Vegetable · Brassicaceae
Cabbage
Brassica oleracea (Capitata Group)
Offer it steady moisture, rich soil, and cool weather, and cabbage anchors the bed with a heavy, tightly drawn head.
Full sun
Every 3–7 days
41–77°F · 5–25°C
60–100 days
Overview
Cabbage is a cool-season vegetable grown for the dense, sculptural head it draws together from tightly wrapped leaves, a quiet centerpiece in any kitchen garden. It belongs to the brassica family alongside broccoli, kale, and Brussels sprouts, and it arrives in smooth green, deep red, and crinkled savoy, each lending the bed a different mood. As a biennial grown as an annual, it commits its whole first season to that head, gathered well before it ever turns to flower.
It is a plant for the cool corners of the year, content through a light frost, which is why it slips so gracefully into both the spring and the autumn garden. It keeps a tidy footprint at 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 cm) tall, easy to tuck into a formal bed or a row of raised planters. What it asks for is simple: rich soil and even water, and most disappointments trace back to a lapse in one or the other.
Cabbage rewards a patient gardener, since a head needs 60 to 100 days to firm and settle into form. It will draw a regular cast of caterpillars and a few persistent diseases along the way. Keep ahead of them and hold the moisture steady, and the season closes with solid heads that keep for weeks and grow sweeter once the first fall chill arrives.
Care
The short version: a sunny, cool corner, rich soil kept evenly moist with about an inch to an inch and a half of water a week, a feed at planting and another a few weeks on, and a harvest the moment the heads turn firm.
Light
Cabbage is at its best in full sun, six hours a day or more, which is what draws the head together densely. Set in partial shade it will still grow, though the head comes in looser and slower, so the shadier corners of the garden suit warmer stretches when a measure of relief is welcome.
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist with roughly 1 to 1.5 inches of water a week, soaking down at least 6 inches and watering in the morning. Even moisture is the whole art of it, because once a head is firm, a sudden drink after a dry spell will split it open.
Soil
Give it fertile, well-drained sandy loam worked generously with organic matter, so the bed holds moisture without turning heavy. Aim for a pH of 6.0 to 7.0, since slightly acidic to neutral ground also keeps clubroot from settling in.
Temperature
Cabbage is a cool-season crop that keeps its form between 41°F and 77°F (5°C to 25°C). It takes a light frost in stride, and a fall chill even sweetens the head, but a true summer heat will send it bolting rather than holding its tight leaves.
Humidity
Ordinary garden humidity suits cabbage, so there is no figure to chase. Good airflow earns its keep far more than any reading, since crowded, damp foliage invites the diseases that spoil a head.
Feeding
Work a balanced fertilizer into the bed at planting, guided by a soil test, then side-dress with nitrogen about 3 to 4 weeks after transplanting to carry the plant through heading. Cabbage is a hungry feeder, and that mid-season boost is what fills the head into its full shape.
Pruning
Cabbage asks for no real pruning. Strip away yellowed, damaged, or pest-chewed outer leaves as they appear to keep the planting looking trim, and cut the head with a sharp knife at harvest. Leave the outer leaves on the stalk and a second crop of small mini-heads may follow.
Size & spacing
Plants keep a compact, orderly shape at 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 cm) tall and 12 to 24 inches (30 to 61 cm) across. Allow each that much room so the heads size up well and air moves freely through the bed to keep disease at a distance.
When to plant
Cabbage keeps to the cool shoulders of the year rather than high summer, which makes it a natural fixture in the spring and autumn garden. Start seed indoors in late winter and set the transplants out a few weeks before the last frost for an early summer harvest, or plant again in mid to late summer for heads that close out the fall, sweeter for the cold.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: 6-8 weeks before last spring frost
- Plant: Set hardened transplants out 2-4 weeks before the last spring frost; for a fall crop, transplant in mid-to-late summer about 6-8 weeks before the first fall frost
- Harvest: Harvest when heads are firm and dense, typically early summer for spring plantings and mid-to-late fall for fall plantings; flavor improves after light fall frost
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 2–11
Temperature: down to -46°C
Troubleshooting
Cabbage tends to telegraph its troubles on the leaves or within the head, and an unhurried look will usually sort a chewing pest from a disease or a watering lapse. Find the match below, then step in early, while the head still has its place at the table.
Midday wilt, yellowing leaves, and thickened roots
This is clubroot, a soilborne disease that favors acidic ground and twists the roots into useless clubs. There is no recovering a plant once it is affected, so lift those plants and destroy them rather than composting them. Sweeten the bed with lime toward a pH of 6.8 to 7.2, choose clean transplants, and keep brassicas out of that ground for several years.
Fix:
- Remove and destroy infected plants; do not compost them
- Lime soil toward pH 6.8-7.2 in affected beds
Yellow wedges edging inward from the leaf rims
Those yellow wedges with darkened veins are black rot, a bacterial disease carried in on infected seed and transplants. Pull and destroy any plant that shows it, and keep out of the bed while the leaves are wet so it is not carried down the row. Begin with certified disease-free stock, water at the base, and rotate brassicas on a 2 to 3 year cycle.
Fix:
- Remove and destroy infected plants
- Avoid working among wet plants to limit spread
Tattered foliage, green caterpillars, and scattered dark frass
The culprits are cabbage caterpillars, usually the imported cabbageworm, the looper that arches its back as it crawls, or the small diamondback moth larva. Pick them off the moment they appear and turn to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) while the larvae are still small, reserving spinosad for heavy pressure. Better still, drape a floating row cover at transplanting to keep the butterflies and moths off the bed from the outset.
Fix:
- Handpick caterpillars when first spotted
- Apply Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) consistently while larvae are small
- Use spinosad per label if pressure is heavy
A firm, full head cracked down its side
Splitting sets in when a dry spell ends in heavy rain or watering and a dense head drinks faster than its skin can stretch. It is a watering matter, not a disease, and it follows a downpour on heads already firm. Harvest a split head at once and put it to use, then ease the uptake on the rest by giving each plant a quarter twist or slicing down one side of the root zone with a spade.
Fix:
- Harvest split heads immediately and use promptly
- Twist plants a quarter turn or spade one side of the root zone to slow water uptake on remaining mature heads
Puckered, curling leaves under a waxy gray-green dusting of aphids
These are cabbage aphids, gray-green under a whitish wax, gathering on leaf undersides and in the folds of the head. Dislodge the colonies with a strong jet of water, then follow with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil worked into the clusters. Inspect transplants before they go in, leave room for ladybugs and other natural enemies, and clear crop residue once the harvest is in.
Fix:
- Dislodge with a strong spray of water
- Apply insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, ensuring contact with colonies
Toxicity
Few plants earn a spot in the family garden as easily as cabbage. It holds no toxins, so pets, livestock, and the household alike can share it. The only note to keep is portion, since a generous serving of raw brassica can leave any animal a little gassy.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
Cabbage holds nothing that can harm a cat. An occasional bite of cooked leaf is harmless, though most cats will pass it by.
Dogs None
It is safe to share in small amounts. A dog that puts away a lot of raw cabbage may turn a little gassy or pass a soft stool, but that is digestion at work, not poisoning.
Horses Safe
There is no toxic risk to horses. Big helpings of any brassica can leave a horse gassy, so keep it to an occasional treat rather than a staple.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits take to cabbage happily, its leaves a wholesome green. Bring it in gradually and in modest amounts, since a sudden heap can unsettle a delicate gut.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep graze brassicas without harm. Cabbage and its trimmings are a common feed, best balanced against other forage so it is not the whole diet.
Birds Safe
A suspended cabbage head keeps chickens and the wider flock pecking contentedly, and plenty of keepers hang one simply to occupy them. Nothing about it will harm them.
People Safe
For people, cabbage is an everyday ingredient, welcome raw, fermented, or cooked, and safe for all. A goitrogen concern arises only with chronic, very high consumption of raw brassicas.
No special handling needed. Large quantities of raw brassicas can cause mild gas in pets and people, and brassicas contain goitrogenic compounds that matter only with chronic, very high intake; this is a dietary note, not poisoning.
Varieties
Cabbage offers more character than the plain green ball of the supermarket aisle, from deep reds to crinkled savoys that look the part in a potager. A few selections stand out for flavor, for timing, or for the grace with which they hold in the bed.
Early Jersey Wakefield
Early Jersey Wakefield is a treasured heirloom early type, admired for its pointed, conical head and sweet flavor.
Stonehead
Stonehead is an early hybrid that forms very dense, solid round heads and resists splitting.
Ruby Ball
Ruby Ball is a red cabbage with firm round heads and a slightly peppery flavor that holds well in the garden.
Savoy King
Savoy King is a savoy type with deeply crinkled blue-green leaves that turn milder once cooked.
Companions
Plant near
dill: Aromatic herb that attracts ladybugs and parasitic wasps that prey on cabbage pests
sage: Aromatic herb traditionally interplanted with cabbage to help deter cabbage moths
mint: Aromatic herb reported to deter cabbage pests; best kept contained due to spreading roots
onion: Onion-family crops grow well alongside cabbage-family crops and may help confuse pests
beet: Compatible root crop that shares cool-season conditions without competing with cabbage heads
Keep apart
strawberry: Companion planting guides list strawberries as incompatible neighbors for cabbage-family crops
tomato: Traditional companion charts advise keeping tomatoes away from cabbage plantings
pole bean: Companion planting guides list pole beans as poor companions for the cabbage family
How to propagate
Cabbage begins with seed, started indoors for an early crop or sown later for a fall one. There is no cloning to plan around, only a packet and a sheltered head start that fits neatly into the seasonal routine.
SeedEasy
Sow indoors 6-8 weeks before the last spring frost, or direct sow/transplant in mid-to-late summer for a fall crop · Germinates in about 4-10 days; transplants are garden-ready in 4-6 weeks
Cabbage grows easily from seed, an unfussy start to the season. Sow indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the last spring frost, or sow for a fall crop in mid to late summer, and the seed comes up in about 4 to 10 days. The seedlings are garden-ready in 4 to 6 weeks, though they should be hardened off first. Direct-seeded plants skip the transplant shock yet can take up to three weeks longer to mature.
Myths
Frost ruins a cabbage crop, so every head must come in before any cold weather.
Cabbage is a hardy cool-season crop that shrugs off light frost, and a fall chill in fact sweetens the flavor. Only a hard freeze damages a mature head, so there is no need to clear the bed at the first cold night.
A split head signals disease somewhere down in the bed.
Splitting is a physical matter, not an infection. A firm, ripe head takes up water quickly after uneven watering or heavy rain and bursts its own skin. No pathogen is involved, only the swing from dry to wet.