Cabbage is a cool-weather loving crop that does best when planted in early spring or fall, But what if you got a late start on your garden planning and missed the ideal planting window? Is it still possible to grow cabbage successfully if you plant late in the summer? This comprehensive guide will examine the factors to consider when planting cabbage late in the season and provide helpful tips to boost your chances of success
Understanding Cabbage’s Growing Requirements
First it’s important to understand cabbage’s ideal growing conditions so you can evaluate if a late planting will work in your area
Cool temperatures – Cabbage thrives when temperatures are between 60-70°F. It can tolerate short periods of temps up to 80°F.
Sunlight – Cabbage needs at least 6 hours of direct sun per day Partial shade is tolerated
Soil – Grows best in fertile soil amended with compost. Prefers a pH between 6.0-6.8.
Moisture – Consistent moisture is crucial, about 1-1.5 inches of water per week.
Season – Typically grown as a spring or fall crop. Full maturation takes 60-100 days depending on variety.
Factors That Determine If Late Planting Will Work
Several important factors will determine if cabbage can successfully be planted in mid to late summer:
Your Region’s Climate
Cabbage thrives in cool conditions. Warmer regions won’t be as suitable for late summer plantings.
If temps in your area are consistently above 80°F during the summer, cabbage likely won’t mature properly.
Monitor the extended forecast before planting to ensure cooler fall weather is on the horizon.
Variety Selection
Choose faster maturing varieties, ideally with days to maturity between 60-70 days.
Avoid long-season, storage type cabbages. Focus on fresh eating/short term storage varieties.
Green and Savoy cabbages tolerate heat better than red varieties.
Intended Use
Late-planted cabbage won’t store as long. Best used immediately after harvest.
Not a good option if you’re looking to store cabbage for winter.
Best for fresh salads, slaws, stir fries, and other quick cooked dishes.
Your Target Maturity Date
Remember to go back in time from the first fall frost date to make sure the cabbage has enough time to fully mature.
At least 2 months of cool weather is needed for cabbage to form heads properly before a hard freeze.
If cut short by frost, cabbage heads will likely be underdeveloped and split.
Tips for Planting Cabbage Late
If the factors align for your area, follow these tips to boost late summer cabbage success:
Start plants indoors – Gives transplants a head start before moving outside. Avoid direct sowing.
Use transplants – Mature plants tolerate heat better than seedlings. Plant on 6-12″ spacing.
Less than 2 months from first fall frost date. Rushes maturity and reduces yields.
Cabbage plants slow to establish and grow after transplanting. Heat stress is limiting growth.
Pests like cabbage worms are rampant and difficult to control.
Other heat-loving summer crops are still flourishing. Cabbage will compete poorly.
Enjoying Cabbage All Season
Even though late summer isn’t the best time for main season cabbage crops, gardeners in cooler areas can still make smaller amounts of fresh cabbage that can be used right away. Just make sure to choose varieties that mature faster for fall harvests, give them a little extra care to help them handle the heat, and change your expectations from planting in the spring and fall. By following these steps, you can enjoy fresh cabbage even when it’s really hot outside.
Yes, cabbage can be planted in June, especially for a fall harvest.
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Cabbage is packed with vitamins.
Cabbage is a hardy vegetable that grows especially well in fertile soils. There are various shades of green available, as well as red or purple types. Head shape varies from the standard round to flattened or pointed. Most varieties have smooth leaves, but the Savoy types have crinkly textured leaves.
Cabbage is easy to grow if you select suitable varieties and practice proper culture and insect management. Always regarded as a good source of vitamins, cabbage recently has been shown to have disease-preventive properties as well.
Transplant early cabbage soon enough that it matures before the heat of summer. Many varieties are available and two or three varieties with different maturities can provide harvest over a long period. Hardened plants are tolerant of frosts and can be planted among the earliest of cool-season garden vegetables.
Cabbage is easily transplanted from either bare-root or cell-pack-grown plants. Late cabbage needs to be started in the middle of summer when it’s hot, but its main head grows in the fall when it’s cooler. It may be transplanted or seeded directly in the garden.
In summer, if possible, place seed flats or seedbeds where some protection from the sun is available, either natural or artificial. To keep plants from being too shocked by the summer sun, try to transplant them on days that are cloudy, overcast, or rainy.
Plants should be 12 to 24 inches apart in a row, depending on the type and size of head you want. The closer the spacing, the smaller the heads.
Most of the time, early varieties are planted 12 inches apart from each other. Heads from early varieties weigh between 1 and 3 pounds, and heads from later varieties weigh between 4 and 8 pounds.
Sow cabbage seed 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep.
Keep the seeds moist and thin or move the seedlings to the space you want them to have.
The plants that were taken out can be moved to a different row or flat.
When you move plants, use starter fertilizer and when the plants are half grown, side-dress them with nitrogen fertilizer.
Cultivate shallowly to keep down weeds.
During the growing season, the soil needs to be very wet in order to grow good cabbage. It’s especially important to water plants planted in the fall so that the young plants can survive the summer’s intense sunlight and heat and so that the growing heads have enough water to grow quickly.
It is best to add nitrogen fertilizer to the soil around plants that are half grown.
Common Problems Growing Cabbage
Yellow or fusarium wilt is a relatively common disease that causes the leaves of plants to wilt and die. The first sign of the disease is yellowing and browning of the lower leaves. The plants are stunted before wilting occurs. Grow yellows-resistant (YR) or yellows-tolerant varieties. Most modern hybrids have this tolerance or resistance bred into them.
Blackleg and black rot are two diseases that cause severe losses. The plants may be stunted, turn yellow and die. Blackleg is named for the black cankers on the stem. The taproot often rots away. Black rot can be recognized by large, V-shaped, yellow-to-brown areas in the leaves, starting at the leaf edge. The veins turn black. Soft rot usually follows black-rot infection.
Control is essentially the same for blackleg and black rot. Both diseases are spread by seed, transplants and insects. If you want to avoid getting diseases, buy seed that has been treated with hot water. If the transplants are wilted, a bad shade of green, or have black spots on the stems or leaves, don’t buy them.
If you find sick plants in the garden, cut off the leaves, stems, and tops and burn or throw them away. Do not put diseased plants into the compost pile. Avoid cultural practices (crowding, overwatering, planting in poorly drained soil and inadequate insect control) that support the disease organisms of black rot and blackleg. If possible, grow black-rot-resistant varieties.
Continue control of cabbage worms and other pests. If this control cannot be maintained, remove and destroy or compost the stumps, because they serve as a breeding ground for diseases and insect pests.
Cabbage can be harvested any time after the heads form.
To get the most cabbage, cut the heads when they are solid (they should be firm when you press on them) but before they crack or split.
When heads are fully grown, lightning-fast rain can crack or split open wide. The exposed internal tissue soon becomes unusable.
As soon as you find split heads, you should harvest and save them.
In addition to harvesting the mature heads of the cabbage planted in the spring, you can harvest a later crop of small heads (cabbage sprouts). These sprouts develop on the stumps of the cut stems.
Cut as close as you can to the bottom of the head, but don’t cut off the loose outer leaves.
Sprouts grow from buds that form in the axils of these leaves, which is the space between the leaf’s base and the stem above it.
When the sprouts are 2 to 4 inches across, they are ready to be picked.
Harvest large, unsplit heads of green cabbage. Look for tight, heavy heads, free of insects and decay. Fresh, uncut heads of cabbage can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Cover loosely with a plastic bag or use perforated bags. Do not wash cabbage before storing, the extra moisture will hasten deterioration.
Green cabbage: Green cabbage is sometimes called Dutch White. The leaves on the outside are dark green, and the leaves on the inside are smooth and light to medium green. Don’t use the cabbage more than a few days before you plan to eat it raw. You can keep cabbage in the fridge for about two weeks before you cook it.
When grown in the garden, Savoy cabbage is a beautiful sight. Its leaves are wavy and blue-green. These thin leaves have a lot of flavor and are great in salads or cooked. Green cabbage has a strong sulfur smell that cooked Savoys don’t have. When you buy Savoy, buy it when you plan to use it. It will only last about 4 days in the fridge.
Heads of red cabbage are usually smaller and denser than heads of green cabbage. The taste of red cabbage is a little peppery, and it gets very easily discolored. If you cook red cabbage without adding vinegar or something else acidic, it will turn an ugly blue-gray color. When cooking red cabbage, always use knives and pots and pans made of stainless steel to keep the color from changing.
Q. What can I do to prevent my cabbage heads from splitting?
A. Splitting is caused by the pressure of excessive water taken up after the heads are solid. Cutting the roots (spading on two sides of the plant) or breaking the roots (lifting and twisting the head to one side) can often reduce excessive splitting or bursting, but it also damages the plant and requires that the head be harvested relatively soon.
Q. What causes cabbage to develop seedstalks rather than solid heads?
A. Cabbage plants “bolt” (form premature seedstalks) when they are exposed to low temperatures (35 to 45 degrees F) for extended periods. Such chilling may happen if plants are set out too early or if an unseasonable blast of cold assaults the garden. After the plants have stems as large as a pencil, they are subject to this “cold conditioning,” that initiates the flowering response.
Q. What is flowering cabbage?
A. Nonheading varieties of cabbage (similar to flowering kale) have been developed for ornamental uses. They have colorful white, pink or red rosettes of leaves surrounded by green or purple outer leaves. Most colorful during cool fall weather, they should be started in early summer to midsummer and set out with fall and winter plantings of regular, heading varieties of cabbage. Flowering cabbage (and flowering kale) are edible as well as ornamental.
Q. Why do butterflies fly around my cabbage plants?
A. Those butterflies (white or brown) are probably the moths of cabbage worms. They lay eggs on the plants. The eggs hatch into the caterpillars that cause considerable damage unless controlled. Most control strategies are aimed at the developing larvae rather than the mature moths themselves.
Q. What causes large, lumpy swellings of my cabbage roots? The plants also are stunted.
A. Swellings and distorted roots on stunted, wilted plants may be symptoms of clubroot disease. This disease is caused by a fungus that remains in the garden soils for many years once it becomes established. It is spread by movement of infested soil and infected transplants. Other related cole crops (like broccoli and cauliflower) also may become infected. If you suspect that you have clubroot disease in your garden, ask your local Extension office for help. If, in fact, you have clubroot in a location, destroy infected plant parts (including the roots) and for at least 4 years avoid planting any member of the cabbage family there, including radishes, turnips and ornamental relatives of cabbage.
5 Cabbage Growing Mistakes to AVOID
FAQ
How late can cabbage be planted?
If you plant in the spring for summer harvest, you should start cabbage indoors. For a fall crop, plant seed directly in the garden in early July. Cabbage will tolerate below-freezing temperatures late in plant growth.
What is the latest month to plant cabbage?
Sowing outside: You can plant cabbage seeds outside in late winter or late summer, depending on the type. For summer cabbages, plant from February to April (protect early plantings with cloches or biodegradable fleece), and for fall and winter cabbages, plant from April to June. August for spring cabbages.
Can cabbage be planted in June?
Yes, cabbage can be planted in June, especially for a fall harvest.
