DIY Network

Planting Cabbage Planting Cabbage From "Fresh from the Garden" episode DFFG-116

Cabbages are even more diverse than broccoli in color and shape: some are smooth and round, others are wrinkled and tall....

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	In loose soil, the hand trowel makes it easy to pull back plenty of soil, so an ample hole can be dug.
	Plant the seedlings in the holes you made with the hand trowel. Gently push each one into a hole and press dirt around the root ball.
	To get the seedlings off to good water them in with a 4-12-4 liquid fertilizer.

Cabbage needs the same soil conditions as the broccoli because they’re in the same family. Add lots of good organic manure and compost to your soil. Cabbage can sometimes split and bolt so plant them closer together. This means the heads won’t be able to get as big but they’ll get harvested earlier than usual. Smaller heads are often more tender.

Use a hand trowel to make holes in the cabbage bed. In loose soil, the hand trowel makes it easy to pull back plenty of soil, so an ample hole can be dug. With Cole Crops, seedlings should be planted to a depth level with the first set of leaves, which means your hole will often be deeper than the root ball. Cabbages are heavy feeders, so to help get them off to a fast start, add a tablespoon of slow release 10-10-10 fertilizer to each planting hole, and thoroughly mixed it in.

Plant the seedlings in the holes you made with the hand trowel. Gently push each one into a hole and press dirt around the root ball. When you plant seedlings be careful not to break the tender roots. Press just hard enough to get out the air pockets in the hole and to get the plant securely in place. To get the seedlings off to good water them in with a 4-12-4 liquid fertilizer.

Planting Chinese Cabbage

Plant the seeds just below the surface and covered them lightly with dirt. Sow the seeds thinly as the seed package recommended, these cabbages are fairly small and won’t take up too much room.

Water in the Chinese cabbage seeds with a light misting. Water the seeds every day for at least a few weeks, especially if it’s still warm outside. Add liquid fertilizer in 2 weeks once the seedlings have come up to make sure my plants are growing strong. Top off the cabbage patch with a layer of pine mulch. The mulch will help keep the soil temperature cooler and help keep the weeds from germinating.

When the seedlings come up, it is time to thin them. The seed pack says they need to be thinned to 10 to 12 inches apart. This will give the plants, the room they need to grow properly. After thinning, water the new seedlings with a 15-30-15 liquid fertilizer. This will give the plants an extra boost in their growing.