Some people may be hesitant to plant cabbage in the vegetable garden since these veggies look like difficult growers. However, cabbage plants are easy to grow as long as you plant them under the proper conditions. Learn how to plant cabbage indoors and outside and care for them as they mature.
Cabbage is a wonderful addition to the garden – both green and red cabbage types are tasty in our favorite recipes. However, these veggies do not tolerate hot temperatures and when you plant them determines how productive they are through the cabbage growing season.
Like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, bok choy, and cauliflower, cabbage plants (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) are cole crops that grow ideally during cool weather when the temperatures are between 60 and 75°F. Higher temps cause the plants to bolt and go to seed. It’s essential to plant them at the right time of the year to ensure you get an early summer or late fall crop.
Planting and Growing Cabbage
While planting cabbage is as simple as most other vegetables, cabbage needs full sun, adequate water, fertile soil, and proper spacing to thrive. Provide your plants with their basic needs, and they reward you with healthy cabbage heads for harvesting.
Discover when to plant your veggies for optimal growth and how far apart to plant cabbage in the garden. Find tips for caring for your plants through the season and how to make homemade sauerkraut with your cabbage crop.
Things to Know before Planting Cabbage
It is always a good idea to understand what your plants need before planting cabbage to ensure they flourish. Determine when to plant cabbage and what this veggie requires for optimal growth.
Cabbage is a cool-season crop, and the plants take two to three months to produce heads for harvesting. If your area has cold weather, start the seeds indoors four to six weeks before the last frost, and sow seeds outdoors during late summer if you live in a mild-winter region.
Different cabbage varieties include Savoy, Nappa, red, and green cabbage, like Jersey Wakefield. All cabbage types grow well in well-drained, fertile soil with a pH of 6 to 7. If your garden lacks nutrients, consider adding organic matter, blood meal, or fish emulsion to improve the quality, and prepare the bed in an area where the plants get six to eight hours of sunlight daily.
How Far Apart to Plant Cabbage
Proper cabbage plant spacing is essential to ensure your plants do not suffer from overcrowding. Learn how far apart to plant cabbage in the garden for good air circulation and promote healthy cabbage heads.
Cabbage Plant Spacing
If you sow seeds directly in the bed, place them one inch apart and then thin them after they sprout, making them 18 to 24 inches apart. For seedling transplanting, space the young plants 18 to 24 inches apart with rows 24 to 36 inches apart. While it’s possible to plant them closer, you’ll end up with smaller cabbage heads.
How to Plant Cabbage Indoors
Planting cabbage seeds indoors is the best way to grow cabbage if you live in a cold region. You can plant cabbage in a pot before the last frost to encourage faster germination and give you a head start. Here is how to germinate your cabbage seeds indoors with the correct depth and spacing.
Whether you are growing Napa cabbage vs bok choy, four to six weeks before your area’s last frost, fill a seed tray with seed starting soil and press the seeds a half-inch deep and one inch apart in the dirt. The best time to plant bok choy and cabbage is in early spring.
Set the tray in an area where the temperature is 70° and keep the soil moist and not soggy to encourage germination. The seedlings begin growing in ten to 20 days, and it’s time to prepare for garden transplanting.
How to Plant Cabbage in the Garden
The best way to plant cabbage in cold areas is starting cabbage from seed indoors and transplant them into the garden. However, it’s possible to sow seeds directly if you live in an area with mild winters. Find out how to transplant seedlings in early spring and direct sow seeds in the garden in late summer.
To take advantage of cabbage and collard greens season, prepare the garden by tilling the dirt and adding organic material if necessary. If you’re unsure how much cabbage to plant, consider growing four to eight plants for each member of your household and planting succession crops of early varieties every couple of weeks for varying harvest times.
To transplant seedlings, harden them off a week before planting by taking them outside each day for a couple of hours to adjust to their new environment. Wait until they are three to four inches tall, have four to five true leaves, and the danger of frost is gone.
Dig small holes in the garden, and space them 18 to 24 inches apart. Carefully remove each plant from its container and plant it in its spot, burying one to two inches of the main stem just below the top two sets of leaves. Push dirt around the plant’s base and water the plants immediately.
Similar to when growing bok choy, direct sow seeds a half-inch deep and one inch apart. Water them lightly right after planting, and do not let them dry out as they germinate. Once the seedlings begin growing, thin out the weakest, spacing the healthy plants 18 to 24 inches apart. There is little to no difference between cabbage and bok choy regarding planting from seeds.
It’s important to note that you can plant cabbage in a pot or container or even regrow cabbage in water, too. Give it the same care as you would for cabbage planted in the garden, although container plants often need water more frequently.
Caring for Your Cabbage
After sowing cabbage seeds and your young plants begin to grow, it’s time to give them a little TLC. Water and feed your cabbages and watch for some problems while waiting for harvest.
Uneven watering causes cracked or stunted cabbage heads. Water your plants regularly and evenly and give them an inch to an inch and a half of water each week, and give them less water as they mature to avoid splitting heads.
Once the plants establish halfway through the season, feed them a high nitrogen fertilizer or give them a diluted solution of fish emulsion every couple of weeks. To hold in moisture and keep the soil cool as the temperatures warm, mulch around your cabbage plants.
If the cabbage grows too fast, the heads split and take too much water, especially during heavy rain. A week before harvesting, twist each head a quarter turn to lessen the water uptake to some of the roots and prevent this from happening.
Cutworms, cabbage loopers, cabbage worms, aphids, and root maggots often attack cabbage plants. Handpick these pests as soon as you discover them, put a protective collar around small plants to protect them from cutworms, and place row covers over seedlings to prevent an infestation. If you still have a bug problem, consider using Bacillus thuringiensis to get rid of cabbage moths and other unwelcome critters.
Black rot, cabbage yellows, and clubroot are common fungal diseases that affect cabbages. Cabbage yellows turns lower cabbage leaves yellow, blackleg causes yellow lesions on the leaf edges, and clubroot creates galls on the cabbage root.
To prevent these diseases, plant disease-resistant varieties, rotate your crops every three years, and remove diseased plants immediately.
Most people agree that cabbage harvest time is the best part of the process. When your cabbage is ready to harvest, cut the cabbage from the stem end and use your fresh cabbage in your favorite recipes.
Using Your Garden Cabbage to Make Homemade Sauerkraut
Making a batch of homemade sauerkraut is one of the easiest ways to use fresh cabbage. You only need two ingredients and the time to allow it to ferment, and the result is a salty, sour condiment, perfect for topping on a brat.
The way to know when cabbage is bad is by looking at it, smelling it and squeezing it gently. Don’t use spoiled cabbage in your recipes.
To make sauerkraut, start by removing any bruised or damaged outer leaves from the cabbage head and then slice it in half crosswise. Remove the core and use a sharp knife to cut the cabbage into strips an eighth of an inch or smaller.
Place the cabbage strips in a bowl and toss them with the salt. Let them rest for 20 minutes or until they soften and release a bit of juice, and squeeze the strips with your hands to soften them further.
Once the cabbage is limp, transfer the strips to a jar and pack them tightly with a spoon to remove air bubbles and encourage the strips to release liquid. Keep packing the cabbage into the jar until submerging the strips entirely in liquid. Set weights on the cabbage and seal the jar shut with an airlock.
Store the jar of cabbage at room temperature in a safe area out of direct sunlight for one month, and then place it in the fridge for six months up to one year. If you don’t use all your cabbage to make sauerkraut, keep cabbage fresh after cutting in the vegetable drawer of the fridge.
While it takes a bit of know-how, growing cabbage in the home garden is relatively simple. In addition, the act of gardening gets you in touch with nature, and you benefit from harvesting organic veggies at the end of the growing season.
Now that you know how to plant cabbage for the healthiest crop of cabbage heads, why not share our cabbage planting and growing guide with the gardeners in your life on Pinterest and Facebook?