Permapotes
Cabbage

Red cabbage

Red cabbage: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar

Red cabbage is a heading cabbage of the species Brassica oleracea, in the Brassicaceae family. It belongs to the same group as green and white heading cabbages. Its colour makes it immediately recognisable, but the edible part remains a tightly packed head of leaves around a short stem, rather than a flower head like cauliflower.

Broad, rounded outer leaves surround a head that is usually round, sometimes slightly flattened depending on the variety. The leaf surface can have a faintly waxy appearance. Colours range from reddish purple to deep purple, with paler veins. A cut head reveals winding lines of coloured leaf tissue and pale ribs, a pattern that also gives this vegetable a decorative role on the plate.

The colour comes from pigments called anthocyanins. Their shade responds to acidity, which explains why red cabbage can change colour in a dish. Lemon juice or vinegar can bring out pinker or redder shades. This kitchen phenomenon alone does not indicate whether a cabbage is mature.

Raw red cabbage has a firm, crunchy texture and the distinctive vegetable flavour of cabbage. You can combine it with carrots, apples or walnuts in salads. Braising makes it softer and suits winter meals. It also belongs in soups, roasted vegetable dishes and fermented preparations. These different uses bring out a range of textures and flavours rather than a single way of enjoying it.

Varieties differ in head size and density, as well as earliness, production season and suitability for storage. A variety description therefore tells you more than the words red cabbage alone. A small head is not necessarily an unfinished cabbage, and a darker colour does not guarantee a sweeter taste. This diversity allows the vegetable to suit different households and culinary preferences.

Botanically a biennial, red cabbage is generally grown for its leaves during its first season. Head formation is part of vegetative growth, separate from flowering and seed production. In the vegetable garden, purple foliage contrasts with green crops and makes the diversity of heading cabbages easy to see.

Red cabbage
Red cabbage
Characteristics
  • Lifecycle : Annual
  • Exposure : Full Sun
  • Frost Hardiness : Frost Resistant
  • Cultivation Difficulty : Medium
  • Mature height : 30 cm
Sowing & Planting
  • Greenhouse Growing : Not Required
  • Sowing Depth : 1 cm
  • Plant Spacing : 50 cm
  • Row Spacing : 60 cm
Maintenance
  • Maintenance : Moderate
  • Water Requirements : Moderate
Other characteristics
  • Soil Type : Mixed
  • Soil pH Preference : Neutral
  • Pest Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Disease Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Weed Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Pollination : Insect-pollinated
  • Propagation : Sowing