Last year, I grew cauliflower for the first time. I thought it would be a good harvest – it didn't work out: small heads grew, and many plants had undeveloped apical growth points, and for some reason, the leaves became blistered. What were my mistakes?
Cabbage grows 'headless' if there is a deficiency of molybdenum in acidic and peat soils. Therefore, lime is necessarily added to the soil before planting seedlings, and the seeds are dusted with ammonium molybdate. Cauliflower can be small when agricultural practices are not followed: insufficient watering, incorrect planting, poor or overly loose soil, and a lack of boron in it (the head becomes bitter, turns brown, and deforms).
For prevention, boron is added to the soil – 1.5-2 g per 1 m², mixed with sand. It reacts poorly to fertilizers containing chlorine. Young plants suffer from a lack of phosphorus, and when there is an excess of nitrogen and potassium, the apical growth points die. The leaves become blistered.
