Planting guide

When to plant cauliflower

A fussier brassica that rewards steady water and cool weather. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Apr.

Start as: Seedling or Seed started indoors
Ready in: 10–17 wks
Spacing: 50 cm
Depth: 1 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Plenty
Effort: Hands-on
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means cauliflower can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Perth	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Canberra	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Central Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Geelong	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Hobart	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Townsville	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mandurah	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Launceston	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mackay	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bunbury	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mildura	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wellington	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
London	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Chicago	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Toronto	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mumbai	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Paris	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant cauliflower

Sow seed indoors or buy healthy seedlings.
Plant firm in rich, limed soil.
Water evenly; stress makes small heads.
Tie leaves over the curd to keep it white.

Cauliflower varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Snowball Classicheirloom · 11–16 wksCompact white heads on a dependable plant
Purple Sicily Adventurouscolourful · heirloom · 13–17 wksDeep purple heads that cook to green
Green Macerata Adventurouscolourful · heirloom · 13–17 wksLime-green heads that are sweet and mild
Graffiti Adventurouscolourful · 11–16 wksViolet heads with great flavour
Orange Adventurouscolourful · 11–16 wksOrange heads loaded with beta-carotene
Mini Classicpot-friendly · fast · 10–13 wksBaby-size heads for small gardens

Where to buy seeds

Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on The Diggers Club Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Onion, Dill, Beet

Cauliflower by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Cabbage · Broccoli · Brussels Sprouts · Kohlrabi · Wombok · Broccolini

Not sure cauliflower is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now