau, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Day 0
Sow
Day 100 to 140
Last picking
No published guide covers this for the Deccan plateau, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Before sowing
Well rotted farmyard manure or compost
20 to 25 tonnes per hectare · Mix into the soil while preparing the land. · Field preparation
VermicompostNo published guide covers this for the Deccan plateau, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
about 100 to 150 g per plant · Place around the plants before earthing up. · About a month after transplanting
Day 0
Sow
Day 4 to 7
Seeds come up3,8,9,1,2Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.
Day 21 to 42
Day 100 to 140
Last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Deccan plateau, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Water every 6 to 9 days, more at curd formation.No published guide covers this for the Deccan plateau, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
What it needs
Soil, sun and warmth
Soil pH1,2,3,7
6 to 7
Grows on soils from sandy loam to clay if they are fertile and rich in organic matter. Light, well drained soils suit the early crop; loams to clay loams hold moisture for the mid and late crops and give higher yields.
SunlightNo published guide covers this for the Deccan plateau, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
At least 6 hours a day
Full sun in an open field. Curds of open types turn yellow in direct sun, so their own leaves are folded over them.
Temperature3,7,2
Grows best at 15 to 21 °C
Takes light frost.
Monthly temperatures for the Deccan plateau aren't in the library yet.
Water and feeding
WateringNo published guide covers this for the Deccan plateau, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Water right after transplanting, then every 6 to 9 days by soil and weather. Keep the soil evenly moist while the curds form; a dry spell then gives small, hard curds.
WeedingNo published guide covers this for the Deccan plateau, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Hoe shallowly two or three times in the first five weeks, since the roots are near the surface, and earth up the plants about a month after transplanting.
| When | What | How much | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Field preparation | Well rotted farmyard manure or compost | 20 to 25 tonnes per hectare | Mix into the soil while preparing the land. |
| About a month after transplanting | Vermicompost | about 100 to 150 g per plant | Place around the plants before earthing up. |
Varieties and yield
15 to 20 tonnes a hectare
Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.
Pests and diseasesNo published guide covers this for the Deccan plateau, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Organic and cultural controls only.
Diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella)
Signs
Small green caterpillars make windows and holes in the leaves.
What to do
- Spray neem seed kernel extract 5%.
- Pick off caterpillars in small plots.
Prevention
- Grow a row of mustard every 20 to 25 rows as a trap crop.
Aphids
Signs
Grey waxy colonies under the leaves; leaves curl and the curd gets sticky.
What to do
- Wash colonies off with a strong jet of water.
- Spray neem seed kernel extract 5%.
Prevention
- Let ladybird beetles and hoverflies build up.
Cutworm
Signs
Young plants cut at the base overnight.
What to do
- Search the soil around cut plants in the morning and destroy the caterpillars.
Prevention
- Plough the field before planting.
Black rot
Signs
Yellow V-shaped patches at the leaf edges and blackened veins.
What to do
- Pull out and destroy badly affected plants.
Prevention
- Use seed from healthy crops, treated in hot water at 50 °C for 30 minutes.
- Rotate away from cole crops for two years.
Damping off
Signs
Seedlings collapse at the soil line in the nursery.
Prevention
- Use raised, well drained nursery beds and sow thinly.
- Do not overwater the nursery.
Seed and the season's end
Saving seed1,2Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.
Seed of early and main season varieties can be grown in the plains; seed of late (Snowball) varieties only in the hills, where flowering gets mild weather. Keep 1,600 m between cauliflower varieties and other cole crops, keep at least 100 true-to-type healthy plants, and pull out off-types three times: in leaf, at curd formation and at flowering. Bees and other pollinators must be about at flowering.
When the seed is ready
Pods turn brown.
Cleaning the seed
Cut the branches in two or three pickings as the pods brown. Stack them, turn them upside down and let them dry for 4 to 5 days more, then thresh and clean.
Dry the seed well in shade and keep it in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
After the last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Deccan plateau, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Pull out the stumps after the last cut. Compost healthy leaves and destroy diseased ones. Follow with a crop outside the cabbage family.
Destroy diseased plant remains after harvest.
Rotation
Do not follow cauliflower with another cole crop: rotate with non-cruciferous crops for at least two years, and keep crucifers out for three years where club root has appeared. A cauliflower and paddy rotation helps keep stalk rot down.
Sources
Where this comes from
Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.
These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.
- Package of Practices for Vegetable Crops 2020 (Cauliflower; insect-pest and disease management in cole crops)Directorate of Extension, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of JammuRead the source
- Cauliflower: intercultural operations (weed control, earthing up, blanching)National Horticulture Board, Government of IndiaRead the source
- Kashi Gobhi-25: an early cauliflower variety for North Indian plain (Indian Horticulture, May to June 2023)ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi (Singh, Bhuvaneswari, Karmakar, Singh and Singh), published by ICARRead the source
- Production Technology of Vegetables and Flowers (VSF-231), Part I: Vegetable production (Cauliflower)CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (College of Agriculture course notes)Read the source
- Cauliflower (Horticulture: vegetables), TNAU Agritech PortalTamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
- Cauliflower: soil and climateNational Horticulture Board, Government of IndiaRead the source
- Cauliflower: propagation (nursery bed, season of planting, raising of seedlings)National Horticulture Board, Government of IndiaRead the source
- Cauliflower: planting (land preparation, spacing, method of planting)National Horticulture Board, Government of IndiaRead the source
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