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.
Temperate Himalaya: Kashmir valley, Shimla, Kullu, Uttarakhand hills
At a glance
Cauliflower in the Temperate Himalaya
Summer and autumn crop in the hills: nursery from April to September, by height and maturity group3,1
About 3.5 to 5 months from nursery sowing to harvest; late Snowball types take longest.
No published guide covers this for the Temperate Himalaya, 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 September (late varieties, mid hills). The next one opens in April.
- Nursery
- Transplant
- Harvest
- Under cover
- Today
Compare all 12 regionsShow fewer regions
See the dates as a table
| Region | Sow | Nursery | Transplant | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
| Deccan plateau | August to mid-October | September to mid-November | Late November 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
Farmyard manure
200 to 250 q per hectare
Mix it in well while preparing the field.
Day 0
Sow
Day 100 to 150
Last picking
No published guide covers this for the Temperate Himalaya, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Before sowing
Farmyard manure3
200 to 250 q per hectare · Mix it in well while preparing the field. · Field preparation
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 150
Last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Temperate Himalaya, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Give a light watering straight after transplanting, then keep the soil evenly moist through growth and curd development. Both too much and too little water harm the crop.3
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 Temperate Himalaya, 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 Temperate Himalaya aren't in the library yet.
Water and feeding
Watering3
Give a light watering straight after transplanting, then keep the soil evenly moist through growth and curd development. Both too much and too little water harm the crop.
Weeding3
Hoe shallowly and often, since the roots are near the surface. Weeds hurt most between 30 and 50 days after transplanting. Earth up 4 to 5 weeks after transplanting, more so in the rains when showers bare the roots.
| When | What | How much | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Field preparation | Farmyard manure | 200 to 250 q per hectare | Mix it in well while preparing the field. |
Varieties and yield
150 to 225 quintals a hectare
Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.
Early Kunwari
Early group, suggested for Himachal Pradesh.
Pusa Deepali
Early group, suggested for Himachal Pradesh.
Improved Japanese
Mid group, suggested for Himachal Pradesh.
Pusa Snowball K-1
Late group, suggested for Himachal Pradesh.
Pusa Snowball-1
Late group, suggested for Himachal Pradesh.
Palam Uphar
Late group, suggested for Himachal Pradesh.
Pusa Him Jyoti
For April to July sowing in hills above 1,000 m. Self-blanching white curds of 500 to 600 g, ready 60 to 65 days after planting (SKUAST-Jammu).
Pests and diseases1
Organic and cultural controls only.
Cutworm (Agrotis species)
Signs
Caterpillars cut young plants at the base.
Prevention
- Plough the field deep before planting.
Cabbage butterfly (Pieris brassicae)
Signs
Caterpillars eat the leaves.
What to do
- Release Trichogramma chilonis, 20,000 adults an acre per release, six times at weekly intervals from mid-January.
- Spray Bacillus thuringiensis, 200 g an acre (2 g a litre of water) with a sticker. Do not spray close to harvest.
Prevention
- Plant a border row of mustard and coriander: their flowers draw in Cotesia wasps, which parasitise the caterpillars.
White grubs (Melolontha species)
Signs
Grubs in the soil feed on the roots.
Prevention
- Plough the field deep before planting.
Tobacco caterpillar (Spodoptera litura)
Signs
Caterpillars feed on the leaves.
What to do
- Put up 5 to 6 pheromone traps an acre to catch the moths.
- Spray Spodoptera NPV in the evening.
Black rot (Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris)
Signs
Yellow V-shaped patches at the leaf edges turn dark brown, and the veins go black or brown. Bad attacks spoil the curd.
What to do
- Destroy diseased plant remains after harvest.
Prevention
- Take seed from healthy plants, from fields where the disease has not been seen.
- Soak seed in tap water for 30 minutes, then in hot water at 50 °C for 30 minutes, and dry it in shade before sowing.
Damping off (Pythium, Phytophthora, Rhizoctonia)
Signs
Seedlings die before or soon after they come up.
Prevention
- Use healthy seed.
- Transplant only healthy seedlings.
Downy mildew (Peronospora parasitica)
Signs
Round, water-soaked spots under the leaves; it can also rot the curd, which turns brown with black marks at the base of the curd stalk.
Stalk rot (Sclerotinia and others)
Signs
Leaves droop and the stalk rots hollow from inside, filled with black bodies. Curds that form get a white rot.
What to do
- Pull out and destroy diseased plants.
Prevention
- Follow a cauliflower and paddy rotation.
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 Temperate Himalaya, 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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