Perhaps you've heard cabbage is a heavy feeder. When growing cabbage, adequate amounts of nutrients are necessary to produce large heads with healthy leaves. Whether you're growing a few plants or a field of cabbage, knowing how to fertilize cabbage is the key to a successful crop.
Cabbage Fertilizer Basics
Enriching garden soil with organic compost is one of the best ways to supply the nutrients necessary for feeding cabbage plants. When using homemade compost, incorporate 2 to 4 inches (5-10 cm.) of compost into the garden soil in late fall or early winter. This gives the compost time to fully decay, so the valuable nutrients are ready for the plants in the spring.
In lieu of using compost for feeding cabbage plants, chemical fertilizer can be added to the garden soil. Choose a balanced fertilizer, such as 10-10-10. This can be tilled directly into the garden bed as it's being prepared for spring planting. Testing the soil before fertilizing cabbages is recommended.
The test results can be used to amend the soil and make up for any nutritional deficiencies. Cabbages prefer a soil pH of 6.0 to 6.5 and require adequate amounts of micronutrients such as calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and zinc for optimal growth.
When to Feed Cabbages
When starting seeds indoors, begin fertilizing cabbage plants once they have two to four true leaves. A diluted solution of a balanced (10-10-10) liquid fertilizer, weak compost tea, or fish emulsion is recommended. This can be repeated every two weeks.
Once cabbage plants have been transplanted into a prepared garden bed, continue applying cabbage fertilizer every three to four weeks until heads begin to form. Avoid using fertilizer with high levels of nitrogen, as this encourages excess foliage growth and reduced head formation.
Tips for Fertilizing Cabbages
Always follow the manufacturer's directions when mixing and applying cabbage fertilizer.
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Incorporate a slow-release, granular, or pelleted fertilizer into the soil prior to planting. Switch to a liquid fertilizer or side-dress cabbage plants by burying granular or pelleted fertilizer in shallow trenches in and around plants. Heavy rainfalls can dissolve solid forms of fertilizer lying on the garden surface. This can splatter heavy concentrations of fertilizer directly onto cabbages causing leaf burn and damage to the plants.
Avoid additional applications of fertilizer after cabbages begin to form heads. This can cause rapid growth resulting in split or cracked heads.
Water cabbage plants before the soil dries completely. Not only do cabbage plants prefer a consistently moist soil, but water is essential for absorbing nutrients from the soil.
FAQs
Fertilize two weeks after transplanting with a balanced (10-10-10) fertilizer. Three weeks later, add a nitrogen-rich fertilizer; cabbage needs nitrogen in the early stages. Practice crop rotation with cabbages to avoid a buildup of soil-borne diseases.
How and when to fertilize cabbage? ›
Plant the seeding at a depth of 1/4 of an inch. Apply fertilizer to developing seedlings beginning when the first true leaf appears. Use a half-strength starter solution once a week. After two true leaves are present, apply fertilizer twice a week.
What is the best feed for cabbage? ›
Feeding. Once settled into their final growing position but before they form hearts, feed cabbages with a nitrogen-rich fertiliser to encourage strong leafy growth. With spring cabbages, apply a nitrogen-rich feed in early spring to boost growth and stimulate hearting.
What makes cabbage grow faster? ›
Sandy, medium-textured and heavy soil that is moist and eliminates water logging is ideal for cabbage plants. Fertilizers, organic matter, compost, and manure rich in nutrients are required to grow high-yield cabbage. The early phase plant prefers light soil with moisture, and the last stage prefers heavy soil.
How do I increase my cabbage yield? ›
Cabbage demands even moisture to produce good heads. Mulch with compost, finely ground leaves, or finely ground bark to keep the soil cool and moist and to keep down weeds. Water regularly, applying 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week if it doesn't rain.
What is the best month to plant cabbage? ›
Spring cabbage - Plants should be started from seed in late summer to early fall. The seeds can be sown in trays or modules in late summer to transplant in fall, or sown outdoors directly, while young plants can be planted in early to mid-fall.
Is Miracle-Gro good for cabbage? ›
Weed, Feed, and Water Your Cabbages
Keeping the soil moist will help keep your cabbage heads from cracking. Feed with a water-soluble plant food, such asMiracle-Gro® Performance Organics® Edibles Plant Nutrition, every seven days until harvest. Weed carefully to avoid damaging the roots of your cabbage plants.
How do you apply fertilizer to cabbages? ›
Nitrogen 150-200 lb/acre split between three applications (planting, 2-3 week sidedress, 4-6 week sidedress). Phosphorus should be applied at planting based on soil test results.
What is the best companion for cabbage? ›
6. Aromatic herbs and flowers. Plants like chamomile, wormwood, chives, summer savory, coriander, tansy, yarrow, dill, mint, thyme, hyssop, chervil, geranium, rue, sage, and oregano are all very beneficial companion plants to cabbage.
How do you encourage cabbage to head? ›
Cabbage Won't Form a Head If It's Not Getting Enough Water
The next thing to keep in mind to get cabbage plants to form a head is water. A common reason why cabbage isn't forming a head is that it's not being properly watered.
Cabbages are hungry plants and must have rich soil if they are to produce well. They prefer heavy soil with lots of organic matter to retain moisture and lots of available nutrients (especially potassium and phosphorus). They don't need a lot of nitrogen however, as this can lead to sappy growth that isn't very hardy.
How many times does a cabbage plant produce? ›
Cabbage plants only produce one head per growing season. Fresh cabbage from the garden looks different from cabbage purchased at the store. Cabbage heads from the garden have many open leaves that can be eaten. These are the first leaves to appear as the cabbage head grows.
How often should I fertilize cabbage? ›
A diluted solution of a balanced (10-10-10) liquid fertilizer, weak compost tea, or fish emulsion is recommended. This can be repeated every two weeks. Once cabbage plants have been transplanted into a prepared garden bed, continue applying cabbage fertilizer every three to four weeks until heads begin to form.
Does cabbage regrow after cutting? ›
Similarly, cut the head off a cabbage plant and buds further down along the stem are free to grow out into new stems, i.e., more heads. Two, three, even four or more new heads could grow on your decapitated cabbage plant.
What causes cabbage to split? ›
Split cabbage heads usually follows a heavy rain, especially after a period of dry weather. When the roots absorb excess moisture after the cabbage head is firm, the pressure from internal growth causes the head to split.
What is the schedule for fertigation of cabbage? ›
Fertigation:
| Growth stage | Requirement nutrients | Recommended fertilizers |
|---|
| N | AN |
|---|
| Planting - 45 days | 1.013 | 2.1 |
| 46-70 days | 3.33 | 7.0 |
| 71- harvest | 0.74 | 1.5 |
1 more rowGrowing aromatic plants amongst the cabbage-type plants — like hyssop, thyme, wormwood, celery, dill, sage and onions — will all help to confuse these insects. BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) or Dipel, if you spray each week, can also control these insects.
Is bone meal good for cabbage? ›
Add a little phosphorus-rich fertilizer like rock phosphate or bone meal. The idea here is to push more phosphorus instead of nitrogen into the roots of these cabbage plants so that the plants' focus is more on forming that nice head rather than just giving you all these greens.
Does cabbage need a lot of nitrogen? ›
Cabbage, like most leafy vegetables, is considered a heavy feeder and does well in soils with high nitrogen content [41].
