How to Grow Cabbage: 10 Tips for a Successful Harvest

By: Angela Judd | December 4, 2024

Cabbage is a versatile vegetable that can be grown almost anywhere and is valued for its exceptional storage life and hardiness. While it can seem challenging for beginners, it’s easier than you might think with the right tips. Before I started gardening, I didn’t use cabbage much. But now, I love having my own homegrown, organic cabbage. It’s nutritious, stores well in the fridge, and growing it is simple with these helpful pointers. Let’s dive into these ten simple tips to get you on your way to a successful cabbage harvest.

Article Index:

Plant cabbage at the right time
Try growing different types of cabbage
Grow cabbage in the best location
Optimizing Space When Planting Cabbage
Plant vigorous, healthy seedlings for the best cabbage
Learn how to prevent and treat cabbage pests and diseases
Provide even watering for cabbage
Don’t let cabbage go hungry
Harvest cabbage at the right time
Store and use your homegrown cabbage

1. Plant cabbage at the right time

An important thing to remember is cabbage likes cool temperatures. Cabbage will not form a head but split or bolt if exposed to too much heat or severe frost.

In cold winter areas, cabbage is a spring and fall crop. Sow cabbage seeds indoors 8 weeks before the last spring frost for a spring crop and 14 weeks before the first fall frost for a fall crop. Seeds sprout in 4 to 10 days, and they last up to 4 years. Cabbage seeds are available online at Seedsnow.com.

In areas with mild winters, like the low desert of Arizona, cabbage grows best during the winter season. In the low desert of Arizona:

Start seeds indoors: August – December
Plant seeds outside: September 15 (or when nighttime temps begin to cool off) – November
Plant transplants outside: September 15 (or when nighttime temps begin to cool off)- January

2. Try growing different types of cabbage

If warm temperatures may make growing traditional-headed cabbage difficult try Oriental and Savoy cabbage varieties. These types are often more consistent producers when grown in warm climates like the low desert of Arizona.

Head cabbage has green or red leaves and forms a tight rounded head. Early and mid-season varieties are smaller and faster growing. Late or long-season varieties are larger and store well. Varieties to try: Early Jersey Wakefield, Emerald Cross, Red Acre, Mammoth Red, and Stonehead.
Savoy cabbage has long crinkled leaves that form a looser head than other varieties. It is also milder and sweeter than standard cabbage with a more delicate texture.
Oriental cabbage grows into an oblong shape. Varieties include Napa, Bok Choy, and Tatsoi.

Planting dates for Bok Choy for the low desert of Arizona are:

Start seeds indoors: August 15 – January
Plant seeds outside: August 15 – January
Plant transplants outside: October – February

3. Grow cabbage in the best location

Cabbage prefers well-draining, rich soil. Amend the soil with compost and a balanced organic fertilizer before planting.

Choose an area with full sun. Although cabbage prefers cooler temperatures, it requires plenty of sunshine to grow well.

4. Optimizing Space When Planting Cabbage

Cabbage plants can grow quite wide and may cast shade on nearby crops. In square-foot gardening, a single cabbage plant can take up as many as four squares because of its size. To make the most of your garden space, try planting cabbage along the edges or in the corners of your garden beds. This allows the leaves to extend over the sides, freeing up room for other plants within the bed.

If you’re using square-foot gardening, you can plant one cabbage per one to two squares to save space. Otherwise, space your cabbage plants 18–24 inches (45–60 cm) apart, depending on the variety. To maximize space even further, consider planting fast-growing crops like radishes next to your cabbage. After you harvest the radishes, the cabbage will have more room to grow into the space they occupied.

5. Plant vigorous healthy seedlings for the best cabbage

Give cabbage a good start in life – choose small and tight transplants and avoid leggy or overgrown transplants. Don’t let transplants dry out or become pot-bound. Seedlings planted too late may not form heads and may bolt and flower instead. When planting, bury the stem up to just below the first set of leaves.

6. Learn how to prevent and treat cabbage pests and diseases

Cabbage seems to be a magnet for some common pests and diseases. Insects such as cabbage worms, cutworms, snails, and slugs can ruin young cabbage leaves. Aphids are a sign of water or heat stress. Using a combination of methods works well to prevent and treat pests.

Plant onions, radishes, and nasturtiums near cabbage to help deter pests. I love planting I’itoi onions around all my cabbage plants. Growing mint in containers nearby can help, too.
Use row covers while plants are young.
To protect against cutworms, place a protective collar around young plants. Strips of newspaper can be used for this.
Handpick caterpillars each morning and night.
Spray cabbage infected with caterpillars with Bt (Bacillus Thuringiensis – I use this type from Amazon).
Spray aphids with water or treat with insecticidal soap.

To prevent the build-up of soil-borne diseases, rotate where you plant cabbage each year. Wait 3 years before planting cabbage in the same spot. Remove and destroy affected plants. To prevent disease, remove the entire plant after harvesting rather than leaving the roots in the ground.

7. Provide even watering for cabbage

Cabbage requires regular, even watering. Uneven watering can result in stunted, split, or cracked heads. Heavy mulch will help keep the soil cool and retain moisture.

8. Don’t let cabbage go hungry

Cabbage plants use up soil nutrients quickly, so they need regular feeding to grow well. Start by giving young plants a fish emulsion and seaweed solution about two weeks after planting. Then, continue to feed them once a month throughout the growing season. This consistent feeding helps your cabbage form healthy heads. I recommend using this organic fertilizer that works great for me.

9. Harvest cabbage at the right time

It’s important to harvest your cabbage at the right time. If you wait too long, the heads can split or crack open. This happens because fully grown cabbages continue to absorb water, which builds up internal pressure. When the pressure becomes too much, the heads split. To avoid this, check your cabbage regularly as it nears maturity. When the heads are firm and reach the expected size for their variety, it’s time to harvest. This way, you’ll enjoy the best flavor and prevent any splitting.

Cabbage tolerates light freezes – the flavor improves with cold weather. But for the best flavor, harvest cabbage before temperatures heat up, even if it has not reached full size.

Cabbage is ready to harvest in about 80 to 180 days when grown from seed and in approximately 65 to 105 days if grown from transplants (depending upon the variety).

Harvest head cabbage when heads are well-formed and firm. Harvest head cabbage by cutting the base with a sharp knife.
Begin harvesting leaf cabbage about a month after planting by harvesting the outer leaves using the cut-and-come-again method. To do this, harvest only the older outer leaves and allow the center of the plant to send out new leaves. Learn more about the cut-and-come-again method in this guide.

10. Store and use your homegrown cabbage

To store cabbage, remove loose leaves, wrap them in a damp paper towel, and store them in a plastic vegetable bag. Cabbage stored in this manner will last 1-2 months (or more!) in the refrigerator. Use cabbage in slaw, roasted, kimchi, soup, cabbage rolls, stir-fries, and more. Preserve cabbage by fermenting, and make sauerkraut.