Key Practices For Producing High-quality And High-yield Cauliflower (Brassica Oleracea L. Var. Botrytis L.)

The mid-late cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis L.) cultivars are the major type of cauliflowers in China, which is widely grown in the season of autumn-winter. It is also very popular in Zhejiang province, which covers over 10000 hm2 which is distributed along the seaside region of Zhejiang. It accounts for the major acerage in Ningbo,Taizhou,Wenzhou city , and the minor area in Jinhua, Lishui and Jiaxing Cities. However, researches on growing practices on cauliflower was very scarce in the literature.Therefore we study the various parameters of varieties, sowing-dates, densities and fertilizers on high yield and high quality production of mid-late-maturity cauliflower. Many field tests were used for investigating the characteristics, yield and quality of cauliflowers.The data were collected and analysed by SSR. The main results are as follows:1. Varieties test shows that the"Cheng-gong No.1"(F1 hybrid) which was breeded by Qing-yi vegetable seed multiplication farm, is the best one performed that possess highest yield. Its average yield is 42.45 t.hm~2 , which is the highest among all cultivars tested.It is the first choice for cauliflowers cultivars with mid-late-maturity in Zhejiang.2. Four sowing-dates tests are performed in field conditions using mid-late maturity cauliflower cultivars and the result shows that its proper sowing-date is from the middle until late July in the seaside region in Zhejiang Province.3. Density tests show that vegetative growth differences are less in the early growing period , and either higher or lower densities were unfavourable in the later growing period that leads to severe diseases attack or low yield. It shows that the proper density is 1600 plants per 667 m2 (row spacing for 55 cm multiplied 75-80 cm).4. Fertilizers test shows that blended application of N and K fertilizers on cauliflower could increase both yield and quality in which the content of Vc and sugar is enhanced. Addition of N can increase production amount of 2.3~3.58 t.hm-2, while addition of K can increase 4.6~5.88 t.hm-2 on the average. The beneficial effect of K is much obvious that application of N.