How to Grow Cabbage

Cool-season timing and how spacing sets head size

Cabbage prefers sunny locations and fertile, well-drained soil, growing best below 80°F while tolerating frost down to 25°F. Set transplants (or sow seed a quarter to a half inch deep) 2 to 3 weeks before the last frost-free date; for a fall crop, choose early varieties and plant 50 to 75 days before your anticipated maturity date.

Spacing is a lever you control the harvest with: thin or set plants 12 to 18 inches apart in rows 2 to 3 feet apart, where tighter spacing produces smaller heads and wider spacing allows larger heads to develop. The cabbage-plant-spacing calculator answers this directly.

Varieties span a wide maturity range — Ruby Ball at about 55 days, Golden Acre at 65, Savoy Ace at 80, Danish Ball Head at 100 — so match the variety to your season. The when-to-plant-cabbage calculator localizes the timing.

Water and feeding decide whether heads split

Provide 1 to 2 inches of water per week using deep, infrequent irrigation. The critical rule is consistency during heading: moisture fluctuations while heads are maturing cause them to split open, so a heavy watering after a dry spell is the classic trigger. The how-often-to-water-cabbage calculator gives the readout.

Apply nitrogen fertilizer about 4 weeks after planting and then stop. High nitrogen levels at heading cause loose heads and splitting, so more feeding is not better here. The best-fertilizer-for-cabbage calculator covers this.

If a mature head starts to split anyway, you can pull the head up out of the soil to break some side roots and slow water uptake — a standard trick to buy time before harvest. The cabbage-head-splitting diagnostic covers the full fix.

Problems and harvest

The problems Utah State Extension flags are tipburn (a calcium-transport issue from irregular growth), aphids, cabbage worms, flea beetles, and Alternaria leaf spot. If you find holes chewed in the leaves, the holes-in-cabbage-leaves diagnostic identifies the culprit.

Harvest when heads reach full size and are firm and compact, before cracking sets in. A firm head that is left too long, especially through a wet spell, is the one that splits.

The when-to-harvest-cabbage calculator gives the size-and-timing readout, and can-you-plant-tomatoes-with-cabbage covers interplanting.

Sources

Reviewed 2026-07-18. We cite university Extension, government, and established horticultural sources — and never invent pesticide rates or dangerous treatments.

• Utah State University Extension — Cabbage in the Garden — Cabbage is a cool-season vegetable preferring sunny locations and fertile, well-drained soil, growing best below 80°F and tolerating frost down to 25°F; establish transplants 2-3 weeks before the last frost-free date and for fall crops choose early varieties planted 50-75 days before anticipated maturity; plant seeds 1/4-1/2 inch deep and thin to 12-18 inches between plants with rows 2-3 feet apart, where tighter spacing produces smaller heads and wider spacing allows larger development; recommended varieties include Golden Acre (65 days), Ruby Ball (55 days), Savoy Ace (80 days), and Danish Ball Head (100 days); provide 1-2 inches of water per week through deep, infrequent irrigation because moisture fluctuations during heading cause heads to split; apply nitrogen 4 weeks after planting then stop because high nitrogen causes loose heads and splitting; pull the head up to break side roots to reduce water uptake; harvest when heads are full size, firm and compact, before cracking; problems include tipburn, aphids, cabbage worms, flea beetles, and Alternaria leaf spot.

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