Paano Magtanim ng Cauliflower: How to Plant Cauliflower the Traditional Way
Paano magtanim ng cauliflower? Here is how traditional Filipino farmers usually plant koliplor (cauliflower), step by step from getting the field ready to the harvest, with the day of each step and what to change for a higher yield.
This guide shows how traditional farmers usually plant koliplor. Use it as a starting point. For a higher yield, update it: plant certified seed or clean planting material, test your soil, and follow the right spacing and fertilizer.
How Filipino farmers usually grow koliplor from seedlings on beds or furrows, with the outer leaves tied over the head to keep it white, up to the harvest about two months after transplanting. For highland growers and lowland farmers planting it in the cool months.
Before you plant, get the field ready with our land preparation guide for vegetables. Then choose your seed or planting material with the koliplor varieties sold here. If the leaves turn pale later on, the koliplor nutrient deficiency guide helps you find what is missing. For more on the crop, read pagtatanim ng gulay, vegetables in the Philippines.
When to plant koliplor
Cauliflower grows best in cool places. In mid and high elevations such as Benguet, the Ilocos Sur uplands and Bukidnon it is grown through the year. In the lowlands it is planted only in the coolest months, roughly November to February, using varieties that take some heat.
What you plant
Seed, about 280 g a hectare, raised in a seedbed of about 50 to 70 square meters for each hectare. Seedlings are transplanted about four weeks after sowing, after a week of hardening.
Paano magtanim ng cauliflower, step by step
The crop is ready about 60 days after transplanting.
Before planting (Bago magtanim)
14 days before transplanting: Plow and harrow well
Plow and harrow several times until the soil is fine.
2 days before transplanting: Make beds or furrows with manure
Use beds 75 cm to 1 m wide in the highlands or deep furrows about 50 cm wide in lower areas. Mix in rotted chicken manure and carbonized rice hull.
The nursery (Punlaan)
28 days before transplanting: Sow the seedbed
Make a seedbed 1 m wide and work in manure plus some ash from rice hull or wood. Sow thinly in lines 7 to 10 cm apart across the bed, mulch with rice hull and water regularly. Tip: Sow thin. Crowded, overwatered seedbeds bring damping off.
- Size the seedbedFor one hectare, a seedbed about 1 m wide and long enough to make 50 to 70 square meters raises the seedlings, from about 280 grams of seed.
- Work in manure and ashMix rotted manure and some rice hull ash or wood ash into the bed and rake it fine and level.
- Sow thinly in cross linesDraw shallow lines across the bed about 7 to 10 cm apart and sow thinly along them. Crowded seedlings stay damp at the base and fall over from damping off.
- Mulch, water and coverSpread rice hull or grass clippings lightly over the lines and water regularly. A tunnel of nylon net over the bed shades the seedlings and breaks the force of heavy rain.
- Ready in about four weeksabout 4 weeksTake the net off for the last week so the seedlings toughen in full sun. They are ready to transplant about four weeks from sowing.
7 days before transplanting: Harden the seedlings
Remove the shade or net cover so the seedlings get full sun for their last week.
Planting day (Pagtatanim)
Transplanting day: Fertilize the holes and transplant
Make holes 30 to 50 cm apart in rows 50 to 75 cm apart. Wet them, add a little 14 14 14, cover lightly, then plant one seedling a hole and water.
- Water the seedbed firstWater the seedbed well before lifting, and pull the seedlings out gently so most roots come up with soil on them.
- Water the holes before and afterIn dry weather, wet the field before planting, set one seedling a hole and water again right after, so the roots sit in moist soil from the start.
- Plant in the cool hoursMove and plant the seedlings in the late afternoon or on a cloudy day, and keep the lifted seedlings shaded until each one is in the ground.
Day 1: Mulch and plant helpers
Cover the bed with straw, rice hull or plastic sheet. Onion, garlic, kutsay or marigold along the rows helps keep insects down.
Care while it grows (Pag aalaga)
Day 7: Water steadily
In dry weather water by furrow every 7 to 10 days or by sprinkler two to three times a week. Cauliflower that dries out forms small, early heads.
Day 14: Scout for worms and rot
Look for diamondback moth larvae, loopers, webworms and aphids, and for black veined yellow patches or soft rot. Remove and bury rotting plants.
Day 18: Weed, then side dress
Weed first, then side dress with a little urea, or urea mixed with muriate of potash, two to three weeks after transplanting.
Day 45: Tie the leaves over the curd
When the white head is about the size of an egg, gather the big outer leaves over it and tie them loosely, on a dry day, so the head stays white.
Day 55: Keep cool and covered
Harvest in the early morning, keep the leaves around the head to protect it, and store in the shade.
Harvest (Anihan)
Day 55: Cut the firm white heads
About a week or so after tying, when the head is firm, white and still tight, cut it with part of the stem and some leaves. Most heads are ready about two months after transplanting.
Watering koliplor, stage by stage
Cauliflower is watered before and right after transplanting, then about every 7 to 10 days by furrow or two to three times a week by sprinkler in dry weather. Growers say steady moisture is the key, and mulch the beds to hold it. Furrows in the lowlands and sprinklers or hoses fed from springs in the highlands. Small growers use a watering can. Water in the morning, at the base once the leaves are tied.
The first week after transplanting. Leaf growth and curd forming: any dry spell gives small, early heads.
| Stage | When | How often | How much |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seedbed | 28 to 7 days before transplanting | Water regularly under the rice hull mulch, lightly in the morning | Damp, never soggy |
| Hardening | 7 days before transplanting to transplanting day | Water less often while the seedlings get more sun. Water the bed before lifting them | Light waterings |
| Transplanting and settling | 1 day before transplanting to day 7 | Irrigate before transplanting, wet each hole, and water each seedling right after setting it | Soak the hole and the soil around the roots |
| Leaf growth | Day 7 to 40 | Furrow water every 7 to 10 days or sprinkle two to three times a week in dry weather. Water after the side dressing | Wet the bed to the roots, then drain |
| Curd forming and tying | Day 40 to 55 | Keep the same steady schedule. Tie the leaves over the curd on a dry day | Even waterings at the base, keeping water off the tied heads |
Without irrigation. Highland rainy season plantings live largely on the rain, on beds that drain. In the lowlands cauliflower is grown only in the coolest months near water, with mulch on the beds and water by furrow or can.
In the dry season. Furrow water every 7 to 10 days or sprinkle two to three times a week, more often on light soil. Water when the leaves stay limp into the late afternoon or the soil a few cm down is dry.
In the rainy season. Use raised beds or ridges that drain and skip watering in rainy weeks. Soaked soil rots the stems, and wet weather under the tied leaves rots the curd.
- Too little water: Leaves droop and stay small, and the plant forms a small, loose head early.
- Too much water: Lower leaves yellow, the stem base rots, and the curd turns brown and soft in spots.
To water better for a higher yield: Mulch the beds with plastic, rice hull or straw to keep moisture steady and water less often. Never let the young plants dry out. That one habit prevents most small, early heads.
Spacing, water and fertilizer for koliplor
Spacing
Rows 50 to 75 cm apart with plants 30 to 50 cm apart, or double rows on beds 75 cm to 1 m wide. One seedling a hole.
Water
Watered before and right after transplanting, then about every 7 to 10 days by furrow or two to three times a week by sprinkler in dry weather. Steady moisture is key. Mulch helps.
Fertilizer
Rotted chicken manure and carbonized rice hull in the beds, a little 14 14 14 in each hole at transplanting, then a side dressing of urea, often mixed with potash, two to three weeks later. Many growers also use manure tea or fermented plant juice. To read what a bag really gives, see our guide to fertilizer for this crop.
Care and harvest
Care while it grows
Seedlings raised under a net tunnel, mulched beds, weeding before side dressing, companion rows of onion family crops or marigold, scouting for diamondback moth, and tying the outer leaves over the young head.
When and how to harvest
Heads are cut when firm, white and tight, mostly about two months after transplanting and about a week or so after the leaves are tied. Growers cut early in the morning with some stem and leaves, and keep the heads cool and shaded.
Common mistakes when planting koliplor
- Planting in the warm lowland months, so the heads come out small, loose or yellowish.
- Not tying the leaves, so sun turns the head yellow.
- Letting the plants dry out, which makes them head too early and too small.
- Fertilizing over weeds instead of weeding first.
- Leaving the heads too long, until they open and turn grainy.
How to get a higher yield of koliplor
The traditional way gets a crop, but small changes add up. These are the first things to change, one season at a time.
- Choose a variety for your elevation and season, with heat tolerance for the lowlands.
- Test the soil and feed by the result, with enough boron and lime on sour soils.
- Raise clean seedlings under a net tunnel and harden them before transplanting.
- Keep the moisture even with mulch and steady watering.
- Rotate with crops outside the cabbage family and scout twice a week.
- Tie the leaves on time and harvest firm heads in the cool morning.
anee.io helps with each of these. The NPK Plus calculator checks that your fertilizer plan feeds the yield you want, the pest and disease finders tell you what is on the leaves before you spray, and Anee, the smart farm technician answers your questions in Tagalog or English.
Members open this guide in the How to Plant tool and send every step to the Protocol Builder in one tap, each on its own day. There you can change the seed, the spacing and the fertilizer, then turn it into a cropping calendar for your lots.
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Start freeQuestions about planting koliplor
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