Editing Cauliflower (section)

== Cultivation ==
=== History ===
Cauliflower is the result of [[selective breeding]] and likely arose in the Mediterranean region, possibly from broccoli.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Branca |first1=F. |title=Vegetables I |publisher=Springer |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-387-30443-4 |editor-last1=Prohens |editor-first1=J. |series=Handbook of Plant Breeding |volume=1 |location=New York |chapter=Cauliflower and Broccoli |pages=151–186 |doi=10.1007/978-0-387-30443-4_5 |editor-last2=Nuez |editor-first2=F. |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30443-4_5}}</ref>

[[Pliny the Elder]]  included ''cyma'' among cultivated plants he described in ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'': "''Ex omnibus brassicae generibus suavissima est cyma''"<ref>{{cite book|author=Pliny (the Elder)|editor1-last=Weise|editor1-first=C.H.|title=Historiae Naturalis Libri XX|date=1841|page=249|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrFXAAAAcAAJ|language=la}}</ref> ("Of all the varieties of cabbage the most pleasant-tasted is ''cyma''").<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Rackham|editor1-first=H.|title=Pliny's Natural History|date=1949|chapter-url=http://www.masseiana.org/pliny.htm#BOOK%20XX|access-date=1 July 2015|chapter=XXXV|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101063545/http://www.masseiana.org/pliny.htm#BOOK%20XX|archive-date=1 January 2017}}</ref> Pliny's description likely refers to the flowering heads of an earlier cultivated variety of ''Brassica oleracea''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Crozier|first1=Arthur Alger|title=The Cauliflower|date=1891|publisher=Register Publishing Co.|location=Ann Arbor, Michigan|url=https://archive.org/details/cauliflower00crozgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/cauliflower00crozgoog/page/n21 12]}}</ref>

In the [[Middle Ages]], early forms of cauliflower were associated with the island of [[Cyprus]], with the 12th- and 13th-century Arab botanists [[Ibn al-'Awwam]] and [[Ibn al-Baitar]] claiming its origin to be [[Cyprus]].<ref name=AggieHorticulture>{{cite web|title=Cabbage Flowers for Food|url=http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/publications/vegetabletravelers/broccoli.html|website=Aggie Horticulture|publisher=Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M System|access-date=12 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fenwick|first=G. Roger|author2=Heaney, Robert K.|author3=Mullin, W. John|author4=VanEtten, Cecil H.|title=Glucosinolates and their breakdown products in food and food plants|journal=CRC Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition|date=1982|volume=18| issue=2|pages=123–201|doi=10.1080/10408398209527361|pmid=6337782}}</ref> This association continued into Western Europe, where cauliflowers were sometimes known as Cyprus [[wikt:colewort|colewort]], and there was extensive trade in Western Europe in cauliflower seeds from Cyprus, under the French Lusignan rulers of the island, until well into the 16th century.<ref>Jon Gregerson, ''Good Earth'' (Portland: Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company, 1990) p.41</ref>

It is thought to have been introduced into Italy from Cyprus or the east coast of the Mediterranean around 1490 and then spread to other European countries in the following centuries.<ref name=":0" />

[[François Pierre La Varenne]] employed ''chouxfleurs'' in ''[[Le cuisinier françois]]''.<ref>Wheaton, Barbara Ketcham (1996) ''Savoring the Past: the French kitchen and table from 1300 to 1789'', Touchstone, p. 118, {{ISBN|0-684-81857-4}}.</ref> They were introduced to France from Genoa in the 16th century and are featured in [[Olivier de Serres]]' ''Théâtre de l'agriculture'' (1600), as ''cauli-fiori'' "as the Italians call it, which are still rather rare in France; they hold an honorable place in the garden because of their delicacy",<ref>Wheaton, Barbara Ketcham (1996) ''Savoring the Past: the French kitchen and table from 1300 to 1789'', Touchstone, p. 66, {{ISBN|0-684-81857-4}}.</ref> but they did not commonly appear on grand tables until the time of [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]].<ref>Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne (2009) ''A History of Food'', 2nd ed., John Wiley & Sons, pp. 625f, {{ISBN|1-4443-0514-X}}.</ref> It was introduced to India in 1822 by the British.<ref>{{cite book|title=Vegetable Crops|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-mTUBjSyo_UC&pg=PA209|date=1 January 2007|publisher=New India Publishing|isbn=978-81-89422-41-7|pages=209}}</ref>

=== Horticulture ===
Cauliflower is relatively difficult to grow compared to cabbage, with common problems such as an underdeveloped head and poor curd quality.<ref name="umass">{{cite web |date=14 January 2013 |title=Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Other Brassica Crops |url=https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/cabbage-broccoli-cauliflower-other-brassica-crops |access-date=26 February 2017 |publisher=Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, College of Natural Sciences, University of Massachusetts at Amherst| location = Massachusetts}}</ref>

==== Climate ====
Because the weather is a limiting factor for producing cauliflower, the plant grows best in moderate daytime temperatures {{convert|70–85|°F|°C|order=flip}}, with plentiful sun and moist soil conditions high in organic matter and sandy soils.<ref name=ume/> The earliest maturity possible for cauliflower is 7 to 12 weeks from [[transplanting]].<ref name=umass/> In the northern hemisphere, fall season plantings in July may enable harvesting before autumn frost.<ref name=ume/>

Long periods of sun exposure in hot summer weather may cause cauliflower heads to discolor with a red-purple hue.<ref name=ume/>

==== Seeding and transplanting ====
Transplantable cauliflowers can be produced in containers such as flats, hotbeds, or fields. In soil that is loose, well-drained, and fertile, field seedlings are shallow-planted {{convert|1/2|in|cm|0|order=flip|abbr=on}} and thinned by ample space – about 12 plants per {{convert|1|ft|cm|order=flip|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name=ume/> Ideal growing temperatures are about {{convert|65|°F|°C|order=flip}} when seedlings are 25 to 35 days old.<ref name=ume/> Applications of fertilizer to developing seedlings begin when leaves appear, usually with a starter solution weekly.

Transplanting to the field normally begins in late spring and may continue until mid-summer. Row spacing is about {{convert|15-18|in|cm|order=flip|abbr=on}}.
Rapid vegetative growth after transplanting may benefit from such procedures as avoiding spring frosts, using starter solutions high in [[phosphorus]], irrigating weekly, and applying fertilizer.<ref name=ume/>

==== Disorders, pests, and diseases ====
The most important disorders affecting cauliflower quality are a hollow stem, stunted head growth or buttoning, ricing, [[browning (food process)|browning]], and leaf-tip burn.<ref name=ume/> Among major pests affecting cauliflower are [[aphid]]s, [[root maggot]]s, [[cutworm]]s, [[moth]]s, and [[flea beetle]]s.<ref name=umass/> The plant is susceptible to [[black rot]], [[Blackleg (Brassica)|black leg]], [[club root]], black [[leaf spot]], and [[downy mildew]].<ref name=ume/>

==== Harvesting ====
When cauliflower is mature, heads appear clear white, compact, and {{convert|6-8|in|cm|order=flip|abbr=on}} in diameter, and should be cooled shortly after harvest.<ref name=ume/> Forced air cooling to remove heat from the field during hot weather may be needed for optimal preservation. Short-term storage is possible using cool, high-humidity storage conditions.<ref name=ume/>

==== Pollination ====
Many species of [[Calliphoridae|blowflies]], including ''[[Calliphora vomitoria]]'', are known pollinators of cauliflower.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wolf|first1=Jan M. Van Der|last2=Zouwen|first2=Patricia S. Van Der|date=2010|title=Colonization of Cauliflower Blossom (Brassica oleracea) by Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris, via Flies (Calliphora vomitoria), Can Result in Seed Infestation|journal=Journal of Phytopathology|language=en|volume=158|issue=11–12|pages=726–732|doi=10.1111/j.1439-0434.2010.01690.x|issn=1439-0434}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; width:12em; text-align:center;"
|+ Cauliflower production <br>{{small|2023, millions of tonnes}}
|-
| {{CHN}} || 9.7
|-
| {{IND}} || 9.5
|-
| {{USA}} || 1.1
|-
| {{MEX}} || 0.8
|-
| {{ESP}} || 0.6
|-
| '''World''' || '''26.5'''
|-
|colspan=2|{{small|Source: [[FAOSTAT]] of the [[United Nations]]}}<ref name="fao">{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC|title=Cauliflower (data combined with broccoli) production in 2023, Crops/Regions/World list/Production Quantity/Year (pick lists)|date=2025|publisher=UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT)|access-date=22 April 2025}}</ref>
|}