Grow Cabbage: Simple Planting, Care & Harvest Tips

Cabbage is a cool-season vegetable that brings hearty greens to your garden in both spring and fall.¹ You can grow cabbage from seed or from transplants, which are young plants you move into the garden.⁵

Why Grow Cabbage

Cabbage (Brassica oleracea) forms a very round, dense head made of many tightly wrapped layers of thick, sturdy leaves.¹ Most heads are green, but you can also find red/purple and white types.¹

Cabbage is also a gem for the kitchen, with many reasons to grow it.³ It is loaded with vitamins and minerals, including vitamins C, K, and potassium.³

Pick the Right Spot

Choose a sunny spot in the garden with good soil drainage.⁴ Cabbage wants full sun.¹ Aim for neutral soil pH, which means soil that is neither acidic nor alkaline.¹

Cabbage is a Brassica, and Brassica relatives such as broccoli can attract the same pests and diseases.⁴ Keep them from growing right beside your cabbage.⁴

Short on space? Cabbage is container-friendly.¹ Plan for plants that grow 1–3 feet tall and spread 1–3 feet wide.¹

Planting Steps

Decide between seed and transplants, since cabbage can be grown from either.⁵
Plant seeds ¼-½ inch deep.⁵
Thin to the final stand when plants have 3-4 true leaves. Thinning means pulling out extras so the rest have room.⁵
Replant the thinnings. Plants removed at thinning can be transplanted to adjacent areas.⁵

Care Through the Season

Cabbage has moderate water needs.¹ It is also cold hardy, which suits a cool-season crop.¹

Check your plants often, because related Brassica crops share the same pests and diseases.⁴

Harvest Tips

Your reward is a dense head of tightly wrapped, sturdy leaves, ready for the kitchen.¹ Cabbage brings these greens in both spring and fall, so you can plan for two seasons of picking.¹ Check your seed packet or plant tag for the timing of your chosen variety.

Common Mistakes

Planting in a shady or poorly drained spot instead of a sunny one with good drainage.⁴
Planting cabbage next to broccoli or other Brassica relatives.⁴
Skipping thinning once seedlings have 3-4 true leaves.⁵
Sowing seeds deeper than ½ inch.⁵

Quick-Reference Checklist

Pick a sunny spot with good soil drainage.⁴
Aim for neutral soil pH.¹
Choose seeds or transplants.⁵
Sow seeds ¼-½ inch deep.⁵
Thin at 3-4 true leaves and replant the extras.⁵
Keep cabbage away from broccoli and other Brassicas.⁴
Give moderate water.¹