For many years, the only way I could grow crops was in containers.
I was moving every year or so, often from apartment to apartment, so growing in containers was the only way to indulge my gardening passion.
So to say I’m a fan is an understatement. And you’d best believe my winter container garden always included cabbage.
Not only is cabbage easy to grow in the ground, provided the weather is cool enough, but it’s a cinch to grow in containers as well.
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Cabbage, Brassica oleracea var. captitata, is a cool-season crop, producing crunchy heads packed with nutrients and fiber, typically grown either in spring or fall.
Our guide to growing cabbage has all the details for growing this popular brassica in the garden. Considering the size of the heads, cabbage has surprisingly small roots, making it perfect for growing in containers.
If you’re gardening in small spaces or resting your raised beds, container gardening is an excellent way to grow an abundance of produce.
And that’s what we’ll discuss in this guide. Here’s what I’ll cover:
Picking the Right Container
You don’t need anything large or impressive when picking a container for growing your cabbage.
The one consideration to keep in mind is that these plants can be quite top-heavy.
You could use a small plastic grower’s pot, but you’d need to give it some support, such as placing the pot inside a heavier container to prevent it from tipping over.
A gallon of soil for each head is about right, and you want the container you choose to be wide enough that if you plant more than one in a single pot, say three in a three-gallon pot, the heads won’t touch.
The pots should be a minimum of six inches deep, but ideally 12 inches, to promote robust growth.
The containers also must have drainage. A pot without drainage is a quick trip to root rot-ville and you don’t want to go there.
The material the pot is made of isn’t as important as the drainage, but if the temperatures tend to get a bit warm in your area while the plants are growing, you might want to avoid black plastic or metal.
Both will warm up too much for cool-weather-loving cabbage. Glazed ceramic or clay tends to stay cooler.
Cultivars to Select
You can pretty much choose any cabbage cultivar to grow in containers, though you might want to avoid the very large cultivars like ‘Tropic Giant’ unless you have a huge container.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Amarant
Purple cabbage can change the look of any dish, whether you’re using it in coleslaw, rolls, or soup.
‘Amarant’ has vibrant purple leaves all the way through the head, which can weigh between one and a half and two and a half pounds.
‘Amarant’
Bred by the German Kultursaat biodynamic seed initiative, it’s ready in about 70 days and will even grow well in moderately warm temperatures.
You can purchase seeds in quantities from 25 to 100 million at High Mowing Seeds.
Copenhagen Market
I’ve had great success with ‘Copenhagen Market.’
The medium-sized heads mature in about 70 days and weigh in at about a pound when they’re ready. It’s an heirloom cultivar that was introduced in 1909.
‘Copenhagen Market’
If you’d like to give it a go, pick up seeds in a variety of packet sizes at True Leaf Market.
Earliana
If patience isn’t your middle name, ‘Earliana’ is going to be your new favorite.
In just 60 days, you can be enjoying full-sized, compact, two-pound heads. Despite their weight, they aren’t too large, at only about five inches in diameter.
‘Earliana’
Hop on over to Burpee to pick up 500 seeds.
One Kilo Slow Bolt
If you prefer napa cabbage, ‘One Kilo Slow Bolt’ says it all.
The tight heads are medium-large, weighing around two pounds, with white and green leaves with yellow leaves on the interior. And, yes, the plants are slow to bolt.
‘One Kilo Slow Bolt’
Pick up a packet of seeds from Botanical Interests and enjoy your napa in about 55 days.
Learn more about how to grow Napa cabbage in our guide.
Savoy
If you aren’t enchanted by the earthy flavor and prominent ribs of savoy cabbage, I have to question your passion for cabbage altogether.
The two- to three-pound heads are as pretty as they are delicious.
Savoy
You can find seeds available at Eden Brothers in a variety of packet sizes.
Check out our guide to growing savoy cabbage to learn more.
Preparing the Pot
When you have selected your container or containers, you can start preparing to plant.
If you are reusing a container, make sure to clean it thoroughly to avoid the spread of disease. Use a 10 percent bleach solution (one part bleach to nine parts water) or hot, soapy water.
If you like, you can put mesh screens over the drainage holes to help the soil stay in place.
Just keep in mind that screens can tend to clog up, so you must keep a close eye on the holes to ensure that water is still moving through freely.
Don’t put a layer of drainage material like rocks or broken clay at the bottom. This actually holds water closer to the roots thanks to something known as the perched water table.
Fill the container to about an inch below the rim with water-retentive potting soil.
Cabbage plants aren’t too fussy, so you can use any medium formulated for potted plants, but for my vegetables I always use FoxFarm Ocean Forest Potting Mix.
FoxFarm Ocean Forest Potting Mix
It’s made from lots of good stuff, like bat guano, crab meal, forest humus, and sphagnum moss. You can find 12-quart bags available at Amazon.
Propagation and Planting
Now that everything is set and ready to go, it’s time to plant. You have two options, here.
The first is to transplant seedlings. You can either purchase these or start them yourself indoors about six to eight weeks before the last average frost date.
If you’re growing a fall crop, you’ll need to start seeds 12 to 14 weeks ahead of first frost.
Dig a hole in the potting soil that is about the same size as the growing container. Gently remove the plant from the pot and loosen up the roots a bit. Lower it into the hole that you dug and firm the soil up around it.
Water the soil well. It will probably settle a little bit, which is fine. If it does, add a bit more soil. You want the seedling sitting at about the same depth as it was in the growing container.
If you’d rather start seeds directly in the pot, that’s fine, too. The basic rules of planting cabbage seeds apply here.
You need to start them early enough in the year that they have time to mature while the temperatures are still fairly cool.
Depending on the cultivar, that means about 65 days under 80°F or so. That’s why most gardeners grow cabbage in the spring and fall, and sometimes winter.
If you need to, choose a small enough container that you can keep it indoors or in a greenhouse while it’s still cold and move it out when the weather warms up a bit.
Container Care
Outdoors, choose a location in full sun, with six to eight hours of direct sunlight per day. In very hot climates, you’ll need to provide some afternoon shade to prevent the plants from bolting.
You could put up shade cloth, but the solution doesn’t need to be fancy. I use umbrellas sometimes. Whatever works, right?
You’ll need to provide an inch or two of water per week in the absence of rain. Use a rain gauge to determine how much water they are receiving or just use your finger to check the soil.
If the soil is dry up to the first knuckle, it’s time to water. The goal is to have the soil feel like a well-wrung-out sponge at all times.
When you water, irrigate at soil level and try to avoid wetting the leaves. Cabbages can trap water in their leaves which can result in rot or fungal problems.
Cabbage is a heavy feeder, and since plants in containers are totally reliant on the gardener for nutrients, you’ll definitely need to feed them.
Assuming you used fresh, new potting soil, there should be enough nutrients in place to sustain the young plants.
Wait until the heads are just starting to form and then side dress with a mild vegetable fertilizer every two weeks.
Cabbage needs a lot of nitrogen, so choose a fertilizer formulated for leafy vegetables. I like to use Grow Big from FoxFarm as it has an NPK ratio of 6-4-4, ideal for vegetables.
FoxFarm Grow Big
You can find Grow Big available via Amazon in gallon-sized concentrate, enough to feed your container garden all summer long.
If you are a very attentive gardener, you may wish to prune your cabbage. This is entirely optional, but it’s a good idea to do so if you notice any damaged or diseased leaves.
Pruning the outer leaves once the head has started forming can encourage the plant to put more energy into the inner leaves, creating a tight head.
Learn more about the process of pruning cabbage in our guide.
Potential Pests and Diseases
Pretty much anything that can attack cabbage growing in the ground can come after your container plants.
You’re less likely to be bothered by critters like deer, especially if you keep your container near the house or up on a table.
But otherwise, cabbage loopers, worms, flea beetles, slugs, and – less commonly – root maggots may still be around.
Read our guide to cabbage pests to learn about the most common culprits and how to deal with them.
The same goes for diseases like blackleg, black rot, mosaic virus, and powdery mildew.
Our guide to common cabbage diseases has more information.
Harvest Time
Check your seed packet for the expected number of days to maturity, and inspect your plants to see whether the heads are the expected size.
When it’s time to harvest, you can either uproot the entire plant or simply cut the head off at ground level.
You can learn more about how to harvest cabbage in our guide.
No Excuses Not To Grow Cabbage
Do you only have a small patio? Or maybe you move a lot like I did? Perhaps you ran out of garden space? No matter, there’s no reason you can’t grow cabbage anyway.
What’s your set-up like? Are you growing a few potted plants in the big city? Or just expanding your garden space? Let us know in the comments section below.
And for more information about growing cabbages in your garden, check out these guides next:
