How to Grow and Save Cabbage Seeds
Cabbage: the underappreciated hero of coleslaw, the unsung champion of kimchi, and the leafy green that can last in your fridge longer than any other vegetable (seriously, it’s a survivalist). If you’re thinking about growing your own, congratulations! You’re about to embark on a journey of patience, pest management, and, hopefully, a whole lot of delicious crunchy goodness.
How to Grow Cabbage
Time of Planting
Cabbage isn’t one to rush into things. Start your seeds indoors about 4–6 weeks before you plan to transplant them outside, which should be just before the last frost. If your cabbages could talk, they’d probably say, “We like it cool, but not that cool.”
Spacing Requirements
Cabbages need their personal space, just like that one coworker who won’t let you borrow their stapler. Sow seeds ¼ inch deep and space them at least 24–36 inches apart if planting in a grid. If you’re a fan of rows, keep plants 12–14 inches apart in rows that are 36–44 inches apart.
Time to Germination
Expect your little leafy friends to pop up in about 7–12 days.
Special Considerations
Thinking about saving seeds? Good for you, future cabbage breeder! Give your plants even more space—18–24 inches apart in rows at least 36 inches apart. And consider staking them; cabbages aren’t exactly known for their strong core strength.
Common Pests and Diseases
Cabbage is basically a magnet for tiny nuisances like flea beetles, cabbage moths, aphids, leaf miners, slugs, and black rot. If cabbage had a dating profile, its biggest red flag would be “constantly being eaten alive.” Keep these pests at bay by using row covers or organic pesticides, and try not to let them drive you to madness.
Harvesting Cabbage for Eating
Once your cabbage heads feel firm—like a solid handshake—you can harvest them. Simply take a sharp knife or pruning shears and cut the head at the base. Remove those loose outer leaves unless you enjoy watching them rot in your fridge.
Eating Your Hard-Earned Cabbage
Cabbage is like a blank canvas; it can be fresh, roasted, braised, stewed, stir-fried, or fermented into sauerkraut and kimchi (the MVPs of gut health). If you’re feeling fancy, char it with some curry aioli and fresh herbs, or go the simple route and toss it into pasta. Whatever you do, just promise you won’t boil it into oblivion—nobody likes sad, mushy cabbage.
Storing Your Harvest
Cabbage will stay fresh for about four months if stored at 32–40°F with 80–90% humidity. That’s right—it’s in it for the long haul.
How to Save Cabbage Seeds
Life Cycle: Biennial
Cabbage is not a one-and-done kind of plant; it needs two years to make seeds. So, if you were hoping for instant gratification, you might want to try growing radishes instead.
Recommended Isolation Distance
If you’re growing multiple cabbage varieties, make sure to separate them by at least 800 feet to ½ mile. Yes, cabbages are that picky about their personal space.
Recommended Population Sizes
To keep your seeds viable, save seeds from at least 5 plants. If you want to maintain a variety over many generations, go for 20–50 plants. And if you’re saving seeds for genetic preservation (look at you, future cabbage scientist!), aim for 80 plants.
Vernalization (a Fancy Word for Overwintering)
Cabbage needs a cold period to flower and produce seeds, which means you need to overwinter it. If your winters are mild (50°F for 10–12 weeks, with no frequent drops below 35°F), you can leave your cabbages in the ground. If not, dig them up before the first frost, trim off outer leaves, and store them in a cool, humid place (34–39°F with 80–95% humidity). A root cellar is ideal, but a garage or shed might also work if you don’t mind explaining to visitors why you have a stash of hibernating cabbages.
Come spring, replant them in your garden, spacing them at least 36 inches apart, and stake those tall, seed-producing plants so they don’t flop over like an exhausted toddler.
Assessing Seed Maturity
Cabbage seeds are ready when their pods turn dry and brown. Be quick—if you wait too long, the pods may shatter, and you’ll lose all your seeds to the wind (or worse, to hungry birds).
Harvesting Seeds
To collect seeds, cut entire branches or pull the whole plant. Since cabbage has a dramatic flair for shattering its pods, harvest them over a drop cloth or in a container unless you enjoy playing “find the tiny seed” in your garden.
Cleaning and Processing Seeds
To extract seeds, rub the pods between your hands or flail them against a surface (yes, you can take out some stress on your cabbage). Dry seeds store best, so make sure they’re completely moisture-free before putting them away.
Storage and Viability
Keep cabbage seeds in an airtight container in a cool, dark, dry place. When stored properly, they can stay viable for several years, which means you’ll be ready for cabbage-growing adventures well into the future.
Final Thoughts
Growing and saving cabbage seeds may take some patience, but hey, what’s gardening without a little challenge? Between battling pests, avoiding seed shattering disasters, and storing heads of cabbage in random corners of your home, you’ll have plenty of stories to tell. And in the end, nothing beats the taste of homegrown cabbage—except maybe the satisfaction of knowing you successfully outwitted a cabbage moth or two. Happy growing!