Cauliflower can become stunted with it experiences dehydration.

I learned a new tidbit of information about cauliflower this week that had me saying to myself, “Well, that explains a lot.” The issue concerned stunted cauliflower and one of its causes. Dehydration! Who says an old gardener can’t learn new things?

Why Cauliflower Stops Growing

Last week I ran into the owner of a Dutch plant breeding company, PRUDAC, which stands for Production & Research for Urban Decoration and Consumption. One of the driving goals for breeding and research in Europe is toward varieties that are genetically smaller and appropriately sized for small spaces. That goes for both vegetables and flowers. While viewing some of his latest vegetable plant introductions I saw he had bred a small-sized cauliflower aptly named Baby. The head grows to about the size of a baseball, maybe a softball, making it a single-serving head. The leaves stay fairly compact, as well. Most importantly, once it gets to that size, it stops growing. You can plant it in a small space in the garden or use it in a container or mixed veggie container combination and it won’t push anything aside. You could say it plays well with others.

I jokingly said to him that my cauliflower does the same thing in my own garden. It’s true; I’ve never had good luck with cauliflower and just chalked it up to inexperience or insufficient nutrition. “You’re letting it get too dry,” he informed me. He went on to explain that even the slightest wilting in the life of cauliflower—or any brassica crop—can slow and stunt the plant’s growth. Even buying cauliflower transplants from a garden center and leaving them in your car a bit too long maybe while you stop at another store can result in stunted growth. And god forbid if you buy poorly hydrated cauliflower transplants from a store not knowing they’d been allowed to dry down the day before.

This dehydration-caused stunting may explain some shortened red cabbages, slow-growing kale and just plain wacky Brussels sprouts in last year’s garden. And come to think about it, we did leave the vacation water gardening responsibilities up to others who may not have done a great job.