Cabbage is a dependable performer as we head into fall, with its hearty, leafy heads in crimson and inexperienced that sweeten with frost. Some fall cabbage varieties have full-sized, rounded heads, whereas others are extra slender and upright.
The cool-season crop works properly with direct sowing or transplanting as summer season temperatures start to drop. Rising temperatures between about 50 and 75°F (10-24°C) are optimum, as cabbage begins to bolt (flower and seed), in decrease or greater circumstances. The most effective germination happens in heat temperatures between 75-85°F (24-29°C).
Purpose to direct sow fall cabbage varieties 10 to 12 weeks earlier than the primary anticipated frost in fall, or begin indoors 4 to 6 weeks earlier than transplanting in late summer season. In gentle climates, sow later for rising out in cool climate.
Cabbage is simple to develop in small areas, together with raised beds and containers, and has a protracted storage life. It strikes simply from backyard to plate to complement winter dishes.
Pair these fall cabbage varieties with companions like herbs and different leafy greens like lettuce, kale, and Swiss chard. Whether or not decorative or edible sorts, they make good-looking specimens amongst frost-hardy annuals like marigolds, pansies, violas, and snapdragons.
‘Purple Acre’
‘Purple Acre’ is gorgeous within the fall vegetable backyard and on the plate. It bridges the decorative and edible with jewel-toned violet and magenta rounds. The compact crops shine in containers and raised beds and don’t take up a lot rising house. A candy taste and vibrant leaves in deep crimson brighten up contemporary salads and stir-fries.
The small, rounded heads attain 5 to seven inches in diameter at maturity and weigh two to 4 kilos. ‘Purple Acre’ resists splitting and cabbage yellows illness. It has a robust shelf life in cool storage, like a root cellar or the fridge.
‘Purple Acre’ matures in 75 to 100 days. As seedlings emerge and attain three inches tall, skinny them for a 12 to 24 inch spacing. Clip the sprouts on the base to keep away from disturbing roots or the remaining seedling. Thinning reduces competitors for assets like vitamins, moisture, and daylight, improves air circulation, and creates room for development.
‘Copenhagen Market’
‘Copenhagen Market’ is among the go-to fall cabbage varieties for slaws, sauerkraut, soups, and extra. The 1909 Danish heirloom stays standard for its quick improvement, dense heads, and adaptableness throughout climates.
‘Copenhagen Market’ is prepared in 65 to 80 days, making it appropriate for a late summer season sowing and one other spherical in spring. Every cabbage measures six to eight inches in diameter and weighs three to 4 kilos.
‘Copenhagen Market’ has compact heads with white interiors and inexperienced to chill blue-green leaves. Tightly wrapped, the favorites resist splitting and retailer for as much as six months.
‘One Kilo Gradual Bolt’ Napa
Napa cabbage has a gently candy, gentle taste that’s not as pungent as customary fall cabbage varieties. Leaves are delicate and crinkled with a thickness between a lettuce and a basic cabbage.
In mild inexperienced with white stems, the heads have a creamy inside. Their gentle, tender traits make them versatile in salads, slaws, and wraps, and in cooking. Napa is scrumptious in kimchi, stir-fried, braised, and roasted.
Absolutely developed, the little cabbages weigh round two kilos. With a fast turnaround, the crops are prepared in solely 50-55 days. They develop greatest in temperatures between 60 and 65°F or 16 to 18°C (with germination at 75-85°F or 24-29°C). Direct sow seeds eight to 10 weeks earlier than fall’s first frost and once more in spring two to 4 weeks earlier than the ultimate frost.
At sowing, place a gaggle of three seeds each 12 to 18 inches at a depth of ¼ inch. Skinny to a single seedling per group at three inches tall. For a wealthy purple choice, look to ‘Merlot’ to enliven delicacies.
‘Child Choi’ Bok Choy
Bok choy, or pak choi, is a light, candy, tender cabbage with centuries of historical past in Asian delicacies. The fast-developing, nutrient-rich leafy inexperienced is right as a late summer season planting for an autumn harvest or a number of successional rounds.
Dwarf bok choy varieties boast quick development and compact habits. Small choices are sometimes extra heat- and frost-tolerant, too, making them good fall cabbage varieties for the seasonal transition. ‘Child Choi’ matures in 35 to 60 days. Whereas it reaches 20 inches tall, choose early and small (about 5 to 6 inches tall) for tender darkish inexperienced leaves with crisp white stems.
Look to ‘Toy Choy’ for a miniature selection. It grows to solely 5 inches tall and is prepared in as little as 30 days.
‘Osaka Purple’
Decorative cabbage provides aptitude to autumnal containers and bedding shows with its vibrant coloration, distinctive kinds and foliage, and frost-tolerant efficiency. Decorative cabbage differs from decorative kale, because the rounded leaves are much less frilly and ruffly. Whereas edible, decorative varieties are inclined to have a extra bitter taste than these valued for consuming. It’s their showy foliage that steals the present.
The thick, colourful leaves of decorative fall cabbage varieties create textural curiosity in inexperienced, creamy white, deep pink, purple, and crimson rosettes. Leaf coloration intensifies in cool temperatures, transitioning from inexperienced to a mix of saturated pigments as summer season turns to fall.
‘Purple’ is a star of the ‘Osaka’ collection that brings early coloration with royal purple foliage surrounding a magenta inside. Leaves are barely waxy and wavy with evenly serrated margins round a tightly packed, compact head. Showy stems and veins supply highlights in shiny cerise and pink.
The collection produces uniform heads, fast-growing with dependable vigor and coloration. ‘Osaka White’ is a crisp, shiny choice with creamy white central leaves and pinkish-ivory facilities. The compact quick growers are good choices for areas with brief rising seasons.
‘Caraflex’
‘Caraflex’ brings novel, pointed heads and a petite kind, good for having fun with abruptly. Gentle, candy, and tender, the hybrid is scrumptious contemporary and uncooked or roasted and in soups and stews.
The conical heads weigh one and a half to 2 kilos every and have tightly-wrapped leaves. Illness and pest resistant, ‘Caraflex’ is a uniform producer. The simple-to-grow fall cabbage selection is prepared in 75 days. Harvest by reducing the stems on the base after they’re totally developed and agency underneath a mild squeeze.
Rosette Tatsoi
Tatsoi isn’t a head cabbage however a flat rosette of Asian cabbage leaves. Full of soppy, spoon-shaped leaves with a easy texture and distinctive taste, the traditional vegetable is darkish inexperienced and kinds a showy, full rosette.
Tatsoi is extra cold-tolerant than its bok choy relative, hardy to fifteen°F (-9°C). Its dietary profile additionally boasts greater calcium and vitamin ranges. The flavour is taken into account superior to some, with extra mustardy notes for richness.
Rosette tatsoi is quick-maturing and develops totally in about 45 days from seeding. The rosettes develop with ample house between seedlings, bringing eye-catching enchantment in pots or beds along with the nutritious leaves.
‘Crane Purple’
The ‘Crane’ collection is one other set of decorative fall cabbage varieties, this one creating mini-bouquets of leaf preparations that resemble blooms. Small rosettes prime lengthy, sturdy stems like rising flowers.
Plant ‘Crane’ in teams for affect and as container focal factors. Encompass them with flowering annuals like violas, snapdragons, and calendula, and greens like lettuce, chard, and sorrel to melt the bottom of the stems.
‘Crane Purple’ options deep purple-green outer leaves that maintain violet facilities. The cupped rosettes additionally glow in ‘Crane Pink’ with delicate, rosy pink facilities and ‘Crane White’ in ivory and blush. This beautiful cabbage even makes a superb minimize “flower” to brighten seasonal bouquets.
‘Famosa’
Savoy cabbages have crinkly, textural leaves and a gentle taste, and leaves which are extra tender than customary sorts. ‘Famosa’ is a magnificence with blue-green and light-weight yellow tinting to the closely savoyed foliage. Finest for cooking, savoys are sturdy with sturdy outer leaves and extra tender inside ones.
‘Famosa’ is a mid-season selection that develops in 65-75 days and is an effective choice for shifting from summer season to fall. It resists bolting and ailments like downy mildew. Every leafy head weighs two to 4 kilos.