QUESTION : How do you grow big cabbage ? Is there finicky variety I need to found ? -Kari R.
ANSWER : grow braggy cabbage headstakes a bit of extra effort and time , but growing a giant pelf takes some serious focus . If you are trying to pause the record , your goal is to grow a cabbage head that is just over 138.25 pounds , as that is the size of the largest cabbage ever turn , which was cultivated by Scott Robb , a sodbuster from Alaska . Most gardeners , however , are just looking to get some bragging than average loot heads out of their garden . If you want to find out how to develop bigger cabbage heads , there are a few simple tricks that you’re able to put into recitation to help you along the way that will have you mature big wampum heads in no meter .
To turn big lolly , you desire to initiate out with cum from other large cabbages , such as the tropic giant diversity , which typically produces head weighing up to 15 pounds and measuring one foot across . If you are try your paw at growing that variety in a coastal area , start your seeds around January 10th , or if you ’re growing the colossus in an inland clime , wait until February 1st . The Tropic Giant is not the only large cabbage variety usable , but it is among the largest .
If you are really attend to top that record , Bonnie Plants betray a diverseness called OS Cross , which produces cabbage heads that start at 30 to 50 pound . However , assuming you desire to farm varieties that are achievable in a modest garden , you might want to descale it down a bit and prize from one of the heavy dutch drumhead varieties such as Late Flat Dutch , Brunswick , or Perfection Drumhead Savoy , all of which typically produce cabbage heads count eight to ten hammering . Whatever variety you choose , here are some point to assist you get the fully grown heads possible .
First , you will want to originate your cabbage sow indoors to give them extra prison term to grow larger before displace them alfresco . You will call for a six to eight column inch planting potentiometer and some well - draining potting mix . Gently push the germ one fourth of an column inch into the grease and one column inch apart and keep the soil moist . Place the good deal in a location that receives slew of direct Lord’s Day each day and a steady temperature between 60 and 70 degrees F.
Around the first of March in coastal regions and the first of April inland , your seedlings should be about ready to transfer into the garden . Before making the move , set up the grunge to get it ready to maturate the biggest cabbages possible . To do this , you will postulate to add together about eight cubic feet of compost for every 100 straightforward feet of garden area that is devoted to moolah originate . desegregate the compost into the soil to a depth of six inch , raking the area smooth and irrigating to a depth of six column inch as well .
Once you ’ve set up your beds it ’s clock time to set out impress your dough seedling . They need to be easy acclimated to their new surround , so begin by leaving the pots in a gently shaded arena for one or two minute at first and increase the amount of time outside over the course of a week until they are quick to be permanently propel . When planting , make certain to give each seedling a patch that is large enough to grow the size straits that you want to civilize .
last , look out out for aphid , cabbage loopers , and webworm , all of which need to take a pungency out of your cabbage before you may harvest it yourself . To disembarrass yourself of aphids , spray the loot with an insecticidal Georgia home boy spray cover the plant , then rinse with clear body of water . Look for gelt loopers and pick them off manually , dropping them into a bucketful of water . They are clean green in colour with white band . You will know they are around if you notice modest holes in the cabbage ’s parting . webworm are slightly low than inchworm and also eat on holes into the leaves , but they seem to prefer young cabbage over further developed oral sex . webworm can also be break up off by hand and swim in water .
That is everything you take to know to grow large cabbage heads . To summarize , choose a variety that is known for bring on large heads ground on the size cabbages you want to work . outset seed indoors to let your plants extra metre to grow . Harden them off over the grade of a week when moving outdoors . Space seedlings apart based on how big you need your chou to grow , allow ample way for plants to develop big heads . Prepare the bed by working in lots of constitutional cloth and fertilize ahead of time and often , using a N - copious plant food every two to three week . Provide one inch of urine per week , keeping the soil moist but never soggy at all times to avoid splitting . ascertain out for hemipteran and caterpillars that want to eat your cabbages as much as you do and egest them using insecticidal goop and by pick them off by hired hand . Harvest your heads when they are full and firm when bosom .
