Growing butter cabbage: sowing, care and harvest time

Growing butter cabbage in your own garden: We present suitable varieties and give tips on sowing, care and fertilization, right through to harvest.

Of the Butter cabbage (Brassica oleracea spp. capitata convar. costata), to this day it is not really clear whether it is a species Savoy cabbage or one Type of cabbage with particularly loose heads and light green, ruffled foliage. In the times of the former GDR, the butter cabbage was extremely popular due to its delicate and particularly tasty leaves. This almost forgotten type of cabbage can hardly be found in grocery stores anymore. If you are lucky, you might stumble across it at a regional farmers' market. In isolated regional, mountainous areas it is still cultivated here and there. The loose volume of the head is a thorn in the side of most farmers, because it is hardly possible to harvest mechanically and further processing is also difficult. Nevertheless, the butter cabbage is very delicate and an excellent type of cabbage to grow in your own garden. The tender leaves cannot be stored for very long, but they can be freshly harvested regularly and as required.

Growing butter cabbage: this is how it works step by step

1. With a little luck, you can buy cabbage seeds from one or the other high-quality seed dealer on the Internet.
2. The seeds of the butter cabbage can be sown as early as mid-March. Our Plantura Organic tomato & vegetable soil is particularly suitable for this. At just under 20 degrees, the cabbage seeds need about 2 weeks to germinate. Our recommendation is a sunny window sill, but a cold frame can also be used. A fleece cover is suitable to protect against night frost.
3. When the seedlings are about 10 cm tall, they can be pricked out.
4. When planting out, you should pay attention to a reasonable distance. There should be around 60 cm between the plants and at least 80 cm between the individual rows in the bed.
5. The otherwise very robust cabbage plants are most susceptible, especially in the first few days and weeks Nudibranchs can be dangerous here. The butter cabbage is extremely resistant to other cabbage diseases.
6. A nutrient-rich soil is an advantage, so you can add fertilizer to your butter cabbage - for example with our Plantura Organic tomato fertilizer - strengthen. Adequate watering should be ensured during hot summer days.
7. During midsummer, harvesting can take place, depending on requirements or the entire plant. Our recommendation: harvest the cabbage from the outside in!

Important tip: You can store the butter cabbage in a cool place for a few weeks, but this does not include the storage time savoy or White cabbage to compare. The outer leaves quickly lose their bite and become withered.