Vegetable · Brassicaceae
Cabbage
Brassica oleracea (Capitata Group)
Hand it steady moisture, rich soil, and cool weather, and cabbage gives back a heavy, tight head.
Full sun
Every 3–7 days
41–77°F · 5–25°C
60–100 days
Overview
Cabbage is a cool-season vegetable, and it's grown for that dense head it builds up from layer after layer of wrapped leaves. It's a brassica, so it's family with broccoli, kale, and Brussels sprouts, and you'll find it in smooth green, deep red, and crinkled savoy. Here's a neat thing: it's a biennial grown as an annual, so it pours everything into that one head the first year, and you harvest it well before it even thinks about flowering.
It likes things cool and takes a light frost just fine, which is why it does double duty as a spring crop and a fall one. It stays small too, only 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 cm) tall, so it'll fit a snug bed without fuss. What does it really care about? Rich soil and even water, and honestly, most cabbage troubles come right back to a slip in one of those.
You'll need a little patience, since a head takes 60 to 100 days to firm up. And yes, it pulls in a steady crowd of caterpillars and a couple of stubborn diseases. But stay a step ahead, keep the water even, and you'll close out the season with solid heads that keep for weeks and only get sweeter once a fall chill rolls in.
Care
The short version: full sun and cool weather, rich soil kept evenly moist at about an inch to an inch and a half of water a week, a feed when you plant and another a few weeks later, and pick the heads the minute they feel firm.
Light
Cabbage wants full sun, six hours a day or more, to pack a head good and tight. It'll get by in partial shade and still grow, but the head comes in looser and slower, so you might as well save those shadier corners for hot spells when a little shade actually does it a favor.
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist with around 1 to 1.5 inches of water a week, soaking down at least 6 inches and watering in the morning. The trick is keeping it even, because once a head's firm, a sudden big drink after a dry stretch is what makes it split.
Soil
Plant it in fertile, well-drained sandy loam loaded with organic matter, so it stays damp without turning into a bog. Shoot for a pH of 6.0 to 7.0, since that slightly acidic to neutral range also helps keep clubroot from showing up.
Temperature
Cabbage is a cool-season crop, happiest between 41°F and 77°F (5°C to 25°C). A light frost? No problem, and a fall chill even sweetens the head. But real summer heat will push it to bolt instead of wrapping up tight leaves.
Humidity
Plain old outdoor humidity is fine for cabbage, so there's no number to hit. What matters way more is good airflow, because crowded, damp leaves are exactly what the head-spoiling diseases are waiting for.
Feeding
Work a balanced fertilizer into the bed at planting, going by a soil test, then side-dress with nitrogen about 3 to 4 weeks after transplanting to carry it through heading. Cabbage is a hungry one, and that mid-season boost is what really fills the head out.
Pruning
Good news, cabbage doesn't need real pruning. Just strip off any yellowed, damaged, or pest-chewed outer leaves as they show up, and cut the head with a sharp knife at harvest. Leave the outer leaves on the stalk, though, and you might coax a second crop of little mini-heads.
Size & spacing
Plants stay compact at 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 cm) tall and 12 to 24 inches (30 to 61 cm) wide. Give each one that much elbow room so the heads can size up nicely and air can move through to keep disease down.
When to plant
Cabbage is all about cool weather, not heat. Start seeds indoors in late winter and slip 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 wrap up in fall, even sweeter after 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 trouble almost always shows up on the leaves or in the head, so that's where to look first. A quick glance usually tells you if it's a chewing pest, a disease, or just a watering slip. Spot it below, then jump on it early, while the head can still be saved.
Plants flopping in the heat, leaves yellow, roots swollen
This is clubroot, a soilborne disease that loves sour ground and twists the roots into useless clubs. There's no saving a plant once it's got it, so lift the affected ones and destroy them instead of composting them. Then sweeten the bed with lime toward a pH of 6.8 to 7.2, buy 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 V-shapes working their way in from the edges
Those yellow wedges with blackened veins are black rot, a bacterial disease that hitches a ride on infected seed and transplants. Pull and destroy anything showing it, and stay out of the patch while the leaves are wet so you don't carry it down the row. Start 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
Holes chomped through the leaves, plus green caterpillars and frass
What you've got are cabbage caterpillars, usually the imported cabbageworm, the looper that humps its back as it crawls, or the little diamondback moth larva. Pick them off the second you spot them and spray Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) while the larvae are still small, only bumping up to spinosad if the pressure stays heavy. Want to skip all that? Lay a floating row cover at transplanting and keep the butterflies and moths off from the start.
Fix:
- Handpick caterpillars when first spotted
- Apply Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) consistently while larvae are small
- Use spinosad per label if pressure is heavy
A solid head that's gone and split open
Splitting happens when a dry spell ends in heavy rain or watering and a dense head drinks faster than its skin can stretch. It's not a disease, so look for it after a downpour on heads that are already firm. Grab a split head right away and use it, and ease the water uptake on the others 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
Curled-up leaves covered in waxy gray-green bugs
These are cabbage aphids, gray-green and dusted with a whitish wax, and they cram into leaf undersides and the folds of the head. Blast the colonies off with a strong jet of water, then follow up with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil worked right into the clusters. Check transplants before they go in, leave room for ladybugs and other helpers, and clear out crop residue once the harvest's done.
Fix:
- Dislodge with a strong spray of water
- Apply insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, ensuring contact with colonies
Toxicity
Cabbage might be the most worry-free thing in the whole garden when it comes to safety. There's nothing toxic in it, so pets, livestock, and people can all tuck in. The only thing to keep an eye on? How much, since a big plate of raw brassica can leave any animal a little gassy.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
There's nothing in cabbage that can hurt a cat. A nibble of cooked leaf here and there is harmless, though honestly most cats won't give it a second look.
Dogs None
It's safe to share in small amounts. A dog that wolfs down a big pile of raw cabbage might get a little gassy or pass a soft stool, but that's just digestion, not poisoning.
Horses Safe
No toxic risk for horses at all. Big helpings of any brassica can leave a horse gassy, though, so keep it to an occasional treat rather than a staple.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits can eat cabbage, and the leaves make a fine green. Just bring it in slowly and in small pieces, since a sudden pile can upset a tender gut.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep graze brassicas without any harm. Cabbage and its trimmings are a common feed, though it's best balanced against other forage so it isn't the whole diet.
Birds Safe
Chickens and other birds peck happily at a hung cabbage head, and plenty of keepers use one to keep a flock busy. Nothing in it does them any harm.
People Safe
Cabbage is a kitchen staple, raw, cooked, or fermented, and safe for everyone. The only thing? Chronic, very high intake of raw brassicas is the only thing that raises any goitrogen concern.
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
Think cabbage is just that plain green ball? There's a lot more to it than that. A few types really earn their spot for flavor, for timing, or for how patiently they wait in the garden.
Early Jersey Wakefield
Early Jersey Wakefield is a much-loved heirloom early type, known for its pointed, conical head and sweet flavor.
Stonehead
Stonehead is an early hybrid that forms really dense, solid round heads, and it resists splitting if you can't harvest right on time.
Ruby Ball
Ruby Ball is a red cabbage with firm round heads and a slightly peppery flavor, and it holds well out in the garden.
Savoy King
Savoy King is a savoy type with deeply crinkled blue-green leaves that turn milder once you cook them.
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 comes up from seed, started indoors for an early crop or sown a bit later for a fall one. No cuttings, no cloning, nothing fancy. Just a packet of seed and a head start under cover, and you're off.
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, so don't overthink it. Start it indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the last spring frost, or sow for a fall crop in mid to late summer, and it'll come up in about 4 to 10 days. The seedlings are ready for the garden in 4 to 6 weeks, but harden them off first. Prefer to skip the transplant shock? Direct-seed it, though it can take up to three weeks longer to mature.
Myths
Cold weather wrecks cabbage, so you've got to harvest all the heads before the first frost.
Not so. Cabbage is a hardy cool-season crop that shrugs off light frost, and a fall chill actually sweetens the flavor. Only a hard freeze damages a mature head, so there's no rush to clear the bed at the first cold night.
If your cabbage head splits, that's soil disease showing up.
Nope, splitting is a physical thing, not an infection. A firm, ripe head drinks up water fast after uneven watering or heavy rain and bursts its own skin. No pathogen is involved, just the swing from dry to wet.