Brassica
How to grow cabbage
Brassica oleracea (Capitata group)
Cabbage can be cut in every month of the year if you grow three types: spring cabbage sown in July and August, summer cabbage sown from February to April, and winter and savoy cabbage sown in April and May. All want full sun, rich soil that is firm and not acid, and steady water. Plant deep, tread the soil hard round each plant and net the bed on the day you plant: pigeons and cabbage white caterpillars are what ruin most crops.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy (winter and spring types)
- Position
- Full sun
- Soil
- Firm, rich, moisture-retentive
- Ideal pH
- 6.5 to 7.5
- Water
- Moderate to high, hearts need steady water
- Feeding
- Heavy feeder
Sowing and planting cabbage
WhenSow Feb to Jul by type; transplant 5 to 6 weeks later; harvest year-round with the right succession
Starting off
Sow 1 to 2 cm deep in modules or a seedbed at 10 to 20 °C, germinating in 7 to 10 days: Feb to Mar under cover for summer cabbage, Apr to May outdoors for winter and savoy, July to early Aug for spring cabbage. Transplant at 5 to 6 weeks with 4 to 5 true leaves into firm ground, watering the hole first.
Spacing and planting
Spring cabbage 30 cm apart in rows 30 cm apart; summer types 35 to 45 cm; winter and savoy types 50 cm apart in rows 60 cm apart. Plant deep to the first leaves and firm hard with the heel. Compact summer types such as 'Hispi' will heart in a 30 cm pot, but larger types need open ground.
Varieties worth growing
- Greyhound
- Pointed summer cabbage that hearts quickly from a spring sowing and takes little room at 35 cm spacing.
- Durham Early
- Spring cabbage sown in late July, cut as loose greens from February or left to form a small pointed heart in April.
- Red Drumhead
- Solid, deep red heads for autumn, the standard for pickling and braising, and it stores for weeks in a cool shed.
- January King 3
- Very hardy winter cabbage with purple-flushed outer leaves and a sweet, crunchy heart, ready from November to February.
- Kilaton F1
- Autumn ballhead bred with clubroot resistance, the one to grow where the soil is infected.
Cabbage month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Cut winter cabbage and savoys. Check nets after snow or wind.
- February
Sow summer cabbage in modules under cover. Top-dress spring cabbage at the end of the month.
- March
Sow summer and red cabbage. Cut spring greens. Test the soil pH on next year's bed.
- April
Plant out summer cabbage with collars and netting. Sow winter and savoy types. Cut hearted spring cabbage.
- May
Sow winter cabbage by mid month. Top-dress summer cabbage three to four weeks after planting.
- June
Transplant winter and savoy cabbage, firming hard. Cut the first pointed summer cabbages.
- July
Finish planting winter types by mid month. Sow spring cabbage in the last week. Check for caterpillars.
- August
Sow spring cabbage in the first week. Cut summer cabbage. Water in dry spells.
- September
Plant out spring cabbage 30 cm apart. Cut red cabbage. No more nitrogen on winter types.
- October
Finish planting spring cabbage. Draw soil up the stems of winter cabbage. Lift red cabbage for store.
- November
Cut the first winter cabbages. Remove yellow leaves.
- December
Cut savoys and January King as needed.
Feeding cabbage
A hungry crop that needs nitrogen to build leaf and firm, limed ground to use it. Base dressing at planting, one nitrogen top-dress, and for spring cabbage no feed in autumn but a boost in late February.
A nitrogen-leaning feed on well-limed, firmed ground for solid hearts.
Feeding plan
Late winter before planting, only if a test shows pH below 6.5
Garden Lime (calcium carbonate)
About 0.5 kg/m², raked in. Keep it apart from manure and fertiliser by at least a month.
A week or two before planting
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
100 g/m² raked in, then tread the bed firm. That is about 16 g per summer cabbage at 40 by 40 cm, or 30 g per winter cabbage at 50 by 60 cm (100 x 0.3 m²).
3 to 4 weeks after planting, summer and winter types
Organic Nitrogen Fertiliser 13% N
40 g/m², the bottom of the label range for hungry brassicas: about 12 g per winter cabbage (40 x 0.3), roughly one rounded handful between three plants. Repeat once after 5 to 6 weeks only if growth is pale, and not after August.
Planting spring cabbage, September
Nothing
Plant into ground fed for the previous crop. Autumn feeding gives soft growth that winter kills.
Late February to early March, spring cabbage
Organic Nitrogen Fertiliser 13% N
25 to 40 g/m², once: 8 to 12 g per metre of row with rows 30 cm apart (25 to 40 x 0.3).
Signs to watch
Inner leaf margins brown and papery inside a healthy heart
Tipburn from fast, soft growth and erratic water, not soil calcium
Water steadily, no late nitrogen
Loose, open hearts
Loose planting or excess nitrogen
Firm hard and limit nitrogen to one top-dress
Pale lower leaves in spring
Nitrogen short after winter leaching
Nitrogen top-dress in Feb to Mar
Pests, diseases and problems
Leaves reduced to holes and ribs, with green or yellow-and-black caterpillars and dark droppings in the heart
Caterpillars of the large and small cabbage white butterflies, from May to October
Cover with fine insect mesh or butterfly netting held clear of the leaves from planting. On uncovered plants check under the leaves twice a week and rub off the yellow egg clusters and young caterpillars.
Leaves torn and stripped to the stalk, worst in winter and on new transplants
Wood pigeons
Net the bed on hoops for the whole life of the crop, pegged at the edges. Nothing else works reliably.
Young plants turn bluish, wilt in sun and stop growing; roots eaten away with white maggots among them
Cabbage root fly
Fit a 10 to 15 cm collar of card or felt flat round the stem at planting, or grow under insect mesh. Planting deep and firm helps plants re-root.
Plants wilt on warm days and stay stunted; roots swollen into distorted, knobbly lumps
Clubroot, a soil organism that lasts up to 20 years and thrives in acid, wet ground
Lime to bring the pH to 7 or a little above, improve drainage, and raise plants in 9 cm pots so they go out with a large healthy root. Grow Kilaton F1, and never accept brassica plants from infected plots.
Dense grey, waxy aphid colonies under leaves, which pucker and yellow
Mealy cabbage aphid, from midsummer
Squash colonies early or blast them off with water. Pull up and compost old brassica stumps by April so the pest has nowhere to overwinter.
Small white flies rise from the undersides of leaves; leaves sticky with black mould
Cabbage whitefly
Mostly a nuisance on outer leaves, which are removed in the kitchen. Strip off the worst lower leaves; insect mesh fitted from planting keeps numbers down.
Seedlings peppered with tiny round holes in a dry spring
Flea beetle
Raise seedlings under fleece, keep them watered so they grow through it, and plant out sturdy module plants rather than sowing direct.
Harvest and rotation
Harvest and storage
Cut when the heart feels solid, 20 to 35 weeks from sowing; spring greens are taken loose-leaved from February. Cut above the lowest leaves and score a 1 cm cross in the stump for a second flush of small heads. One head of 1 to 2 kg per plant. Winter types stand for months; red and white cabbages keep in a cool shed.
Rotation and companions
Rotation: brassica group, 4-year gap, planted after legumes on limed ground. Keep away from strawberries and tomatoes, which both suffer in their shade and dislike the limed soil.
Good to knowPlant firmly and net.
Growing cabbage in pots
Cabbage is not a natural pot crop, but a compact pointed variety such as Greyhound will heart in a 30 cm pot (about 15 litres), one plant to a pot. Use a loam-based or good peat-free compost with the 4-5-6 mixed in at 5 g per litre, which is 75 g for that pot, and firm the compost down hard round the plant. Water daily in summer and cover the pot with netting, as butterflies find a patio cabbage as easily as an allotment one. Winter and savoy types need open ground.
Cabbage: common questions
When do you plant cabbage in the UK?
It depends on the type. Summer cabbage is sown from February to April and planted in April and May; winter and savoy cabbage is sown in April and May and planted in June and July; spring cabbage is sown in late July and early August and planted in September and October.
Why are my cabbages not forming hearts?
Loose soil is the most common cause, followed by too much nitrogen, drought and planting too late. Cabbages need firm ground to heart up: tread round each plant at planting until a tugged leaf tears before the plant moves. Some spring cabbage varieties are meant to be cut as loose greens.
How do I stop caterpillars eating my cabbages?
Cover the plants with fine insect mesh or butterfly netting from the day you plant, held above the leaves on hoops so butterflies cannot lay through it. On uncovered plants, check the undersides of leaves twice a week from May and rub off the eggs and small caterpillars.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.