Head cabbage

Short description of the species

Botanical name

Head cabbage

Latin name

Brassica oleracea sk. capitata

Family

Brassicaceae

Plant height

flowering stem (2nd year): 0.5-1.8 m

Exposure

relatively undemanding (sun or shadow)

Temperature requirement

cold-resistant

Keeping

medium to difficult

Water requirement

high

Soil requirement

medium-heavy, permeable, high humus content (requirement of direct organic fertilisation)

Soil pH

6.3 – 7.8

Edible part

head, leaves

accessibility

Usage

direct consumption – salads, side dish, soups; processing – conservation, fermentation

Growing technology and harvest 

Propagation 

• generative – direct sowing (more suitable for summer/later planting and cabbage for fermentation) or growing from seedlings 

Spacing 

• 0.40-0.60 x 0.40-0.50 m 

Harvest 

• manual selection – early cultivars, or unequal cabbage culture from direct sowing 

• later planting – semi-mechanized/mechanized harvest 

• head with 2-3 outside leaves – harvest and transport to storage rooms 

• head harvested before optimal date – faster wilting of leaves 

• delayed harvest date – head cracking 

Important dates 

• growing from seedlings + covering textile (late cultivars – protection against pests, mainly 2-3 weeks after planting) 

Storage 

• removal of surface head humidity by air circulation (temperature approximately equal to head temperature) 

• temperature = 0-1 °C 

• relative air humidity = 85-90% 

• optimal head weight for storage = 2-2.5 kg 

Use 

• direct consumption – salads, side dish, soups 

• processing – conservation, fermentation 

Diseases and pests 

• damage in connection to un-suitable growing technology: head cracking (delayed harvest – mainly in early spring cultivars; irregular irrigation) 

• the most dangerous disease: clubroot (Plasmodiophora brasssicae) – incorrect crop rotation 

• virus diseases: virus mosaics 

• bacterial diseases: wet rottiness (Erwinia sp., Pseudomonas sp.), black rottiness (Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris) 

• fungus diseases: falling of germinating plants (several species of microscopic funguses - Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium spp., Mycosphaerella brassicicola, Olpidium brassicae, Phytophtora spp., Pythium spp., Thanatephrous cucumeris, Verticillium spp. etc.), downy mildew (Hyaloperonospora parasitica), Alternaria leaf spottiness (Alternaria brassicicola, A. brassicae), cabbage ring spottiness (Mycosphaerella brassicicola), Phoma rottiness (Leptosphaeria maculans), Rhizoctonia rottiness (Thanatephorus cucumeris) 

• pests: cabbage root fly (Delia radicum), cabbage aphid (Brevicoryne brassicae), flea-beetles (Phyllotreta spp.), white butterfly (Pieris brassicae, Pieris rape), cabbage moth (Mamestra brassicae), turnip moth (Agrotis segetum), diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella), swede midge (Contarinia nasturtii), thrips (Thrips spp.), cabbage whitefly (Aleurodes proletella), various weevil species (Ceutorhynchus spp.)