How To Plant Cabbage: Essential Guide For Perfect Results

Growing your own cabbage is a deeply satisfying experience. Imagine heading into your garden to harvest a crisp, dense head of cabbage that you grew yourself, ready for coleslaw, sauerkraut, or roasting. This guide is designed to show you everything you need to know about how to plant cabbage, a surprisingly simple and highly rewarding vegetable for your garden.

Cabbage is a cool-weather champion, happy to grow in the brisk days of spring and fall. Forget the bland, waxy cabbages from the store; homegrown cabbage is sweet, tender, and packed with flavor. We will walk you through every step, from choosing the right variety to protecting your plants from pests. Let’s get ready to grow some amazing cabbage!

First Things First: Choosing Your Cabbage Variety

Cabbage comes in more shapes, colors, and sizes than you might think. Before you plant, it’s fun to know your options. They are generally categorized by when they are harvested or by their shape and color.

Green Cabbage

This is the classic, all-purpose cabbage you’re most familiar with. It has smooth, tightly packed leaves and is perfect for everything from coleslaw to cabbage rolls.

Early Varieties: These mature quickly (50-70 days) and are great for a spring harvest. Examples include ‘Golden Acre’ and ‘Early Jersey Wakefield’.
Late/Storage Varieties: These take longer to mature (80-120 days) and form very dense, heavy heads that store well through the winter. Examples include ‘Danish Ballhead’ and ‘Late Flat Dutch’.

Red Cabbage

With its stunning reddish-purple leaves, red cabbage adds a beautiful pop of color to the garden and the plate. It has a slightly earthier, bolder flavor than green cabbage and is packed with antioxidants. It’s wonderful for pickling, braising, or shredding raw into salads.

Popular Varieties: ‘Red Acre’, ‘Ruby Ball’, ‘Red Express’.

Savoy Cabbage

Savoy cabbage is arguably the most beautiful, with deeply crinkled, lacy leaves in a lovely shade of blue-green. Its leaves are more loosely packed and tender than green or red cabbage, with a milder, sweeter flavor. It’s fantastic in soups and stir-fries as it doesn’t get as soft as other types.

Popular Varieties: ‘Savoy King’, ‘Alcosa’.

Napa Cabbage (Chinese Cabbage)

This variety doesn’t form a round head but instead grows in an oblong, upright shape with pale green, frilly leaves. It has a delicate, sweet flavor and a crisp, watery texture, making it the star ingredient in kimchi and many Asian dishes.

Popular Varieties: ‘Bilko’, ‘China Express’.

[Amazon Product: Heirloom Cabbage Seed Variety Pack]

Cabbage is a Cool Kid: The Importance of Timing

Cabbage is a brassica, part of the same family as broccoli, kale, and cauliflower. Like its cousins, it loves cool weather and does not tolerate heat well. High temperatures can cause the heads to split or “bolt” (go to flower), making them bitter.

This means you have two main planting windows: early spring for a summer harvest, and late summer for a fall/early winter harvest.

For a Spring Planting: You need to get cabbage in the ground early so it can mature before the summer heat arrives.
- Start Seeds Indoors: The best method is to start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your average last frost date.
- Transplant Outside: Plant the young seedlings into the garden 2 to 3 weeks before your average last frost date. Cabbage seedlings are tough and can handle a light frost.
For a Fall Planting: A fall crop often produces even sweeter cabbage, as the heads mature in the cooling days of autumn.
- Start Seeds Indoors: Start seeds indoors in mid-summer, about 12 to 14 weeks before your average first fall frost date.
- Transplant Outside: Plant the seedlings in the garden when they are about 4-6 weeks old.

How to Plant Cabbage: Preparing the Perfect Plot

Cabbage plants are very heavy feeders. They need nutrient-rich soil to form those big, beautiful heads. A little extra work preparing the soil will pay huge dividends.

Finding the Right Location

Full Sun is Best: Cabbage needs at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight per day.
Well-Draining Soil: The soil should be fertile and drain well. Cabbage doesn’t like to sit in waterlogged soil, which can lead to disease. Raised beds are an excellent option for growing cabbage.

Creating a Rich Foundation

Loosen the Soil: Use a garden fork or shovel to loosen the soil to a depth of about 12 inches. This gives the roots room to spread out.
Enrich with Organic Matter: This is the most important step for hungry cabbage plants. Spread a generous 3- to 4-inch layer of well-rotted compost or aged manure over the planting area.
Add a Balanced Fertilizer: Cabbage benefits from a good quality, all-purpose vegetable fertilizer at planting time. Look for one with a balanced N-P-K ratio. Sprinkle it over the soil according to the package directions. [Amazon Product: Organic All-Purpose Vegetable Garden Fertilizer]
Mix and Smooth: Use your fork or a tiller to thoroughly mix the compost and fertilizer into the top 8-10 inches of soil. Rake the surface of the bed so it’s smooth and ready for planting.

From Seedling to Garden: The Planting Process

Whether you grew your own seedlings or bought them from a nursery, the planting process is the same. Make sure you have “hardened off” your seedlings for a week before planting them in the garden to acclimate them to the outdoors.

Step 1: Dig the Holes

Using a trowel, dig holes for your cabbage seedlings. The holes should be slightly wider and deeper than the container the seedling is in.
Spacing is Critical: Cabbage plants get big and need plenty of room. Proper spacing ensures good air circulation, which helps prevent disease.
- Space plants 18 to 24 inches apart.
- Space rows 24 to 36 inches apart.

Step 2: Plant the Seedling

Gently squeeze the sides of the seedling container to loosen the plant. Carefully slide the plant out, trying not to disturb the root ball too much.
Set the seedling in the hole. Cabbage can be planted a little deeper than it was in its pot. Plant it deep enough so the soil level is just below the first set of true leaves.
Fill the hole with soil, gently firming it around the base of the plant.

Step 3: Water In Well

Immediately after planting, use a watering can or a gentle spray from a hose to give each seedling a good, deep drink of water.
This helps to settle the soil around the roots and reduces transplant shock.

Step 4: Mulch and Protect

Mulch: Apply a 2-inch layer of organic mulch (like straw, shredded leaves, or grass clippings) around the base of your plants. Mulch is fantastic for suppressing weeds, retaining soil moisture, and keeping the soil cool.
Pest Protection: The biggest enemy of a young cabbage plant is the cabbage worm (the larva of the white cabbage butterfly). The absolute best way to protect your plants is to cover them with floating row cover from the moment you plant them. This lightweight fabric lets in sun and water but physically blocks the butterflies from laying their eggs on your plants.

[Amazon Product: Floating Row Cover for Garden Pest Protection]

Caring for Your Growing Cabbage Heads

Once your cabbage is in the ground, a little consistent care will ensure they grow into big, healthy heads.

Watering

Cabbage needs consistent and even moisture to form good heads—about 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week.
Inconsistent watering (long dry spells followed by heavy rain) can cause the developing heads to split open.
Water at the base of the plant to keep the leaves dry, which helps prevent fungal diseases.

Fertilizing

As heavy feeders, cabbage plants benefit from a mid-season feeding.
About 3 to 4 weeks after transplanting, you can “side-dress” your plants. Sprinkle a nitrogen-rich fertilizer in a circle about 6 inches away from the base of the plant and gently scratch it into the soil. Then, water it in.

Weeding

Keep the area around your cabbage plants free from weeds, which compete for water, nutrients, and sunlight.
Your layer of mulch will do most of the work, but be sure to pull any weeds that pop through.

Harvest Time! How to Pick Your Perfect Cabbage

Knowing when to harvest is easy. You’re looking for a head that is firm and solid.

When to Harvest: The harvest time will depend on your variety (check the seed packet for “days to maturity”). The head should feel very firm and dense when you squeeze it. Don’t judge by size alone; a firm head is a ready head.
How to Harvest: Use a large, sharp knife to cut the cabbage head off at the very base of the plant, just above the soil line.
Bonus Harvest! After you harvest the main head, leave the root and the outer “wrapper” leaves in the ground. The plant will often send up several small, new heads from the stalk. These “cabbage sprouts” are a tender and delicious bonus crop!

Conclusion

You are now fully prepared to go forth and grow amazing cabbage! By understanding how to plant cabbage properly—from choosing the right variety and preparing rich soil to giving them consistent water and protection from pests—you are setting yourself up for a delicious and rewarding harvest. There is a special pride that comes from cooking with a vegetable you nurtured from a tiny seedling into a massive, healthy head. Happy gardening!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the best month to plant cabbage?
This depends on your climate. For a spring crop, you will transplant seedlings into the garden 2-3 weeks before your last frost, which could be March, April, or May. For a fall crop, you’ll transplant seedlings in mid-to-late summer, like July or August.

2. How long does it take for cabbage to grow?
From transplanting a seedling into the garden, it can take anywhere from 50 days for a fast-growing early variety to 120 days for a large storage variety. Check the seed packet for the specific “days to maturity.”

3. What should you not plant next to cabbage?
Avoid planting cabbage near other heavy-feeding brassicas if you can help it, as they compete for the same nutrients. Also, keep them away from strawberries and tomatoes, as they can inhibit each other’s growth.

4. How do you prepare soil for planting cabbage?
Cabbage needs rich, fertile soil. Prepare the bed by loosening the soil deeply and amending it with a 3-4 inch layer of compost or aged manure and a balanced, all-purpose vegetable fertilizer.

5. How far apart do you plant cabbage?
Give them plenty of room! Space cabbage plants about 18 to 24 inches apart in rows that are 24 to 36 inches apart. This ensures good air circulation.

6. Do cabbage plants need full sun?
Yes, for the best results and to form large, dense heads, cabbage needs a location that gets at least 6-8 hours of direct sun per day.

7. How do I keep my cabbage from splitting?
Splitting is usually caused by inconsistent watering. A sudden intake of a lot of water after a dry period causes the head to grow too fast and split open. The key is to provide consistent, even moisture throughout the growing season. Mulching helps greatly with this.