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Ingenious plant breeding has produced this amazing red sui choi (napa cabbage). The leaves are red throughout, but never bitter in this upright fall harvest wonder. Sow Red Scarvita several times starting June 15 for harvests from September to November. The leaves look incredible in salads and they keep their colour when lightly cooked. Lightweight row cover is recommended, as this beauty gets sown at the peak of the small white butterfly (cabbage moth) population. A simple physical barrier will prevent insect damage.
Matures in 75 days. (Hybrid seeds)
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Latin
Latin
Brassica oleracea var. capitata
Family: Brassicaceae
Difficulty
Difficulty
Moderately difficult
Season & Zone
Season & Zone
Season: Cool season
Exposure: Full-sun
Timing
Timing
Sow indoors beginning in late winter and transplant outdoors from 2 weeks after the last frost date to early summer. Overwintering cabbage is sown outdoors during July where winters are mild. Optimal soil temperature: 10-30°C (50-85°F). Seeds should germinate in 7-10 days.
Starting
Starting
When learning how to grow cabbage, sow 3 or 4 seeds per pot, 5mm (¼”) deep, under very bright light. Thin to the strongest plant. Space transplants 45-60cm (18-24″) apart in rows 60-90cm (24-36″) apart.
Days to Maturity
Days to Maturity
From transplant date.
Growing
Growing
Ideal pH: 6.5-7.0. Cabbage does best in humus-rich soil amended with composted manure. Mix ½ cup complete organic fertilizer into the soil beneath each transplant. If growth slows, side dress with a little more balanced organic fertilizer. Heads of early varieties can split from over-maturity, rapid growth after heavy rain, or irrigation after dry spells. Splits can be delayed by twisting the plant or cultivating deeply next to plants in order to break roots and slow growth. Fall and winter varieties stand in the garden longer without splitting. If direct sown, add 20-25 days to the maturity date.
If cabbages won’t form heads, it may be from an imbalance of too much nitrogen in the soil in relation to phosphorus. Cabbages require cool temperatures to form heads well. Hot weather can interfere with the development of heads.
Harvest
Harvest
Cabbage heads are ready when they’re firm to the touch, and when the interior is fairly dense. Heads will split when they’re allowed to overly mature. Rapid growth due to excess watering and fertility will also cause splitting of the head. Plant early, mid-season and late varieties to spread out your harvest. Late varieties tend to be better for storage or for making sauerkraut. Early (summer harvest) varieties tend not to store as well.
Seed Info
Seed Info
In optimum conditions at least 80% of seeds should germinate. Uual seed life: 3 years. Per 100′ row: 200 seeds, per acre: 44M seeds.
Diseases
Diseases
Purple blotch (Alternaria porri) – Avoid wetting foliage if possible. Water early in the day so plant parts above the ground dry as quickly as possible. Allow for air circulation, and avoid crowding plants. Pull weeds around plants and garden area to increase air circulation. When plants are not wet, remove and destroy affected plant parts. In autumn rake and destroy all fallen or diseased leaves and fruit.
Clubroot – If soil infested, add lime to raise soil pH to 7.2. Practice strict crop rotation. If that is not possible, remove infested soil and replace with fresh soil. Purchase healthy transplants or start seed in sterile potting mix or fresh ground. Remove and discard or destroy entire infested plants along with immediately surrounding soil and soil clinging to roots.
Pests
Pests
Flea Beetles – Use row covers to help protect plants from early damage. Put in place at planting and remove before temperatures get too hot in mid-summer. Control weeds.
Cutworms – Control weeds. Cardboard collars around each plant give good protection.
Cabbage root maggot – White maggot larvae tunnel in and feed on roots of plants. Damage causes wilting early on, death of plants later on. Use row covers to help protect plants from early damage.
Cabbageworms – Handpick and destroy. Row covers may be useful on small plantings to help protect plants from early damage. Put in place at planting and remove before temperatures get too hot in midsummer.
Cabbage aphids – A hard stream of water can be used to remove aphids from plants. Wash off with water occasionally as needed early in the day. Check for evidence of natural enemies such as gray-brown or bloated parasitized aphids and the presence of alligator-like larvae of lady beetles and lacewings.
Companion Planting
Companion Planting
All Brassicas benefit from chamomile, dill, mint, rosemary, and sage. Avoid planting near eggplants, peppers, potatoes, or tomatoes. These plants in the Solanum group thrive in slightly acidic soil, as does the fungus that causes clubroot.
More on Companion Planting.
Learn more About Cabbage.
West Coast Seeds is a family-owned company that embraces an organic lifestyle. A group of imagination catalysts and passionate educators, dedicated to producing products and services that better the environment. As part of our mission to repair the earth, we aim to inspire and empower people to take responsibility for the state of the planet. For us, organic is about much more than saying no to chemicals, it is about saying yes to building a healthy soil for the future.
For over 35 years, we have upheld our strong reputation as a leading seed supplier, seeking out the highest quality untreated seeds for organic growing and putting them through rigorous independent testing. We built our company on the exchange of generational wisdom in a masterclass community of newbies and masters alike. Our world may have changed, but our commitment to our people, our customers, and our planet has not.
We’re a values-based business that has blossomed into a lifestyle ethos, with products that support seeders, feeders, keepers, and the tiniest of creepers. Our mission? To mobilize the next generation of gardeners with products that nourish soil and grow vigorous, sustainable gardens. We believe all plants should be grown without the use of chemicals, and that the seeds we supply are an important component of regenerative gardening.
We don’t just offer seeds, we offer experience, insight, and understanding. From timeless garden wisdom to new tech know-how, this is learning on the job: knowledge gleaned not from the pages of a book but from burying our fingers in the soil. We test, experiment, observe and adapt, never happier than when we get to share what we’ve learned with others.
Gardens don’t just grow seeds. They grow minds and imaginations, people and communities. Our vision encompasses both the micro and the macro. We eat locally, protect pollinators, teach people to grow from seed, and support regional biodiversity. We think big but act small and deliver unexpected impact — always with community and purpose.
At West Coast Seeds we believe in the power of small and that little can be large. Like the tiniest seed germinates to evoke incremental change with massive potential, so to can our community of gardeners and growers together. Gardeners are the earth’s stewards, planting seeds of creative declaration. The soil provides the canvas, we provide the seeds.
Sow indoors beginning in late winter and transplant outdoors from 2 weeks after the last frost date to early summer. Overwintering cabbage is sown outdoors during July where winters are mild. Optimal soil temperature: 10-30°C (50-85°F). Seeds should germinate in 7-10 days.
Sow 3 or 4 seeds per pot, 5mm (¼”) deep, under very bright light. Thin to the strongest plant. Space transplants 45-60cm (18-24″) apart in rows 60-90cm (24-36″) apart.
Ideal pH: 6.5-7.0.
Cabbage does best in humus-rich soil amended with composted manure. Mix ½ cup complete organic fertilizer into the soil beneath each transplant. If growth slows, side dress with a little more balanced organic fertilizer. Heads of early varieties can split from over-maturity, rapid growth after heavy rain, or irrigation after dry spells. Splits can be delayed by twisting the plant or cultivating deeply next to plants in order to break roots and slow growth. Fall and winter varieties stand in the garden longer without splitting. If direct sown, add 20-25 days to the maturity date.
If cabbages won’t form heads, it may be from an imbalance of too much nitrogen in the soil in relation to phosphorus. Cabbages require cool temperatures to form heads well. Hot weather can interfere with the development of heads.
Days to maturity: From transplant date.
In optimum conditions at least 80% of seeds should germinate. Usual seed life: 3 years. Per 100′ row: 200 seeds, per acre: 44M seeds.
Cabbage heads are ready when they’re firm to the touch, and when the interior is fairly dense. Heads will split when they’re allowed to overly mature. Rapid growth due to excess watering and fertility will also cause splitting of the head. Plant early, mid-season and late varieties to spread out your harvest. Late varieties tend to be better for storage or for making sauerkraut. Early (summer harvest) varieties tend not to store as well.
Purple blotch (
Alternaria porri) – Avoid wetting foliage if possible. Water early in the day so plant parts above the ground dry as quickly as possible. Allow for air circulation, and avoid crowding plants. Pull weeds around plants and garden area to increase air circulation. When plants are not wet, remove and destroy affected plant parts. In autumn rake and destroy all fallen or diseased leaves and fruit.
Clubroot – If soil infested, add lime to raise soil pH to 7.2. Practice strict crop rotation. If that is not possible, remove infested soil and replace with fresh soil. Purchase healthy transplants or start seed in sterile potting mix or fresh ground. Remove and discard or destroy entire infested plants along with immediately surrounding soil and soil clinging to roots.
