Cabbage - Red

Type: Vegetable

Rotation Group: 4, Brassicas


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KALIBOS

A delicious novelty - it has red, pointed heads - is notable for its sweet flavour and is perfect grated raw into salads or cooked. It originally came from Eastern Europe and is well worth trying.
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RED FLARE

Very early, sweet flavour, dark colour, short core, hard, tight heads - this variety has it all! Lovely served with apples and raisins.
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LODERO

Produces tightly packed small to medium sized heads which are full of flavour and store well. Excellent in coleslaw or steamed where it retains its colour well.
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KLIMARO

An extremely versatile variety, Klimaro can harvested when small or grown large. It has a small core and fantastic internal colour and will stand well without going overmature. It has an excellent flavour, particularly suited to coleslaw.

Site, Soil and Preparation

Cabbages like a fertile, well draining, moisture retentive, firm soil. The main crop beds should be dug over and firmed a few months before planting.

Indoor Sowing

Red Cabbage is sown in March to May ready to cut from August to November. Cabbage can be started off in growing cells or seed trays under cover.

Outdoor Sowing

Cabbage seed can be sown directly into a seed bed.

Thinning

Seeds should be sown thinly and thinned out to 3 inches as they develop. Germination usually takes 7 to 14 days.

Transplanting

Seedlings are ready for transplanting when they have 5 or 6 leaves. Use a dibber to make a hole large enough to accommodate the root ball and firm the soil around the plant. Spacing between plants varies, for compact heads space at 30cm, for large heads allow 45cm and leave just 15cm between spring cabbage to encourage their conical shape.

Care

Keep the young plants weed free and well watered until established and then only water during dry periods.

Harvest

Cabbages are harvested by cutting through the stem just above ground level with a sharp knife. Red cabbages have a much shorter harvest period of September to the end of November but do store well.