The sun dawned bright and warm one Saturday morning as my husband and I drove through a nearby town. We were in college, and as we were both new to Iowa, our Saturday mornings often involved exploring the surrounding towns. On this beautiful spring morning, we passed a small house, and a distinct memory lingers. An older gentleman sat in a lawn chair beside his garden, the details etched in my mind: his pressed, short-sleeve button-up shirt, his snapback farmer hat, and most vividly, the line of colossal cabbages standing proud along the garden's edge.
Maybe it was because this sight was so quintessentially Iowan and it fed my growing love for the state, maybe it was a foreshadowing of my life to come, but for nearly 20 years I’ve been carrying around this memory of an old man and his impressive cabbages and for twenty years I’ve been trying to live up to it with my own cabbages, most of the time falling short. That is until this year when I finally grew some cabbages that I think the old man would be proud of. Well, if he knew I existed of course. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve grown many fine cabbages—that part is straightforward—but until now, not the scale-tippers I was wanting. Anyway, now that I’ve checked this one off my list, I’m excited to share what I’ve learned. So, let’s get to it! Below are some of my best tips for growing large cabbage.
My beautiful baby sitting beside our toddler. Just kidding, the kid's cute too—I grew him as well.
| What's the Big Deal? |
| Reading that introduction may have you thinking that cabbage is hard to grow, but I want to be careful not to give that impression. Due to its classification as a “refined” Brassica, cabbage does have a reputation of being a prima donna, however, I think this reputation is, at least to some extent, undeserved. If you plant your cabbage seeds and provide the most basic level of care (weeding, occasional watering, insect protection) your seeds will produce cabbages. They may not win any contests, but they’ll still be far fresher and tastier than anything you could buy from the store, and in the end, isn’t that what we’re all after? |
Choose a Prime Planting Site
While many vegetables will be content pretty much anywhere in the garden, Cabbages are a bit pickier in terms of their location. As mentioned previously, most soils will grow cabbages, but highly fertile soils will grow the largest cabbages. Therefore, reserve the most fertile spots in the garden for your cabbages, keeping the following preferences in mind.
Boost Your Soil's Fertility
Cabbage is a very heavy feeder that needs rich, fertile soil with a pH of 6.0 to 7.5. Gardeners will do well to amend the site with a heavy dose of compost or well-rotted manure prior to transplanting. This serves two purposes: 1. It increases the amount of nutrients available to the plants throughout the growing season and 2. It regulates the moisture content of the soil, which will be very important as the heads begin to swell. If your soil has a decent amount of organic matter, but is not of the highest fertility, a teaspoon of 10-10-10 fertilizer mixed into the bottom of the hole at transplanting time will do the trick.
Allow Lots of Sun
Choose a site that receives at least 8 hours of sun daily. Cabbage can survive with less but will produce the largest heads when it can bask in plenty of sunlight. In areas where the temperatures can get quite warm in late spring and early summer, some light shade may be beneficial.
Select the Right Variety
Variety selection is key when attempting to grow huge cabbage. While there are many delicious early and mid-season varieties out there, it’s the late season varieties that will yield the largest heads. These varieties are slower growing and form dense, tightly packed heads that hold up well during storage. They are also less prone to splitting as they size up, which allows them to grow later into the season. Danish Ballhead and Savoy Perfection are some of our favorite late varieties for growing large cabbages. Although technically a mid-season variety, All Season's excellent standing ability makes it a great option as well.
| Hybrids vs. Heirlooms |
| While I am firmly in the heirloom camp, I will concede that hybrid varieties are going to give you the largest heads. Don’t let that discourage you from growing heirloom varieties though—it’s not all about size. When it comes to hybrid cabbage, flavor seems to have been an afterthought in the decades-long pursuit of durability and uniformity. This is just my opinion, and many of you may beg to differ, but my experience with popular hybrids like Megaton and Stonehead is that flavor seems to be lacking when compared to my favorite heirlooms. None of this changes the fact that hybrids will indeed give you the largest heads, and if you’re looking to win contests, a hybrid is probably your best bet. |
Sow (and Transplant) Early
Regardless of whether you’re growing a hybrid or heirloom, the key to growing large cabbage heads is to get the seeds started early and the seedlings transplanted outdoors while the weather is still cold. The latter part of that statement is key. Starting your plants too soon and then not being able to transplant them will do you no good. As an example, here in Iowa our last frost usually comes around May 10th. I like to get my cabbage seeds sown the first week of March (10 weeks before last frost) and I aim to have them transplanted the first week of April (6 weeks before last frost.) Usually, my garden must be prepped in the fall to get this to work. There are many years where I don’t have it all together and need to work the garden in the spring. That’s alright, I can still grow nice cabbages and they still taste great—I just don’t get as large of heads as I do when I transplant them early. In milder climates, cabbage can be sown much sooner. Southern gardeners, for example, often aim to have their spring cabbage sown on January 1st.
Give them Room to Grow
Transplant your cabbages outdoors as soon as the soil can be worked. As mentioned earlier, I like to have them in around 6 weeks before the last frost, but any time in spring will work. One week before transplanting, bring the seedlings outdoors during the day so that they will be sufficiently hardened to those cooler spring temperatures. Prepare the beds by working in a good bit of well-rotted compost or manure. Alternatively, place a teaspoon of 10-10-10 into the bottom of the hole before transplanting. Set seedlings at least 24 inches apart. This will look generous early on but remember they’re going to get huge. Burry them only to the natural soil line as burying deeper could lead to issues with rot and disease.
My general process for transplanting is to dig the hole and fill it with water, then dangle the seedling in and backfill as quickly as possible. This creates a giant mudball around the roots which will keep the seedling happy until the next rain comes. I seldom have to water after this, which is good because I’ll be busy planting for several more weeks and won’t have time to come back and water each day. Regardless of whether you use my method or not, you’ll want to make sure the seedlings have plenty of water until they’re established.
Chloe M
May 04, 2024
I found your blog posts informative and enjoyable. Thanks!