[ghost61]

I'm sure I've heard somewhere that it's possible to cut the main head such that later smaller side shoots will appear.  Is that right?  I'm about to harvest them and if there's the possibility of more, so much the better!

[sunshineband]

It does work, especially if you give the plants a bit of a feed after cutting the main head 

Useful little extra crop

[ghost61]

Thanks, I will have a go!  As soon as I can wade down the allotment.......

[Snoop]

I've never tried that with Romanesco or caulis. I usually leave the stumps in till I've harvested the lot and have never seen any sign of secondary shoots forming. What do you feed them with, sunshineband?

[Annen]

I did that with spring cabbage accidentally and didn't feed it anything

[tosca100]

I've done it with cabbage and lettuce. I rarely feed as I forget! Never grown cauli or romanesco...I tried this year but they seem to have run off............

[sunshineband]

I've never tried that with Romanesco or caulis. I usually leave the stumps in till I've harvested the lot and have never seen any sign of secondary shoots forming. What do you feed them with, sunshineband?

Chicken manure pellets, and a dose of tomato fertiliser    Odd mix but it sure helped my caulis grow huge heads in the Spring too.  I have not seen any extra shoots from caulis but the romanesco did have some ..... I cut the main head as high up as I could to leave a decent stem with leaves, and the shoots grew from the leaf axils.

[kirpi]

I've never tried that with Romanesco or caulis. I usually leave the stumps in till I've harvested the lot and have never seen any sign of secondary shoots forming. What do you feed them with, sunshineband?

Chicken manure pellets, and a dose of tomato fertiliser    Odd mix but it sure helped my caulis grow huge heads in the Spring too.  I have not seen any extra shoots from caulis but the romanesco did have some ..... I cut the main head as high up as I could to leave a decent stem with leaves, and the shoots grew from the leaf axils.

- sounds like a nitrogen and potassium fix. You could try blending comfrey and stinging nettle teas to produce a plant based equivalent.

[sunshineband]

Yes you could kirpi

[RJR_38]

Oh this is worth knowing as I am ready to harvest some of mine soon! I have already harvested a few cauli's and pulled them up properly as I didn't know... I will try leaving future ones now then!

[Kate and her Ducks]

I'm going to give this a go too as my goats did a little gardening for me on the patch today!

[Under The Hill]

I was told (or read) that you should cut a cross sign,  in the stump after harvesting, with a sharp knife and this is what I did with my cabbages last year and I did get extra small cabbages on each corner of every cabbage I did it too, so well worth a go with other crops as it definitely worked for me x