How to Grow from Cabbage Seeds

Cabbage seeds are easy to plant and produce a succulent and delicious head of cabbage. You can enjoy the cabbage harvest in soups, wraps, salads, and more. On our farm, we plant cabbage seeds and enjoy a long harvest window from late fall to early summer. Are you wondering how to grow from cabbage seed? We will give you all the tips here!

 Choosing Cabbage Seed Varieties

When choosing which cabbage seed varieties to grow in your garden or farm, it is important to remember how much space you must devote to the plant. Some cabbage plants get much larger than others. For example, our All Season Cabbage stays relatively compact and small, making it an excellent choice for a container or small space growing. Other varieties like our Red Acre Cabbage and Aubervilliers Cabbage can get rather large and need a spacing of at least 18–24 inches between plants. When choosing your cabbage seed varieties, make sure you look to see how much area they need between plantings. You can find this information on our website and seed packs.

 When to Plant Cabbage Seeds

Cabbage plants enjoy shorter days and cooler temperatures. They like to grow in the fall, winter, and spring here in Zones 9 and 10. Summertime temperatures can be too high to successfully grow cabbages unless your plants are protected with shade cloth and watered heavily. We do not suggest planting cabbage in the long days of summer.  If you do decide, our All-Season Cabbage is the best suited for longer days and warmer temperatures. In Zones 9 and 10, we suggest that you start to grow cabbage seeds in small pots in the fall like you do all brassicas. By beginning them in starter pots, you have the possibility to move them around to cooler areas of your yard during our extreme fall temperatures. Seedlings started in autumn will enjoy the longer fall days to get up and grow. As they grow and get bigger, the days will shorten and get cooler, making it a better time to plant your seedlings in the garden. We have tons of videos about fall seed starting on our YouTube Channel. Here is a video showing what we start in the garden in September.

Succession Planting Cabbage Seeds

Planting cabbage seeds takes consideration and planning. Keep in mind that cabbage plants can take up a lot of room in the garden. Each plant produces just one large head of cabbage that, once harvested, the plant is no longer productive. By succession planting your cabbage seeds, you can extend your harvest window. This allows for the ripening of the cabbage heads to take place over time instead of all at once. It’s never fun having to harvest tons of cabbage heads at once without the refrigerator space or appetite to eat all that cabbage before it goes to waste.

How to Succession Plant Cabbage Seeds

To succession plant cabbage seeds, it is best to start new plants from seed every 21 days (about 3 weeks). This allows you to have cabbages ripening all season long and not all at once. We have succession planting recommendations for all our crops. They are on the right-hand side of each product page on our website. By starting new plants every 21 days, you can replace spent, and harvested plants with a new seedling or transplant and always have your garden full and thriving. Use our free Succession Planting Worksheet as a guide.

How to Grow Cabbage Plants

The practices of growing cabbage from seeds are simple if you provide your plants with the growing conditions they enjoy. Cabbages like to grow in cool temperatures with ample moisture. To achieve this, we recommend you plant your cabbages in the fall in Zones 9 and 10. If you are in other zones, we recommend planting them in the fall with sufficient time before the first frost and in early spring after the last frost. You can use row covers to protect plants from frost. Add compost and manure to improve soil structure and keep moisture in the soil. For areas with drought and extreme heat (like Zones 9 and 10), we recommend you mulch heavily around your plants to keep the soil cool and moist. You may need to use our garden shade cloth during warm fall weather to allow your plants to grow freely and without wilting through the fall. You will have beautiful heads of cabbage in the winter and spring.

Pest Issues for Cabbage

Cabbages grow relatively easily once they grow large enough to fend off insects. When you transplant your small seedlings into the garden, you can pre-treat the area with Sluggo® Plus, if you have a large population of snails, slugs, and Armadillidiidae (rollie-pollies). Protect your plants with row cover to prevent excess damage from leaf-eating caterpillars if you are planting in the fall. If aphids are an issue, you can spray them off with a jet of water or use our Organic Insect Killing Soap.    

Harvesting Cabbage

Cabbage is a one-time harvest crop, and once you harvest the head, the plant will not produce another head of cabbage. For this reason, it is important to succession plant cabbage seeds throughout the season for a long harvest window.

If you have not planted cabbage seeds in your garden, we highly recommend you take advantage of growing this delicious crop. Homegrown cabbage has an amazing flavor and is great in tons of recipes.