Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. alba
White cabbage
Common names: Green cabbage
Photo: Rasbak · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
Description
White cabbage is the classic for sauerkraut, stew and coleslaw and delivers firm, storable heads into late autumn. It is a hungry heavy feeder but repays good care with substantial heads that keep for months in a cool cellar.
Care instructions
Plant the young plants from May with generous spacing in deep soil well supplied with compost. Water evenly and deeply, because irregular watering makes the heads split. Lay a fine protective net against cabbage white caterpillars and keep the soil cool and moist with a layer of mulch; a site where no cabbage stood the previous year prevents clubroot.
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
loamy, humus-rich, nutrient-rich, moist
Feeding
Heavy feeder
Companion planting
Good neighbors
legume family (Fabaceae)
particularly well establishedLeguminous plants collect nitrogen in the soil, from which Brassicaceae benefit as heavy feeders.
For example PeaBush beanPole beanBroad beanMarker peaSugar pea and 31 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
carrot family (Apiaceae)
You can pair celery and dill with all Brassicaceae because they repel the cabbage whitefly with their scent, a proven companion.
For example Carrotcelery rootDillParsleyCarrot fennelCoriander and 18 more species in the catalogue
Source: Bio-Gärtnerei Mixed-culture Practice
mint family (Lamiaceae)
You will notice that the intense scent of basil, thyme, and others confuses the cabbage whitefly and keeps it away from the cabbage family.
For example LavenderBasilBohnenkrautGarden catnipLemon balmMonarda didyma and 24 more species in the catalogue
Source: bio-gardening intercropping practice
nasturtium family (Tropaeolaceae)
Nasturtium serves as a trap plant for you. Aphids and cabbage whiteflies prefer it over the brassicaceae next to it.
For example Tropaeolum majusMashua
Source: Trap plant practice in organic horticulture
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
Diseases & pests
4 relevantFrom the knowledge base, automatically linked by affected species. How to spot and prevent them is covered in full in the lexicon.
Delia radicum
The cabbage fly lays its eggs at the root collar of crucifers, and the white maggots feed on the roots and root collars.
More on Cabbage flyPlasmodiophora brassicae
Clubroot is a soil-borne fungal disease caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae that affects all cruciferous plants.
More on ClubrootPieris brassicae
The Large White is the striking white moth whose yellow and black caterpillars can devour cabbage plants down to the leaf veins in a short time.
More on Large WhiteStickstoff-Mangel
Nitrogen deficiency arises when plants cannot take up enough plant available nitrogen from the soil, usually on exhausted or sandy ground.
More on Nitrogen deficiencyVarieties
5 varieties‚Braunschweiger’
A robust, seed‑tight storage classic with large, flat‑round heads, cultivated in northern Germany since the 19th century.
‚Dithmarscher Früher’
An early, seed-stable variety from the northern German cabbage region of Dithmarschen, it delivers the first firm heads already in early summer.
‚Filderkraut’
The famous pointed cabbage from the Filder near Stuttgart, a self‑seeding land variety that you harvest until November.
‚Kilaton F1’
A modern F1 hybrid valued above all for its high resistance to clubroot, the root disease that makes many brassica beds in the garden unusable.
‚Türkis F1’
A reliable F1 hybrid that has established itself as a proven variety for sauerkraut and processing.
Notes from real gardens
What other gardeners have written down about this variety, anonymous and voluntary.
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From the magazine
Protecting cabbage from the cabbage white and root fly
Cabbage has two main enemies: the cabbage white, whose caterpillars strip the leaves bare, and the unseen cabbage root fly, whose maggots destroy the roots. Here is how to keep both off without poison, with net, collar and a look under the leaves.
Storing cabbage: keeping white, red and savoy cabbage through winter
Firm storage varieties last until spring if you harvest and store them right. When white and red cabbage go into storage, why savoy stays in the bed, why pointed cabbage has no business in the cellar, and how the surplus becomes sauerkraut.
Chinese cabbage and pak choi for autumn: the late-sowing trick
Chinese cabbage and pak choi are fast Asian brassicas for the autumn harvest. Sown in summer they bolt, from late July they behave. Here is how to use the long-day trick, protect the young plants from flea beetles and fill an empty bed in a few weeks.
Keeping old vegetable varieties and farm seed alive
Open-pollinated instead of F1: why seed saved from a hybrid falls apart, how to get clean seed from tomato, bean, squash, cabbage and carrot, how many plants a variety really needs, and what seed law actually allows.
Planning crop rotation: two rules for a healthy bed
Why the same cabbage grows poorly in its third year and how to prevent it: the two simple rules of crop rotation, the role of legumes as nitrogen gatherers, and the four-field plan that moves each bed one stage on year by year.
Using the hoe properly: cut weeds off shallow instead of pulling them
Every pull tears a hole in the crumb and gives the next seeds light and room. Hoeing shallow slices the seedlings off and leaves the soil surface alone. Which tool suits when, why you hoe in sunshine, and where mulching is the better answer.