Last edited on December 21, 2024. View history
Red Cabbage
A variety of cabbage
How to sow red cabbage: Direct seed indoors (and transplant out after hardening seedlings off) or outdoors
Sun requirement for red cabbage: Plant in Full Sun
Red Cabbage is a type of cabbage with red leaves. Like other cabbage, it prefers cool weather and forms round, dense heads on top of short stalks.
Beautiful garnet color makes this early, delicious cabbage a standout at the table! Produces large, tightly packed hearts with crisp leaves. Size is 1.5 kilo (3 lb).
Seed outdoors as soon as weather and soil conditions permit. Cover seed lightly with soil, 6 – 7 seeds per 30 cm (1 ft) of row. Average garden soil and a sunny location are ideal. Thin to 30 cm (1 ft) apart when 7 cm (3 in) high. For earlier Cabbage start indoors 2 to 3 weeks in advance of intended date for moving the plants to the garden. Germinates best at 21 C (70 F) in 7 to 10 days. Reduce temperature after germination to 15 C (65 F) and provide additional light to help prevent stretching and to tone up plants before transplanting outside. Several sowings of Cabbage 10 days apart ensure a fresh supply into fall. Keep well watered during hot temperatures to avoid bolting.
- 5
- plantings
- 0
- harvests
- 0
- seed packets
Red cabbage facts
Lifespan
Height × spread
40cm × 30cmRow Spacing
60cmGrowing Degree Days
75Crop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
Red cabbage needs about 75 growing degree days.
For red cabbage, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 7°C and a shortest growing cycle of 60 days at its best temperature, about 750 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your red cabbage will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing red cabbages
- Sow seeds in trays 5 weeks before planting out
- Dig compost into the bed 1 week before planting out
- Harden off the seedlings 1 week before planting out
- Firm the soil well around the stems at planting out
- Net against cabbage white butterflies at planting out
- Set or refill beer traps for slugs and snails at planting out every week
- Water regularly at planting out every week
- Check leaves for caterpillars 2 weeks after planting out every week
- Feed with a nitrogen fertiliser 4 weeks after planting out
- Cut heads once they feel firm at first harvest
- Pull out the stalks 4 weeks after first harvest
How members grow red cabbages
Sunniness
Planted from
Plant red cabbages with
celery
cumin
blue lake bean
Photos
Photos
Red cabbage crops
Video
Where red cabbages grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about red cabbages
Nobody has posted about red cabbages yet.
Sign in or sign up to post your tips and experiences growing red cabbages.
Who's planted red cabbages
- CloCkWeRX 01 - Rosewater Backyard Left · Rosewater, South...
- Batchelor Raised bed left · Auckland, NZ
- Lizardlicks Seed Tray · Spokane, WA
- bloominguru Garden
Red cabbage harvests
Nobody has harvested this crop yet.
Sign in or sign up to track your red cabbage harvests.Find red cabbage seeds
There are no seeds available to trade on Growstuff right now.
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
- Sign in or sign up to list your seeds to trade.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Brassica oleracea var. capitata L. [Alef.]
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Dilleniidae Capparales Cruciferae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: -1 °C, rest: -10 °C |
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | biennial |
| Habit | acaulescent (or rosette plants) |
| Optimal soil depth | shallow (20-50 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about red cabbages
Resources outside Growstuff.
