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Vegetables · Flower head

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.

West coast: Kerala, Goa, Konkan, coastal Karnataka, south Gujarat

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
A harvested cauliflower head with a white curd wrapped in its pale green jacket leaves
Photo: Coyau · CC BY-SA 3.0

At a glance

Cauliflower in the West coast

  • Season

    Cool season crop of the high ranges: nursery from August to November5,6

  • Sowing to last picking

    About 4 to 5 months from nursery sowing; curds are ready 90 to 120 days after planting out.6

    Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  • Nursery

    August to November5,6

  • First harvest

    90 to 120 days after sowing6

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Sow now

The window here is August to November.

Sowing now in:North-east hills and valleys
  • Nursery
  • Transplant
  • Harvest
  • Under cover
  • Today
West coastKerala, Goa, KonkanSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and SpitiSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
West coastAugust to November
Temperate HimalayaApril 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 desertUnder cover: April, under polytheneLate May to early June, once frosts endAugust to September
Sub-tropical foothillsMay 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 plainsMid-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 plainsLast 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 valleysMid-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 westSeptember to mid-OctoberOctober to mid-NovemberDecember to February
Central plateauJuly to early August (early varieties)September to mid-October (mid varieties)August to early November, 4 to 5 weeks after sowingLate October to February
Deccan plateauAugust to mid-OctoberSeptember to mid-NovemberLate November to February
South interiorSeptember to mid-OctoberOctober to mid-NovemberLate December to February
East coastSeptember to mid-OctoberOctober to mid-NovemberLate December to February

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Farmyard manure or compost5,6

    25 t per hectare · Before transplanting

  2. Day 0

    Sow

  3. Day 4 to 7

    Seeds come up3,8,9,1,2Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  4. Day 21 to 42

    Transplant8,3,9,4

  5. Day 90 to 120

    First picking6

    Several pickings, as curds do not all mature together

  6. Day 120 to 150

    Last picking6Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Water every 8 to 10 days, more at curd formation.6

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 West coast, 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 West coast aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering6

Water just after transplanting, then every 8 to 10 days by season and soil. Steady moisture matters both while plants grow and while curds form.

Weeding5,6

Two or three hand weedings and one or two very shallow hoeings keep weeds down and loosen the soil. Earth up the plants a month after transplanting for bigger curds.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Before transplantingFarmyard manure or compost25 t per hectare

Sources5,6

Varieties and yield

Typical range6

12 to 20 tonnes a hectare

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Varieties grown here5,6

  • Pusa Early Synthetic

  • Pusa Deepali

  • Early Patna

  • 74-6-C

  • Pusa Meghna

Good neighbours1,4

Grows well with

Pests and diseases6

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella)

    Signs

    Caterpillars eat the leaf surface, then make holes; bad attacks leave only the veins. Worst in warm weather.

    What to do

    • Grow mustard as a trap crop to draw the moths away from the cauliflower.

  • Disease

    Stalk rot (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum)

    Signs

    Round water-soaked patches turn soft; the fungus spreads into the head and forms large black seed-like bodies.

    Prevention

    • Do not plant cole crops in fields with white mould.
    • Avoid knocking or cutting the heads at harvest.

  • Disease

    Black rot (Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris)

    Signs

    Tissue turns pale yellow-green, then brown; veins blacken and heads stay small.

    What to do

    • Pull out and destroy affected plants.

    Prevention

    • Do not grow crucifers on the same land year after year.
    • Use black rot tolerant varieties.
    • Plant on raised beds for drainage.

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 picking6

Do not grow crucifers in the same field year after year.

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.

  1. 1Package 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
  2. 10Cauliflower: intercultural operations (weed control, earthing up, blanching)National Horticulture Board, Government of IndiaRead the source
  3. 11Kashi 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
  4. 3Production 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
  5. 4Cauliflower (Horticulture: vegetables), TNAU Agritech PortalTamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
  6. 5Package of Practices Recommendations: Crops 2011, Vegetables (Cauliflower)Kerala Agricultural UniversityRead the source
  7. 6Cauliflower (Crops, Vegetables), Centre for e-LearningKerala Agricultural University, Centre for e-LearningRead the source
  8. 7Cauliflower: soil and climateNational Horticulture Board, Government of IndiaRead the source
  9. 8Cauliflower: propagation (nursery bed, season of planting, raising of seedlings)National Horticulture Board, Government of IndiaRead the source
  10. 9Cauliflower: planting (land preparation, spacing, method of planting)National Horticulture Board, Government of IndiaRead the source

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