Sweet Sprouting Cauliflower

[shoshannah]

www.producebusinessuk.com/purchasing/stories/2016/08/25/versatile-sweet-sprouting-cauliflower-gets-its-day-in-the-sun

It's a broccoli hybrid, claims to be sweeter than cauliflower.  

Any ideas on who the parents might be? 

Cauliflower rapini are very sweet with white stems.

(broccol x gailan) has white flowers and is tender and sweet but the rapini buds are green.

White sprouting broc is said to be sweet and tender (lack of chlorophyll).

There are several kinds of white sprouting broccoli, perhaps crossed with gailan would work.

I still want to try a white sprouting broc with cauliflower to get delicious rapini and a sprouting trait.

[richardw]

Have to let us know what you think.

[shoshannah]

Hopefully next season, I can grow out some white sprouting broc and cauliflower.  Too late to try seeding now.  I'll try with the sprouting

broc green and purple and cauliflower I now have planted and see what overwinters and flowers this coming spring.  I've had so many slugs

and cabbage worm damage the later plantings from July really look bad.  Their small size when the rains came in Sept seem tastier to the

worms and slugs.  June seedlings were ok, though they were on the table in pots and the slugs weren't able to get to them.  Next year will

try to get a bit more growth and then transplant rather than direct seed in July.  Slugs and bugs are not bothering the later Aug-Sept seedlings

as bad.  Been finding some slug eggs now so will remove as many as I can now and hope will have less slugs next year. 

[shoshannah]

More research is leading me to believe this is a type of broccoflower hybrid.

cals.arizona.edu/fps/sites/cals.arizona.edu.fps/files/cotw/Broccoflower.pdf

"if left growing the plant will actually turn white like the commonly known cauliflower."

"the flavor is milder and sweeter than white cauliflower"

"less crisp and dense than white cauliflower"

Above characteristics are applied to sweet sprouting cauliflower.

www.eurofresh-distribution.com/news/fioretto%E2%84%A2-sweet-cauliflower-stick-tokita-seed

65 80 100 day versions to bolting elongation pre-flower stage.  So annual not biennial.

www.dominion-seed-house.com/en/10734-hyb-fioretto-60.html

Pretty spendy, $19.00 with shipping for a small amount of seed.

[shoshannah]

Looking at pictures of cauliflower going to seed looks just like the pictures of sweet sprouting cauliflower. 

melsmelange.blogspot.com/2012/10/goneto-seed.html pic of cauli gone to seed

My cauliflowers last year failed to head but it did start to make very tasty sprouts.  I just needed to allow it

to elongate further to have more stem.  Perhaps the frosts help to make these stems sweeter.

One can have sweet cauliflower sprouts in all the colors, yum,yum.

Right now my only cauli forming a head is a Violet of Sicily, about 1 1/2 inches so far.  No sign of frost

in the forecast, so maybe into December for 1st frost.  Not likely to have other plants flowering so I want to

harvest the sprouts.

[reed]

I'v yet to have a cauliflower go to seed. They tend to just rot without ever growing into stalks. In hopes some small late planted ones will live and bloom next year, they recover as the day warms but I notice they droop more from the morning freezes. Must not be as tuff as the cabbage, broccoli and sprouts. Sure would like to get their pollen mixed in to my landrace. I can select the less hardy back out later.

I bet the stems and seed pods are yummy.

[shoshannah]

The cauliflower I planted last year was a snowball variety.  It overwintered with my lowest temp. at 20 degrees F.

Our daytime winter temps can be in the 40s to 50s.  Not often we have below freezing during the day.

Wish I'd known more about sprouts and edible seed pods last season.  Now I'm all hyped up for all sorts of experimenting.