Cabbage Plants

Tips for growing cabbage: To keep cabbage heads from cracking as a result of excess water absorption, perform one of three seemingly violent acts to prune the roots and slow down the cabbage’s growth a bit: Twist the plant half a turn, yank it slightly out of the soil, or sink a spade into the soil about six inches from the stem in several places. These measures will not hurt the plant. They set it back on its course of producing a proper cabbage.

To get two crops from early cabbage plants, harvest the first crop by cutting the cabbage head out of the plant, leaving the outer leaves and root in the garden. The plant will send up new heads — pinch them off until only four or five smaller heads remain. When these grow to tennis-ball size, they’ll be perfect for a salad.

Harvest cabbages by cutting them off at the base with a sharp knife. Then reach down and pull the stem and root from the soil to prevent diseases from building up in the soil. Rotate your cabbage plantings each year as well.