For many gardeners, cauliflower is a challenging vegetable to grow. Not only do cabbage worms find it irresistible, but it can be persnickety to grow, requiring just the right weather and soil conditions to thrive. Today, I'd like to offer you some cauliflower- growing tips to help increase your chances of success. First and foremost, like most other members of the brassica plant family, cauliflower is a cool-weather crop. That means it much prefers to grow in the cooler weather of spring or summer. As soon as summer's heat arrives and the days grow longer, cauliflower gives up the ghost. Because of this, it's essential that you plant this crop very early or very late in the season. Mid- to late February is the best time to begin sowing seeds of cauliflower indoors under grow lights, if you have them. Sow the seeds into fresh potting soil at a depth of about a quarter inch. Keep them well watered and set the lights about 2 inches above the planting container. They'll sprout in about two weeks. Raise the level of the lights a little at a time as the plants grow. They'll be ready to slowly acclimate to the outdoors by mid to late March when they can be planted out into the garden. While you can certainly purchase transplants at your favorite garden center, starting your own from seed gives you the opportunity to grow a greater variety of cauliflower types. If you've struggled in the past to grow white cauliflower because it requires you to keep the developing heads in the dark by wrapping the leaves up over them, try growing purple or orange varieties instead. These varieties don't require blanching and many gardeners find them to be more resistant to pests. Regardless of whether you grow your cauliflower from seed or from purchased transplants, they'll be ready for harvest when the plants are about 65-80 days old, depending on the variety. It's essential that you protect your cauliflower plants from pests as they grow. Unfortunately, there are many critters that enjoy eating this garden crop, including the aforementioned cabbage worm, in addition to slugs, cabbage loopers, harlequin bugs and a few others. Your best bet is to lay a sheet of floating row cover over the plants from the moment you plant them out into the garden. Pin down the edges but leave plenty of slack for the plants to grow. Because cauliflower doesn't need to be pollinated, you can leave the row cover in place until the day you harvest the heads. This, in my opinion, is way easier than spraying the plants with an organic insecticide, such as Bt, every week to 10 days. It's a "set it and forget it" pest control — my favorite kind! You'll know it's time to harvest your cauliflower heads when they are dense and tight. Once the florets start to separate and look grainy, they're over-mature. You can still eat them, but they'll be a little different than the cauliflower you're used to. Cut the heads off with a sharp knife to harvest. Most gardeners pull out the plants after harvest to make room for a summer crop such as bush beans or cucumbers. I also recommend growing cauliflower as an autumn crop, when pest pressure is reduced and cooler temperatures are coupled with increased rainfall. Put transplants out into the garden in mid August and you'll be harvesting around the time of our first fall frost. Horticulturist Jessica Walliser is the author of several gardening books, including "Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden,” "Good Bug, Bad Bug,” and her newest title, "Container Gardening Complete.” Her website is jessicawalliser.com. Send your gardening or landscaping questions to tribliving@tribweb.com or The Good Earth, 622 Cabin Hill Drive, Greensburg, PA 15601.