Growing Cabbage

Brassica sp. : Brassicaceae / the mustard or cabbage family

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
			S	S	S
				T	T	T	T

(Best months for growing Cabbage in Australia - tropical regions)

S = Plant undercover in seed trays
T = Plant out (transplant) seedlings

Easy to grow. Grow in seed trays, and plant out in 4 weeks. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 5°C and 18°C. (Show °F/in)
Space plants: 50 - 75 cm apart
Harvest in 11-15 weeks.
Compatible with (can grow beside): Dwarf (bush) beans, beets, celery, cucumber, onions, marigold, nasturtium, rhubarb, aromatic herbs (sage, dill, chamomile, thyme)
Avoid growing close to: Climbing (pole) beans, tomato, peppers (chili, capsicum), eggplant (aubergine), strawberry, mustard, parsnip

Your comments and tips

26 Mar 12, Elina (United Kingdom - warm/temperate climate): Hello, thank you for your advice. Do you spread the tabasco mixture around the plants or on the plants themselves? Many thanks in advance!
Reply or Post a new comment
11 Nov 11, Barrie (Australia - temperate climate): Why have my cabbages gone to seed before they were formed properly. Planted seedlings early October
Reply or Post a new comment
26 Jul 12, steven (Australia - temperate climate): yes i had a similar problem and it mainly seemed to be when it was extra hot weather and thus water is lower because of evaporations .
Reply or Post a new comment
11 Nov 11, Dee (Australia - temperate climate): Hi Barrie From what I understand, cabbages usually bolt to seed due to stress - mainly heat / water stress. The same thing happened to mine
Reply or Post a new comment
02 Sep 11, Evan (Australia - sub-tropical climate): All very nice growing cabbage for the cabbage moth worms to eat! That is my story as reluctant to use chemicals and time consuming removing grubs by hand. How do I keep the pests at bay without chemicals? Would appreciate assistance. Thanks for access to a great website also, although eco-tips for pests would be good too with each plant link.
Reply or Post a new comment
01 Oct 12, Linda (Australia - cool/mountain climate): I tried everything - eggshells,solar powered flapping butterflies, pepper, garlic plants, etc. The caterpillars still ate my brassicas. I've discovered two things that work. You can plant Chinese cabbage to grow over winter when there are no white butterflies about. This works wonderfully well. The other thing is to cover them with a netting tunnel. We made a high tunnel over the whole garden bed this spring and I'm growing cabbages, kale, etc in a place the butterflies can't get into. We made the tunnel with electrical conduit pipes stuck into metal pipes. If it's ground crawling grubs, such as slugs, use coffee grounds around the plants.
Reply or Post a new comment
01 Mar 12, Leo (Australia - temperate climate): Spray some neem oil or a mix of neem and tea tree oils, diluted in water, once a week. It keeps the caterpillars and other insects at bay. Other "organic" options include Dipel (Bacillus Thuringiensis) or Derris dust. I usually stick to neem but use a bit of Dipel occasionally.
Reply or Post a new comment
05 Feb 12, Kimmy (Australia - temperate climate): I bought net covers used to protect food from flies ($2 each at the $2 shop) to cover my young plants. Works a treat! Allos sum and rain in but keep bugs out. Protects from white butterflies, snails & slugs without harming them (which is important to me). Once plants a strong enough against attacks, I remove the cover and pop it over other young transplants. Wouldn't cover veges that need bugs to pollinate of course but works well for all others. Hope that helps.
Reply or Post a new comment
19 Sep 11, Daniel (Australia - temperate climate): Make a spray using molasses. There are varying recipes out there on the net. I can't even remember the quantity I used last time as I still have 5 litres of the stuff ready to be used but it works. Some people use 1TSP molasses to 1 litre water. I added washing up liquid to help it stick. I would prefer not to use washing up liquid next time as then you can use it as often as you like without worrying about harming the plant/soil. In fact using a molasses spray will do nothing but good for your plants. Daniel
Reply or Post a new comment
13 Sep 11, Aase (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I was growing cabbage with succes, all I used was a garlic mixed with water spray, and plated mariegold around the vegtble garden, Cabbage was growing in rich organic soil.
Reply or Post a new comment

Showing 101 - 110 of 153 comments

See comments for all plants

Replying to:

Are you direct sowing (into the garden), or are you sowing indoors in trays? I'll give you the germination temperatures. Germination temperatures vary from plant to plant (even among say tomatoes - the various varieties have different germination temperatures). These are OPTIMAL germination temperatures-- so higher or lower can work, but germination will not be as consistent or Good in non-optimal temps. The germination temperature must be sustained (over several days or more) -- this is the plant's indicator (sustained warm temperature), that spring/summer is here -- and it is time to wake up and get growing. If the germination temperatures are not met, the seeds will remain dormant (most of them), waiting for their ideal growing conditions to occur. Remember - varieties make a difference so I'm giving you GENERAL temperatures. PEPPERS: Soil temperature needs to be at least 75-85 degrees F (24-27 c) for good germination. Peppers won’t germinate in cold soil– with the higher end temps germination may be in 5 days, or may take up to 20 days in the lower temps. Don’t overwater seeds or they may rot. peppers don't like to be overly wet. Your max germination temp is 95F (35c) for peppers. TOMATO : optimum germination temps are : 65-85F (24-30c) days to germinate varies a lot by variety ... so maybe 1- 2 weeks ? Max temp is 95f (35c). Tomato seeds have been know to germinate at temp as low as 40f (4c) -- but expect germination to take a month or more and your germination rate (% of seeds that germinate) will probably be very low. GREENS: way to varied to give an answer -- example: KALE has an optimum germination temp of 65F (18c) and range of 45°F - 85°F (7-30c), while SWISS CHARD's optimum germination is 80°F (27c) with a range of 40°F - 95°F (4-32c). Days to germination vary based on variety and temp. I generally recommend starting peppers and tomatoes indoors -- and with greens it depends on the green -- kale and chard are both tough, and both have a very wide temp range for germination so outdoors is fine. You also have to consider insects... larger plants have a better chance (in general) of survival if you experience pest problems. OF course a lot depends on how long your growing season is-- in a really long and hot growing season, starting tomato seeds outdoors is no problem, in a shorter cooler growing season the optimum germination temps may never be met (sustained) so starting indoors is pretty much a given.

- Celeste Archer

Your name

Where are you?

Email address

Please provide your email address if you are hoping for a reply

Your reply

All comments are reviewed before displaying on the site, so your posting will not appear immediately

Gardenate

Keep your garden growing - see what to plant right now

Growing Cabbage

Brassica sp. : Brassicaceae / the mustard or cabbage family

Your comments and tips

Gardenate

Keep your garden growing - see what to plant right now

Growing Cabbage

Brassica sp. : Brassicaceae / the mustard or cabbage family

Your comments and tips

Become A Supporter!

Planting Reminders