If you set transplants on August 3, Cheddar should head in middle to late October.

I grew chedder just once about 7 years ago and it did quite well. Down here in Va it was planted around Aug 20th and the first head was harvested around the end of Oct. Head size will vary and the first one may be smallish if it "buttoned up" due to stress as does broccoli at times.

vgkg, I try to keep my heads good and white. An orange head sounds like an anomaly to me. Do they taste funny like a yellowed head would?

Hi Wayne, no difference in taste compared to white, but you can imagine a cheesey flavor if you try hard enough ;-). Real pretty on the plate too, esp on raw dip dishes, a good attention getter. I use a clothespin to cup the top leaves over the white heads to keep them pristine.

I agree that it will be at least another 3-4 weeks before I would expect to get a mature head from Cheddar. I planted my Cheddar and Snow crown on August 12 and I'll be happy if the snow crown has headed by mid October. On the other hand, a few of my Early Dividend broccoli started to head up last week.