Problems with cauliflower
Identify what's wrong by where it appears and what you can see.
Where is the problem?
Start by selecting the part of the plant where you see the problem.
Start with the symptom
Or pick from the symptoms most often seen on cauliflower.
Common problems with cauliflower
The problems recorded on cauliflower, the most common first.
17 problems
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Cabbage root fly
Young brassicas wilt and die; white maggots are eating the roots. -
Caterpillars
Holes chewed in leaves, often down to the veins, with green droppings below. -
Clubroot
Brassicas wilt on warm days and stay small; roots are swollen into knobbly clubs. -
Aphids
Small, soft insects clustered on new growth and under leaves, leaving sticky honeydew. -
Slugs and snails
Ragged holes in leaves and seedlings gone overnight, with silvery slime trails. -
Birds
Torn, stripped brassica leaves, pecked fruit, and seeds or seedlings pulled from the soil. -
Bolting (running to seed)
A tall flower stalk from the centre of a leafy crop. The leaves turn bitter and tough. -
Cold and frost damage
Blackened, glassy shoots after a cold night. Tender plants collapse; hardy ones grow out of it. -
Damping off
Seedlings collapse at soil level with a thin, dark, pinched stem. -
Downy mildew
Yellow, angular patches on top of leaves with grey-purple fuzz underneath. -
Flea beetles
Lots of tiny round holes in young leaves, and small beetles that jump when disturbed. -
Fungal leaf spots
Round brown or grey spots with darker rims on leaves, spreading in wet weather.
