Planting guide

When to plant cabbage

Dense heads for winter and spring; choose small varieties for small gardens. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Apr.

Start as: Seedling or Seed started indoors
Ready in: 9–17 wks
Spacing: 45 cm
Depth: 1 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means cabbage can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Perth	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Canberra	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Central Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Geelong	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Hobart	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Townsville	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mandurah	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Launceston	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mackay	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Coffs Harbour	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bunbury	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Alice Springs	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mildura	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wellington	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
London	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Cape Town	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Paris	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	○	○

How to plant cabbage

Sow seed indoors or buy seedlings.
Plant firm into rich soil.
Net against caterpillars from day one.
Cut heads when firm; leave stumps for a second crop.

Cabbage varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Golden Acre Classicfast · heirloom · 9–11 wksSmall, round, early heads; good for small gardens
Red Acre Classiccolourful · storage · 11–14 wksRound red heads; stores and pickles well
Savoy Classiccold-hardy · sweet · 13–17 wksCrinkled leaves that sweeten after frost
Early Jersey Wakefield Classicheirloom · fast · 9–11 wksPointed little heads; quick and tender
Sugarloaf Adventurousheirloom · fast · 10–13 wksElongated, loose-hearted heirloom with sweet leaves
Violaceo di Verona Adventurouscolourful · 11–14 wksItalian purple cabbage that is mild and tender
Tancook Island Adventurousheirloom · cold-hardy · 11–14 wksCanadian heirloom that sets firm heads
January King Classiccold-hardy · 20–26 wksBritish winter cabbage with purple-tinged leaves

Where to buy seeds

Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on The Diggers Club Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Onion, Dill, Beet

Cabbage by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Broccoli · Cauliflower · Brussels Sprouts · Kohlrabi · Wombok · Broccolini

Not sure cabbage is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now