Cabbage is a cool-season crop, closely related to broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and mustard. It can be grown as either a spring or a fall crop. Cabbage is a popular high-quality vegetable for fresh use. Cabbage is highly nutritious and delicious fried, boiled or eaten raw as a salad or coleslaw. This vegetable is a good source of Vitamin C. 

Growing Cabbage
A good Cabbage crop begins with large vigorous health seedlings 4 to 6 weeks old, grown in 4" or larger growing pots. Growing your own seedlings insure quality and varieties not commercially available. Cabbage seedling are commonly found commercially if you prefer just buying your seedlings. The seeds should be started about 6 to 8 weeks before your average last frost date in your zone, or 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost date for a early spring crop. Make sure the seed starting mix is a light sterile soil mix with a liberal portion of Perlite or Vermiculite to maintain moisture. Sow 2 seeds per 4"pot about ¼" deep in pre-moistened growing mix. During the day, keep the seedling next to a sunny window after they have germinated. Move to top of the water heater or refrigerator at night if you do not have a greenhouse. A heated greenhouse will produce ideal, controllable growing conditions. You can use supplemental overhead florescent lighting when needed. Never allow your lights to burn more than 16 hours per day. A cheap electrical timer is the key to success here. Seedlings must be allowed to have a period of rest from light to grow properly. Hang your lights 1½ inches above the tops of the seedlings. This will prevent the seedling from becoming leggy. Raise the lights suspended by a chain as the plants grow. Do not allow the soil to dry out. Feed newly emerged seedlings every other watering cycle. Try feeding young seedlings with Fish Emulsion or liquid seaweed. After they have grown 2 true leaves use a fertilizer high in phosphorus. Fertilize every two weeks until transplant time.

Growing Cabbage
Four weeks after seedlings have emerged clip off at the soil line the smallest of the 2 seedlings with scissors. Seeds can also be started by directly sowing into your prepared wide row beds. Plant 2 seed ¼" deep about 16" apart and water gently. Four weeks after seedling have emerged thin the seedlings to one seedling per hill. Clip the smallest one at ground level with scissors.

Transplant 2 rows of seedlings spaced about 12" to 18" apart in the center of the rows formed earlier. Plants can be set slightly deeper when transplanting. Water the seedlings well in growing pot 1 hour before transplanting. Water the plants well during transplanting using about 1 pint of starter solution on each transplant, or use commercially prepared starter solution according to manufacturer's instructions. This can be a weak solution of 20-20-20 general plant food or commercially available root stimulator. This will encourage rapid root growth & produce heads of acceptable quality. Large head hybrid varieties should be spaced further apart to promote larger head size. To lengthen the harvest plant seedling plant 1/3 at a time 1 weeks apart. This procedure will also require starting your seedlings 1 week apart as well. Cover the entire 36" wide bed including the trench between the rows with leaves or straw mulch. The mulch will retain moisture, attract worms, and reduce the growth of weeds in the beds. Any weeds that do germinate are easily removed by hand or light cultivation. When it is time to water your plants simply apply a moderate amount of water into the trench between the row you formed earlier. Do not apply water to quickly as you may wash out soil holding the water. The water will slowly soak deeply onto the root zone. Using this method your plants will always have adequate moisture to perform well. If your cabbage head try to split cut the roots on one side of the plant with a shovel or twist the head slightly braking some roots. Be prepared to irrigate 1 to 1 1/2 inches of water per week if natural rainfall is lacking to help ensure a high-quality cabbage crop. Cabbage requires above average moisture, and when this is lacking it responds with slow growth and poor appearance. Excessive rainfall will present a problem as cabbage don't like to stand in water for prolonged periods causing root rot.

Direct Seeding:
Row spacing is the same as transplanting but spacing of seeds should be reduced to 4 to 6 inches. Cabbage is sometime difficult to germinate when direct seeding. Sow seeds ¼" to ½" deep and water frequently to keep surface moist until plants germinated. Monitor insects closely during this time. Thin seedlings to 12" to 18" to allow adequate growing space. If some seed fail to germinate move seedlings that would have been removed by thinning. I do not recommend this method of starting cabbage, transplanted seedling is my method of choice.