When to plant cabbage in South Africa
A crop for chilly climates is the cabbage. The best time to grow cabbage is in the spring so that it can be harvested before the summer heat sets in, or you can start growing it in the middle or late summer so that it can be harvested in the cool months of the fall, winter, or early spring.
In most soils, cabbages will grow. They favor brief days and chilly temperatures. Cabbage that has reached maturity can withstand temperatures as low as 20°F. A slight cold won’t harm young plants or seedlings. A robust biennial cultivated as a cool-weather annual, cabbage can withstand frost but not heat.
A “head” of broad, overlapping leaves known as a cabbage’s terminal bud develops on top of a short, stubby stem. Heads may have a rounded, flat, or pointed shape. There are many hues of smooth and crinkled leaves.The head might be spherical, flat, or pointed, and it can be various hues of green or reddish-purple.
Locations to Grow Cabbage
Grow cabbage in a loam soil that is well-drained and rich in organic matter. Give your cabbage plenty of sun. Before planting, prepare the planting beds by turning them under to a depth of 12 inches (30 cm), then covering them with 2 to 3 inches (5-7 cm) of aged compost or commercial organic planting mix.
The ideal pH range for growing cabbage is between 6.5 and 6.8. Fertile and non-acidic soil are required. Before planting cabbage, perform a soil analysis.
If clubroot disease has been an issue, add lime to the soil to raise the pH to 7.0 or slightly higher.
Cabbage season in South Africa
f you live in a region with a cold winter, you should start your cabbage indoors or in a cold frame in December and plant it in the garden in January. If you live in a region with a warm winter, you should start your cabbage indoors or in hotbeds in February and plant it in the garden as soon as the soil can be worked. In the north, plant starting seeds are sown once again in May or June, and then planted in the garden in July.
Cabbage varieties
The number of cabbage types is in the hundreds. There are numerous ways to organize or categorize the various cabbage varieties:
Sorting cabbage into early, mid, and late harvest seasons is one way to organize it. For a 2 to 3-week head start on the season, early cultivars are typically started inside; mid- and late-season varieties are usually sown directly in the garden.
Another method is to categorize cabbage varieties based on whether they should be preserved or eaten fresh.
There are cabbages with smooth green leaves, scarlet leaves, and green, crinkly leaves, among others (called Savoy cabbage).
Savoy cabbages are tough and provide good winter and spring crops; they have a higher iron content than smooth-leaved cabbage.
Some cabbages are classified as decorative (even though their leaves are edible). These cabbages, which are also known as “flowering” cabbages, have loose heads of red, white, or pink ruffled leaves with a green leaf border around the outside.
