🥬 When to Plant Cabbage
Start indoors or buy transplants
📅 Planting Calendar by USDA Zone
Cabbage is a cool-season crop — plant it around your last spring frost, and you can often start it earlier indoors or sow again for a fall harvest. Find the exact start-indoors, transplant, and direct-sow dates for your USDA zone in the table below.
Select your zone to highlight your dates. All dates are calculated from each zone's average frost dates — see how we calculate them.
| Zone | Last Frost | Start Indoors | Transplant | Direct Sow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 2A | May 30 | Apr 4 | May 2 | — |
| Zone 3B | May 15 | Mar 20 | Apr 17 | — |
| Zone 4A | May 8 | Mar 13 | Apr 10 | — |
| Zone 4B | May 1 | Mar 6 | Apr 3 | — |
| Zone 5A | Apr 25 | Feb 28 | Mar 28 | — |
| Zone 5B | Apr 18 | Feb 21 | Mar 21 | — |
| Zone 6A | Apr 21 | Feb 24 | Mar 24 | — |
| Zone 6B | Apr 10 | Feb 13 | Mar 13 | — |
| Zone 7A | Apr 5 | Feb 8 | Mar 8 | — |
| Zone 7B | Mar 28 | Jan 31 | Feb 28 | — |
| Zone 8A | Mar 20 | Jan 23 | Feb 20 | — |
| Zone 8B | Mar 12 | Jan 15 | Feb 12 | — |
| Zone 9A | Feb 28 | Jan 3 | Jan 31 | — |
| Zone 9B | Feb 15 | Dec 21 | Jan 18 | — |
| Zone 10A | Feb 1 | Dec 7 | Jan 4 | — |
| Zone 10B | Jan 15 | Nov 20 | Dec 18 | — |
| Zone 11A | Jan 1 | Nov 6 | Dec 4 | — |
Cabbage is a hardy, productive crop that stores well and is perfect for sauerkraut and coleslaw.
Top Growing Tips
- Start indoors 6-8 weeks before last frost
- Consistent watering prevents heads from splitting
- Use row covers to protect from cabbage worms and loopers
- Early varieties mature in 50-60 days; storage types take 80-100
- Can tolerate frost and even light freezes
Companion Planting
Good companions: beets, celery, onions, potatoes, dill
Avoid planting near: strawberries, tomatoes
Harvest Timeline
50-100 days from transplant depending on variety
Growing cabbage in your region?
These dates come from your zone's frost windows. For the full month-by-month plan — succession sowing, variety picks, and timing tuned to your climate, not just your zone — our regional vegetable-gardening guides cover your area start to finish.
Find your regional growing guide