How to Grow Spring Cabbage: A Practical Guide from Seed to Harvest

Spring cabbage is a useful crop for keeping the vegetable garden productive through the quieter months. You sow it towards the end of summer or in early autumn, the young plants sit through winter, then start growing strongly again as conditions improve in spring.

Varieties such as April and Durham Early are bred for overwintering and spring cropping. Depending on how closely they're planted and when you harvest them, spring cabbages can also provide useful young leaves or spring greens before they form mature hearts.

The main thing is to get sturdy young plants established before winter. After that, they're surprisingly hardy and need relatively little attention until growth starts again in spring.

When to Sow

Spring cabbage is usually sown from July to September, depending on the variety and where you garden.

For most varieties, August and early September are particularly useful sowing times.

I wouldn't sow too early and produce enormous plants going into winter. Equally, sowing very late can mean seedlings haven't had enough time to establish before cold weather arrives.

You can sow into a prepared seed bed outside or start plants in modules or pots.

I like using modules for later sowings because it gives me a little more control over the young plants while they're getting established. If autumn weather becomes particularly wet, they aren't sitting in waterlogged garden soil.

Always check the packet for the particular variety you're growing, as recommended sowing dates can vary.

How to Sow

For sowing in modules, fill them with a good-quality seed compost and sow one or two seeds into each cell around 1–2cm deep.

Cover with compost, water gently and keep them somewhere with good light.

There's no need for heat. Spring cabbage is being grown as a hardy overwintering crop, not a tender greenhouse vegetable.

Once seedlings appear, keep them watered and give them plenty of light so they develop into short, sturdy plants rather than becoming long and stretched.

If both seeds germinate, keep the strongest seedling.

You can also sow into a seed bed outside. Make a shallow drill around 1–2cm deep, sow reasonably thinly, cover with soil and water if conditions are dry.

The young plants can then be lifted and moved to their final positions once they're large enough.

Planting Out

Plant spring cabbages into their final positions once the young plants are sturdy and have developed several true leaves.

This will usually be during September or October, depending on when you sowed them.

Choose reasonably fertile, firm soil in an open position.

Brassicas generally appreciate firm ground, so this isn't a crop where I'd dig the soil until it's beautifully loose immediately before planting.

Space plants around 30–45cm apart, depending on whether you're growing them for spring greens or allowing them to develop larger heads.

Plant them firmly and water well.

If you're growing for smaller spring greens, plants can be spaced more closely and harvested earlier. Give plants more room if you want larger mature cabbages.

Growing Through Winter

Once established, spring cabbage is fairly hardy.

Growth will slow considerably as temperatures fall, and during the coldest part of winter the plants may appear to be doing very little.

The aim isn't to produce lots of soft new growth during December and January. We simply want healthy plants sitting there ready to get moving again when light levels and temperatures improve.

Keep the area reasonably free from weeds and check plants occasionally after severe weather.

Plants can sometimes be loosened by repeated frost and thawing. If you notice one rocking around in the soil, gently firm it back in around the roots.

Avoid feeding heavily during winter. Save that encouragement for when active growth starts again.

Watering and Feeding

Autumn-planted cabbages need enough water to establish properly before winter.

Once established, plants in open ground generally need very little additional watering through the wetter months.

The situation changes in spring.

As temperatures rise and plants begin making substantial new growth, keep an eye on soil moisture, particularly during dry spells.

A spring feed can also be useful as growth resumes.

If the soil is reasonably fertile, you don't need to overdo it. A general-purpose fertiliser or some well-rotted organic matter around the plants can help support the final period of leafy growth.

Keep fertiliser away from direct contact with stems and leaves.

Protecting Spring Cabbage

Spring cabbage may be hardy enough to cope with winter weather, but watch out for birds and other pests.

Pigeons can be one of the biggest problems during winter. When other food becomes scarce, a row of cabbage plants can suddenly look extremely attractive.

If pigeons are a problem in your garden, covering plants with properly supported netting is usually the most reliable solution.

Make sure the netting is secure and kept away from the foliage rather than simply draped over the plants.

Slugs and snails can also damage younger plants during mild, damp weather.

Later in spring, keep an eye out for the usual brassica pests as conditions warm.

Harvesting Spring Greens

You don't necessarily have to wait for every plant to form a large cabbage.

Spring cabbage can be useful much earlier as spring greens.

Young leafy plants can be harvested before they develop a firm heart, giving you fresh green leaves at a time of year when there may not be much else ready in the vegetable garden.

You can also plant some cabbages more closely specifically for this purpose.

I like having that flexibility. Harvest a few young for greens and leave the strongest, better-spaced plants to continue developing.

It spreads the harvest and means you're not waiting for every plant to reach exactly the same stage.

Harvesting Mature Cabbages

Plants left to mature will begin forming tighter hearts as growth accelerates in spring.

Harvest once the heads feel firm and have reached a useful size for the variety.

Use a sharp knife to cut the cabbage at the base.

Don't leave mature heads sitting indefinitely once they're ready. Warm spring weather can eventually encourage plants to bolt or cause mature heads to deteriorate.

Harvesting dates will vary with the variety, sowing date, winter weather and where you garden, but March through May is the main period for many spring cabbages.

And after waiting through winter, that first freshly cut cabbage feels like a proper start to the new growing season.

Crop Rotation

Spring cabbage belongs to the brassica family, alongside broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts and other cabbages.

Try not to repeatedly grow brassicas in exactly the same patch of ground.

Rotating crops helps reduce the build-up of soil-borne problems such as clubroot and can make pest and disease management easier.

If you're planning your vegetable beds, remember that spring cabbage occupies the ground for quite a long time. Plants go in during autumn and may still be there well into the following spring.

Common Problems

Pigeons

Pigeons can cause considerable damage to overwintering cabbage plants, sometimes stripping leaves surprisingly quickly.

Use secure netting where they're a regular problem. It's considerably easier to protect healthy plants than wait for badly damaged ones to recover.

Slugs and Snails

Young plants can be damaged during mild, damp autumn weather.

Keep weeds and excessive dead foliage from accumulating around plants and check newly planted cabbages regularly.

Cabbage White Caterpillars

Cabbage white butterflies are more of a problem during the warmer parts of the growing season.

Check leaves for eggs and caterpillars and use suitable fine netting to prevent butterflies reaching plants where necessary.

Clubroot

Clubroot can cause swollen, distorted roots and plants that struggle or wilt despite having enough moisture.

Crop rotation is important, and avoid moving contaminated soil between growing areas. On affected ground, growing resistant varieties where available and improving drainage and soil conditions can help.

Plants Loose After Frost

Repeated freezing and thawing can lift plants slightly from the soil.

Check them after severe winter weather and gently firm the soil back around any plants that have become loose.

Plants Running to Seed

Occasionally spring cabbage begins producing a flowering stem rather than forming the head you expected.

Stress, variety and growing conditions can all play a part. Harvest plants promptly as spring advances rather than leaving mature crops in the ground unnecessarily.

Spring cabbage isn't the quickest vegetable you'll ever grow, but that's part of its usefulness. Sow in late summer or early autumn, get sturdy plants established before winter and then let them wait. When the garden starts waking up again in spring, you'll already have something growing — and hopefully something fresh to harvest long before many of the new season's vegetables are ready.