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Broccoli and cauliflower are both cool-season vegetables and sometimes Southern California can be too warm for them to grow successfully. (Getty Images)

Q: Every year I’ve tried to grow broccoli and cauliflower, and they never do well. The broccoli flowers too quickly, and the cauliflower is small and discolored. How can I successfully grow these in California?

A: Broccoli and cauliflower are both cool-season vegetables, but our weather is not cool enough for long enough.

If you purchased and planted them in the late summer or early fall, they probably got a few days of hot weather (high 80s or mid 90s). This would be enough, in many cases, to induce flowering in broccoli. To avoid this problem, don’t plant broccoli starts until late November or mid-December.

Even when we’ve planted our broccoli late (more due to procrastination than good planning), we’ve never gotten a nice, big head from any of our plants. Usually we’ll get a small main head that is 3-4 inches across, then maybe a dozen little side shoots. We’ve had better luck growing sprouting broccoli, which produces an even smaller main head but many smaller side shoots. Remember that the stems and leaves are edible and quite flavorful, so you can get more use from the plant even when it stops producing florets.

Cauliflower is especially sensitive to fluctuations in soil moisture. Make sure your irrigation is working properly, and mulch generously. Exposure to sunlight will cause the cauliflower to discolor, so it needs to stay in the shade as it’s growing. Once the head begins to develop, gather up the leaves and tie them with a rubber band so that they cover and protect the baby cauliflower.

Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts and other cole crops all seem to be bothered by the same pests. Cabbage loopers will leave random holes on the leaves and may completely defoliate tender young plants. Look for 1-2-inch-long green worms on the undersides of leaves. Regular application of Bacillus thuringiensis (often labelled as Caterpillar Killer) is effective.

Aphids often are the worst pests. Our weather gets cool in the winter, but hardly ever cold enough to kill off the aphids. Spraying them off with a strong jet of water is immediately satisfying and effective. Application of insecticidal soap is helpful as well. (Only use soap that is specially made for plants — please don’t make your own with dishwashing liquid!)

In spite of our best efforts, we always end up with a lot of aphids in our broccoli, probably because there’s just too many nooks and crannies for them to hide. We’ve tried rinsing them off in a sink full of cold water, but always ended up with what we called “Fear Factor Broccoli.” Eventually we learned that soaking the cut-up broccoli in salted water for about 10 minutes before rinsing in cold water is reasonably effective.


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