Cool-Season Vegetables: How to Grow Cabbage

Give soups and stews an unbeatably fresh flavor with this ever-popular fall garden favorite

Marianne Lipanovich

Houzz Contributor. I'm a California-based writer and editor. While most of my projects are garden-based, you might also find be writing about home projects and classical music. Away from the computer, I'm found in the garden (naturally), on my bike, or ice-skating outdoors (yes, that is possible in California). I'm also willing to taste-test anything that's chocolate.

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When summer winds down, it's time to get cool-season vegetables like cabbage into the ground. The classic cabbage is round and green or red, but look at a garden catalog and you’ll find cabbages that end in a point or are relatively flat, savoy cabbages with their characteristic ruffled leaves, and stunning varieties with blue-green leaves and a purplish-red head. Some are more compact and can last longer into warmer weather.

They’re generally divided into early, midseason and late cabbages. The early varieties are best for spring gardens; the others do better in the fall. You’ll even find flowering cabbages, which stand out in the garden, especially after the first frost hits. These are usually grown as ornamentals, but they are edible.

More: How to grow cool-season vegetables

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When to plant: Like most cool-season crops, cabbage is happiest growing in fall or spring. For spring planting, sow the seeds of an early variety in very early spring. You can also start them indoors about six weeks before the last frost date and set out transplants three weeks later. For fall and winter crops, plant seeds of midseason and late varieties in late summer.

Days to maturity: 50 to 100

Light requirement: Full sun is best; partial shade is also fine, especially if the weather heats up quickly.

Water requirement: Provide ample water and keep the soil moist.

Favorite cabbage varieties: Alcosa, Arrowhead, Brunswick, Early Jersey Wakefield, Gonzales, January King, Late Flat Dutch, Mammoth Red Rock, Red Drumhead, Red Express, Red Meteor, Redball, Samantha, Savoy King, Savoy Queen, Super Red 80, Winnigstadt

Planting and care: Be sure your soil is fertile and well drained. Sow seeds up to a half inch deep and an inch apart. Give them space, setting them out or thinning them to 1 to 2 feet apart with 2 feet or more between rows. They like water, so keep the bed continually moist. Feed the plants about halfway through the growing season with a complete high-nitrogen fertilizer. Weed them carefully, as the roots are shallow.

Cabbage is prone to problems; what can you expect when there are bugs named cabbage loopers, cabbage root maggots and cabbage worms? They can also have problems with diseases, such as damping off and downy mildew, and these are just some of the possible problems.

Solving plant problems: You can watch to see if the problem resolves itself naturally, especially if you follow the principles of integrated pest management and organic gardening. But if it gets out of hand, take steps to eradicate it, beginning with the least invasive approach and moving from there. Rotating crops in the future may help with some problems. Heads will split if they’re too old, so harvest before that happens.

Harvest: Watch the cabbage heads carefully and harvest before they split. Store them in a cool spot and keep them damp to help prolong their storage life.

More: How to Grow Cool-Season Vegetables