If you don’t have space in the ground, you can still grow cabbage in a container garden. Because cabbage is a cool-season crop, it does well planted with edible flowers such as pansy, viola, and calendula.
How to Grow Cabbage
Like most of its relatives (kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and kohlrabi), cabbage is a cool-season crop that thrives when temperatures stay between 30°F and 75°F. If you grow it from seed, start the seeds indoors about six weeks before your last expected spring frost date. Or plant seeds directly in the garden about a month before your last frost. Cabbage grows best in a spot with afternoon or all-day sun and moist, well-drained soil that’s rich in organic matter. If your soil has a high clay content or a lot of sand, amend it liberally with compost, peat moss, or coir when you plant to help cabbage look good and produce the best crop. Spreading a 2- to 3-inch-deep layer of mulch around each cabbage plant will help keep the soil cool longer into summer, allow the soil to stay moist longer, and cut down on the amount of weeds—all factors your cabbage patch will appreciate. If you see little white butterflies hovering around your cabbage plants, you may want to protect your crop with floating row covers, an insecticide such as Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), or an insecticidal soap. Cabbage butterflies lay eggs that hatch into small green caterpillars that eat unsightly holes in cabbage leaves.
