How to grow Cabbage

Brassica oleracea · white cabbage, green cabbage

A hardy cool-season vegetable grown for its dense head. It takes frost well, so different varieties can be grown for spring, summer, autumn and winter harvests.

Quick facts

Type	Vegetable
Family	Brassicaceae
Light	Full sun
Soil pH	6–7.5
Frost	tolerates light frost
Soil for sowing	from 5 °C
Germination	10 days
Seedlings ready	35 days
Sowing to harvest	120 days
Where it grows	Greenhouse, Open ground, At home

When to plant

Sow for seedlings about 6 weeks before planting out.

It tolerates light frost: plant out in open ground about three weeks before your last spring frost.

In an unheated greenhouse everything moves about three weeks earlier.

The first harvest comes about 120 days after the shoots appear.

Frost dates · When to plant

Care

Greenhouse

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 2 days	15…21 °C	—
Growth	every 4 days	4…27 °C	nitrogen, 21 days into the stage
Harvest	every 5 days	—	—

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 2 days	15…21 °C	—
Growth	every 7 days	4…27 °C	nitrogen, 21 days into the stage
Harvest	every 7 days	—	—

At home

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 2 days	15…21 °C	—
Growth	every 3 days	4…27 °C	nitrogen, 21 days into the stage

Growing notes

Light

Needs full sun, at least 6 hours of direct light a day, ideally 8–10.

Soil

Firm, rich, well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter, pH 6–7.5. Lime very acid soil the winter before planting to raise the pH above 6 and deter clubroot.

Care

Water young plants regularly. Once established, give a thorough soaking in dry spells, about 25–50 mm a week; even moisture keeps heads from splitting. Feed nitrogen about three weeks after planting out and stop once heads begin to form. Cover with insect-proof mesh against cabbage white caterpillars. If a ripe head cannot be cut yet, pull the plant up slightly to break some roots so it does not split.

Pests and diseases of Cabbage

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.