How to protect my cauliflower plants?

[Ngnra]

Please find below my cauliflower plant. It is suffering from disease. The cauliflower is not growing. Lots of large leaves, have cut them because they are curling as you can see.  Sprayed Conqueror, no progress.

please advise.

[BradN]

Hi @Ngnra, That poor cauliflower does not look happy at all. Could you please confirm exactly which product you have been spraying on it? Nufarm Conqueror is an agricultural weedkiller, so that wouldn't be treating any disease. There are other products with similar names, so could you possibly post a photo of the label so that our garden experts can see exactly what it is?

Also, is there anything else unusual about the leaves? Do they have any black or purple spots or lesions on them?

Brad 

[Ngnra]

Thanks Brad for promptly replying.

I am using Yates Conqueror.

I can see wet powdery material on the leaves an in the central stem area.

[BradN]

Hi @Ngnra  Oh, I see. Yates Conqueror is a spraying oil for insect pests. A very different product to the agricultural herbicide!

Let me tag garden experts @Noelle and @Adam_W to see if they can offer any advice. I wonder if this close-up of the central part of the plant can provide any clues as to what's going on. 

Brad

[Noelle]

Thinking a couple of things.

1. Looks more like a fungal issue than insect-caused. Anything powdery points to a fungus disease of some sort

2. It's the end of the season for most brassicas - they grow and mature over the coldest months of the year and as soon as the weather starts to warm up they don't produce good crops and tend to bolt to seed. This cauli may never amount to anything much.

Not sure Yates Conquorer or any other stand-alone insecticide is really going to help. I'd tend to look more to a vegetable dust that includes a fungicide.

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Ngnra,

It's pleasing that both @BradN and @Noelle have been offering assistance. As @Noelle mentioned, regardless of the afflictions, your plants would struggle to grow at this time of the year. Cauliflower is best planted in autumn and early winter. I suggest having another go next year and keeping some vegetable dust on hand in case you notice any issues.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Ngnra]

[Ngnra]

I have tomato dust with me. Can I use this?

by the way, I planted them end of autumn and protected them with frost cover all through winter.

[MitchellMc · Accepted solution]

You can use the tomato dust @Ngnra, but we are now in the wrong season for your plant to produce a significant head. If they didn't produce the head over the cooler month it's very un-likely that they would now.

Mitchell