Crop type: Cauliflowers
Brassica oleracea (Botrytis Group) ‘Moby Dick’
Common name: Cauliflower ‘Moby Dick’
Crop slug: cauliflower
This Allotment Pro editorial draft summarises the cited RHS cultivar profile. Check the source and adjust cultivation decisions for local conditions.RHS cultivar profile
1 - Overview
‘Moby Dick’ is a reliable autumn and winter cauliflower with dense white curds that are crisp and sweet. Robust plants stand well until harvest, and strong surrounding foliage helps protect the white head from early frost. The crop is harvested from September to December.
2 - Size
- Ultimate height
- 0.1–0.5 metres
- Ultimate spread
- 0.1–0.5 metres
- Time to ultimate size
- 1 year
Its clump of protective foliage and central curd complete their useful growth within one season.
3 - Growing conditions
- Suitable soils
- Sand and loam
- Moisture
- Well-drained
- Soil pH
- Neutral or alkaline
Use fertile soil that drains freely but supports uninterrupted autumn growth.
4 - Position and hardiness
- Light
- Full sun
- Aspect
- South- or west-facing
- Exposure
- Sheltered
- Hardiness
- H3 — suited to mild UK conditions and an autumn-to-early-winter harvest
A sunny sheltered position complements the foliage’s protection of the curd.
5 - Colour and seasonal interest
The profile supplies no seasonal colour entries. Its visual identity is a dense white curd enclosed by robust green leaves from autumn into winter.
6 - Botanical details
- Family
- Brassicaceae
- Native to Great Britain and Ireland
- No
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Habit
- Clump-forming
- Name status
- Accepted
Genus
Brassica includes upright annual, biennial and perennial plants with alternate, often glaucous leaves and cross-shaped yellow or white flowers, including numerous food crops.
7 - How to grow
Cultivation
Grow in full sun in fertile, moist but well-drained soil. Sow indoors from March to April and plant out in early summer, or direct-sow from March to May in drills in a prepared seedbed. Four plants can share a 45cm container.
Propagation
Propagate by seed indoors or outdoors.
Suggested locations
- Patio and container plantings
Pruning
No pruning is required.
Pests
Possible pests are birds, cabbage caterpillars, cabbage gall weevil, cabbage root fly, cabbage whitefly, cutworms, flea beetle, mealy cabbage aphid, slugs and snails, and swede midge.
Diseases
Possible diseases include black rot, club root, downy mildew, grey mould, foot and root rot, leaf spot and white blister.