Cauliflower · Reading, England, United Kingdom
When to plant cauliflowers in Reading
Main outdoor window
3-24 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
17 April
In Reading, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
7 Jun - 7 Jul
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Reading
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Start indoors
27 Feb - 20 Mar
Seven weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow for autumn
6-27 Jul
Counting back 109 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Plant out
3-24 Apr
Two weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
7 Jun - 7 Jul
Cauliflowers through the year
Against the frost risk in Reading
Why these dates
Steady moisture and steady temperature matter more than the exact sowing week. Autumn maturity is easier to achieve than spring in most climates.
Tolerates light frost but the curd itself is damaged below about -3C. Fold leaves over developing heads when frost threatens.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Cauliflowers are timed from 7 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Reading.
The median frost-free season here is 210 days, against 65 to 95 days to maturity for this crop counted from planting out. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Reading
Other vegetables to time
Growing cauliflowers in Reading
When should I plant cauliflowers in Reading?
Aim for 3-24 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 22 Apr - 13 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will cauliflowers be ready to harvest in Reading?
Expect to start picking around 7 Jun - 7 Jul, based on 65 to 95 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will cauliflowers tolerate?
Tolerates light frost but the curd itself is damaged below about -3C. Fold leaves over developing heads when frost threatens.