Why did my cabbage head split?

Uneven moisture, usually a sudden drink after a dry spell, makes a mature head take up water fast and crack. Keep watering steady as the head forms, and harvest promptly once it's firm rather than leaving it in warm or wet conditions.

Should I grow cabbage in spring or fall?

Both work, but fall is often easier — cabbage heads best in cool weather, and a fall crop heads as the weather cools rather than fighting summer heat, which makes spring heads loose, bitter, or prone to splitting.

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How to Grow Cabbage: Heads That Store All Winter

GardenDraft Team · July 11, 2026 · 5 min read

Part of: Garden Planning Guides · How to Grow Vegetables — Crop Guides A–Z

Cabbage is an old-fashioned, dependable crop that asks for three things: cool weather, steady moisture, and protection from a short list of pests. Give it those and it forms those big, heavy, satisfying heads that store for weeks and turn into slaw, kraut, and soup all winter.

A cool-season crop, spring or fall

Cabbage is a brassica, kin to broccoli and kale, and it heads up best in cool weather. Grow it as an early-spring crop that matures before summer heat, or (often easier) as a fall crop that heads as the weather cools. Heat is the enemy of a good head: too-warm conditions can make heads loose, bitter, or prone to splitting. Start with transplants for a head start, sowing indoors 5–6 weeks before setting out, around your last frost for spring or in midsummer for fall.

Rich soil, steady water, room to spread

Cabbage is a heavy feeder. Plant in full sun in soil worked with plenty of compost, give plants 18–24 inches (smaller for compact varieties), and keep the nitrogen and water steady to grow the big outer leaves that power a big head. Even moisture matters most as the head forms — an uneven supply, especially a sudden drink after a dry spell, makes heads split. A mulch keeps the soil cool and evenly damp.

The brassica pests, again

Cabbage draws the whole cabbage-family crowd: cabbage worms (the green caterpillars that bore into the head), aphids tucked in the leaves, cutworms felling transplants, and flea beetles on the young plants. A floating row cover from transplanting heads off most of it, and rotating brassicas away from last year's bed (crop rotation) keeps soil problems like clubroot from building.

Harvest cabbage firm, before it splits

Cut cabbage when the head is full and firm — squeeze it; a solid, dense head is ready, while a soft one needs more time. Don't dawdle, because a mature head left in warm or wet conditions will split. If a head does start to crack, harvest it right away. After cutting, leave the plant in the ground and a few small secondary heads often sprout from the stump for a bonus picking. A firm fall cabbage stores for weeks in a cool, humid spot — see storing root vegetables. Find your sowing windows on the planting calendar.

Frequently asked questions

Why did my cabbage head split?: Uneven moisture, usually a sudden drink after a dry spell, makes a mature head take up water fast and crack. Keep watering steady as the head forms, and harvest promptly once it's firm rather than leaving it in warm or wet conditions.
Should I grow cabbage in spring or fall?: Both work, but fall is often easier — cabbage heads best in cool weather, and a fall crop heads as the weather cools rather than fighting summer heat, which makes spring heads loose, bitter, or prone to splitting.