Growing white cabbage: sowing, care and harvest time

Grow white cabbage in your own garden. We present suitable varieties and give tips and tricks from sowing, care and fertilization to harvest.

White cabbage (Brassica oleracea convar. capitata var. alba), also called white cabbage , is deeply rooted in human history. To this day, researchers still disagree on how long the herb has been cultivated. What is certain is that the plant was processed into kimchi, a spicy form of sauerkraut, in Korea as early as the 7th century. Illustrations by Leonhart Fuchs from the 16th century are the first German evidence of the vegetable. If you like eating white cabbage and have a garden of your own, you should try growing the tasty and he althy herb yourself.

Growing white cabbage all year round: This is how it works step by step

We will guide you through the gardening year with short instructions - from the seed to the crunchy white cabbage:

1. Decide whether you want to sow seeds yourself or buy young plants. Young plants can be purchased from well-stocked nurseries in the spring. Rearing is not particularly difficult. There are early, medium and late varieties. Decide on your optimum growing period.
2. A small list of well-known white cabbage varieties: The Bacalan Gross (with large and oval cabbage heads and excellent aroma) is one of the earlier varieties, Brunswijker (medium-sized, spherical and firm heads). The famous Dithmarscher variety also has a very early harvest time (heads are medium-sized and come from the German cabbage region of Dithmarschen). The white cabbage varieties with a medium harvest time include Equatoria F1 (semi-flat heads with a pleasantly mild aroma) and Coronet F1 (good storage properties and round, small cabbage heads).
   The late cabbage varieties include the Krautkaiser (good storage properties and large to cabbage heads weighing up to 5 kilos). An excellent late-ripening white cabbage is Lion F1 (beautiful, round and green heads, with high disease resistance).
3. If you want to harvest "early cabbage" in June, then you have to sow in February. A bright window sill, a greenhouse or an improvised one is suitable for thisGlass Dome (like an upside down large mason jar).
4. Sunny beds are ideal. A semi-shady place is also perfectly adequate. A loose to slightly loamy and nutrient-rich soil is preferred by heavy consumers. If your garden soil is rather sandy, the soil can be improved with compost and horn shavings before planting out.
5. For planting out, a distance of between 40-80 cm should be maintained, depending on the variety. If there is still night frost, a fleece cover can help overnight. You can plant out the early maturing cabbage plants in early April. Medium and late varieties can be planted out in May. In areas with a very favorable climate, cabbage can also be sown at the end of July and August. It is best to hibernate under a protective film until spring.
6. During the growth phase you should occasionally loosen the soil around the plant with a hoe. White cabbage is one of the so-called hoe plants, for which regular loosening of the soil is very beneficial.
7. On dry days it should be watered regularly. Growth can be supported every 3-4 weeks with a nitrogen and potassium-rich fertilizer such as our Plantura organic tomato fertilizer. Nevertheless, it is better not to fertilize too much, as this quickly leads to reduced resistance to diseases and a sulphurous taste. So our tip: Stop using fertilizer a few weeks before harvest.
8. Early varieties can be harvested as early as July if sowed in good time, later varieties can be harvested well into winter. Only the temperature should not fall below -4 °C. An important rule is: the later the cabbage is harvested, the longer it can be stored.

Important tip: After the harvest, no cabbage should be grown in the same location for at least four years. This is absolutely necessary to prevent diseases.

Have you got a taste for it and want to know more about cabbage? Then take a look at our article on sea kale.