How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Savoy Cabbage

From green to purple to Napa, cabbage comes in a striking diversity of shapes, colors, and textures! Savoy cabbage adds even more excitement to the mix, offering crinkled heads with thin, frilly leaves perfect for wraps, coleslaws, sautes, or salads. The thin, delicate texture is softer than regular cabbage, and the flavor is more mild. Moreover, the plants are easy to grow in the garden, yielding lightweight round heads in 70-80 days.

Savoy cabbage is perfect for cool-weather gardening, and grows well in the spring or summer. If you’re looking to add diversity to your brassica patch, let’s dig into how you can grow delectable crinkly savoy cabbage.

What Is It?

Savoy cabbage is a variety of cabbage with crinkly, curled leaves and a lightweight ruffly texture. The large tender leaves of savoy are often used in place of wraps, or lightly cooked into a diversity of dishes. This cultivar tends to be sweeter and milder in flavor compared to regular cabbage. The heads are looser and less dense. 

Where Does It Originate? 

Savoy cabbage is named after the historical Savoy region of the Western Alps in Southeastern france. The vegetable has been cultivated since the 1500s and only recently became popular in the United States. This type of cabbage is more tender, sweet, mild, and ruffly than regular green or red-leaved varieties. 

As a member of the Brassicaceae or brassica family, it shares origins with kale, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower, which all stem from the species Brassica oleracea. Also known as cole crops, these plants have been keystone members of cold-weather gardens for centuries. 

Propagation

Brassicas are most commonly propagated by seed. If you have grown regular cabbage, then you will have no problem with savoy. 

Seed

This cool-weather crop is best planted in spring or fall. The seeds need warm soil to germinate, so it’s recommended to start them indoors in cell trays 4-6 weeks before your expected last frost date. The ideal ambient temperature is 60-70°F (16-21°C).

Ideally, start seeds in late spring for early summer planting. You can also sow in late summer for fall plantings. In zones 9 and warmer, savoy seeds can be planted in the fall and grown over the winter to ensure they get the cool-weather conditions required for sweet, tender, pest-free heads. 

Begin by filling cell trays with a well-drained seed starter mix. If you’re starting a lot of brassicas at once, use a universal bottom tray to layer several cell trays on one tray for easy transport and transporting. If you don’t have a greenhouse nursery or south-facing window, start your seeds under grow lights. 

Sow the small, round cabbage seeds about ¼” deep in the center of each cell. Water generously and keep in a warm place. Seeds germinate best in soil temperatures between 68 and 85°F (20-29°C) so use a heat mat in extra cold places. Once the seedlings are 4-6 weeks old, you can harden them off outdoors in a protected space for a few days to help them adjust to outdoor weather before transplanting.

Planting

Like its cousins, savoy cabbage does best in the cooler mild weather of spring and fall. Avoid growing in peak summer, especially in hot areas. Excess heat can stress the plants and cause annoying pest issues. The leaves are also sweeter when exposed to cold nights.

How to Transplant 

While brassicas grow best in cool weather, the young seedlings still need warm soil to thrive. Don’t transplant out until around your last frost date. It’s helpful to use row cover to protect young seedlings from cold nights and pesky pests like flea beetles.

Harden off the seedlings by gradually acclimating them to outdoor temperatures for a few days before planting. Prepare your beds with compost or well-drained soil mix. Use a hori hori or trowel to create planting holes slightly larger than the cell tray size. Loosen the seedling from the tray, gently grasp it at the base, and pull it out of the tray. If you’re using Epic Cell Trays, this is even easier because you can simply poke the root ball out from the hole in the bottom. This method reduces the risk of transplant shock and root disturbance.

Place the seedling in the hole and backfill, ensuring that the soil level stays the same. Avoid mounding soil around the base or burying the stem too deep. Water the baby cabbages generously, but don’t let the soil puddle up. Cover with row fabric and keep the beds weeded.

Spacing

Savoy cabbage requires 12-18” of space between plants and 18-36” of space between heads. If you are practicing intensive planting or square foot gardening, you can give each plant just one square foot of space. However, this requires more fertile soil and more water. It may also yield smaller heads. In humid climates, it helps to widen the spacing to 18” to ensure sufficient airflow and prevent diseases.

How to Grow

Growing savoy heads is almost the exact same as growing regular cabbage. As long as these crops have the right soil, seasonality, fertility, and pest protection, you shouldn’t have many issues.

Light

Like most garden vegetables, brassicas need full sun to thrive. A cabbage grown in a shady area may struggle to grow a solid head. Be sure to plant in an area that receives six to eight hours of direct sunlight per day. You should plant in partial afternoon shade only in the hottest climates. 

Don’t grow cabbage in the canopy shade of larger vegetables or shrubs. The seedlings may look spindly or weak due to lack of light. Instead, grow your crop in a bed that is open to the sun to ensure that the leaves grow broad and healthy.

Water

Cabbage plants can be quite thirsty, so ensure consistent watering throughout the growing season. If you live in an area with wet springs or autumns, then moisture won’t be as much of an issue. But if the buffer season rains are slacking, supplemental irrigation is a must. Drip lines or soaker hoses work best because they deliver moisture straight to the base of the plant. You can apply leaf mold or leaf mulch to retain moisture in drought-prone areas. 

Keep the soil consistently moist but never soggy. Stick your finger in the bed near each cabbage plant to check the moisture level before watering. Ideally, the soil moisture should feel like a wrung-out sponge. Don’t let it dry out nor get too wet. In rainy areas, you can improve soil drainage with the amendments described below to ensure that the cabbage roots don’t get waterlogged.

Soil

Loamy, well-drained soil is ideal for all brassicas. These plants tolerate a neutral to slightly alkaline pH between 6.5 and 7.5. Generous amounts of compost usually do the trick. If your soil is lacking drainage, consider adding vermiculite and perlite to help water move through. A broadfork is useful to loosen the lower layers and prevent compaction.

Like all cabbages, savoy varieties are vulnerable to root rot in soggy or high clay conditions. It’s very important to amend clay soils before growing brassicas, otherwise they may succumb to fungal root diseases.

Climate and Temperature

Cool weather is ideal for this crop. Late spring plantings allow the savoy cabbage heads to develop by mid-summer before it gets too hot. You can also plant again at the end of summer and allow the heads to develop during the cool weather of fall. 

In very hot climates without frosts (zones 9 and warmer), remember to plant cabbage in the fall and grow it over the winter. Summer plantings are difficult to manage and often fail due to pest pressure, bottling, or heat stress.

Fertilizing

Cabbage and its cousins are heavy feeders, which means they require very fertile soil. A balanced, all-purpose blend will supply the right amount of nutrients to support growth. Slow-release, organic fertilizers are best because they gradually release nutrients throughout the growing season. Avoid synthetic fertilizers that may cause a nitrogen burn.

Varieties

Savoy brassicas is a category that includes any crinkly, ruffly, lightweight variety. Several varieties are available with flavorful, sweet leaves and tender textures. Pay attention to the seasonality that each cultivar is bred for, as some are better for spring and others are ideal for fall plantings.

‘Alcosa’

This early-season savoyed cabbage yields pretty 2-4 pound crinkled heads with a blue-green hue. The interior is yellow, thin, and fluffy, making it easy to chop thinly for coleslaws, stews, or sautes. This is a great choice for closely-spaced intensive plantings that yield mini cabbage heads. Cold springs are ideal for this variety, as the chill makes it sweeter and more flavorful. ‘Alcosa’ is downy mildew resistant and excellent for humid climates.

‘Famosa’

This midseason savoy works great as a summer planting to move into fall. It is resistant to downy mildew and bolting, but still prefers mild weather. The heads have a pretty greenish-blue hue and yellow-tinted interior leaves.

‘Deadon’

This gorgeous red savoy has purple veins, dark green leaves, and a pale green interior. The magenta hues get more intense in cold weather. Plant ‘Deadon’ in late summer or fall to ensure that it sweetens with light frosts before harvesting.

Companion Plants

The best savoy cabbage companion plants include white alyssum, marigolds, basil, dill, garlic, and scallions. All of these plants are relatively low-growing so they won’t compete with the cabbage. 

They also have strong aromas to deter pests. Alyssum, marigolds, basil, and dill also attract important predatory insects like lacewings, ladybugs, and hoverflies. These beneficial insects are voracious predators of cabbage pests like aphids and cabbage loopers. 

Pests and Diseases

Unfortunately, brassicas are prone to a lot of pests and diseases, especially if you accidentally plant them in the hot summer months. Here are the easiest natural ways to avoid these issues with your crop.

Aphids

These sap-sucking pests seem to attack everything, but they especially love cabbage! Savoy varieties tend to be a bit more resilient than regular types, but prevention is still key. The best way to keep aphids out is to keep your plants happy and stress-free. Research shows that aphids tend to favor drought-stressed plants. Consistent moisture, loamy soil, and proper fertilization can keep your crop aphid-free.

Interplanting with companions like white alyssum and marigolds can also help attract beneficial predators of aphids. If extreme outbreaks occur, either remove infested leaves, blast the plants with a rush of water to knock aphids off, or apply a diluted neem oil spray to the affected area.

Flea Beetles

These tiny black bugs put thousands of tiny shot-holes in brassica leaves. They can significantly weaken the crop, reduce yields, and make your cabbages very ugly. Fortunately, they are easy to prevent by using row cover. I always keep my young brassicas covered with row fabric until they are large enough to withstand modest pest pressure. It is especially helpful to cover plants in the spring when flea beetles are emerging in droves.

Cabbage Moths and Butterflies

There are multiple species of moths and butterflies that attack cabbage plants. Their larvae, which do the majority of damage, vary in size, shape, and color. They can all be handled in the same way, though.

The adult stage of these annoying caterpillars sometimes are a white butterfly. You may notice them flying around your brassica patch throughout spring and summer. They lay their eggs in savoy cabbages and the larvae grow into large caterpillars that can skeletonize the leaves. The caterpillars produce a gross “frass” or green rounded poops that can render cabbage heads almost inedible.

Prevent cabbage moths with a physical barrier like row cover or biological control Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis). You can also hand-remove caterpillars and thoroughly wash the harvested cabbage heads by dunking in water to remove any remaining frass.

Cabbage Looper

Another annoying caterpillar pest, these loopers are green and easily camouflaged with the leaves of savoy. They tend to concentrate on the lower surface, munching large holes in brassica leaves. The adult moth is brown and elegant, laying its eggs primarily at night. The best form of prevention is row fabric. To control, apply Bt or insecticidal soap spray directly on affected plants. 

Mildew

Excess moisture and a lack of airflow can cause mildew problems in savoy varieties. Downy mildew appears as a fluffy white growth on the undersides of leaves and a black speckling on the upper parts. Powdery mildew appears on upper leaf surfaces. Leaves may turn yellow and fall, causing the plants to look sickly.

The best prevention is wider spacing and root-level irrigation. Avoid overhead irrigation when possible. Don’t overcrowd your plants, and be sure to keep beds weeded so that there is plenty of airflow. Diluted neem oil is an effective control for existing infections, and preventing spread to other healthy leaves. Apply every 7-14 days until the mildew subsides. Wash harvested heads thoroughly to prevent off-flavors. 

Downy mildew-resistant varieties like ‘Alcosa’ and ‘Famosa’ are best for humid climates.

Black Rot

This bacterial disease can affect any cole crop family member, but cabbage, broccoli ,and cauliflower are the most susceptible. It mainly enters gardens through infected seeds or crop residues. Be sure to source disease-free seed and remove crop residues from the garden regularly. Infected leaves or stems should never be left in your beds or compost. Burn them or throw them away.

Clubroot

This gnarly brassica disease causes roots to become swollen and misshapen. Clubroot is caused by a fungus that proliferates in heavy clay and waterlogged soils. Your savoy cabbage may appear wilted, yellow, or several stunted. Unfortunately, the disease is incurable and it’s best to pull up infected plants and dispose of them quickly before the clubroot spreads. 

However, prevention is very doable! Alkaline soils tend to have less issues with clubroot, so you can always add agricultural lime and calcium to your soil. Avoid growing cole crops in the same area for several years. Sometimes, a crop rotation of 4-5 years is necessary to avoid the disease. Rotate with unrelated plant families such as alliums (onion family crops) and herbs.

Leaf Spots

Various pathogens can cause leaf spots on cabbage leaves. These tend to crop up in areas where cabbages are not in proper growth conditions, or in seasons that are unusually wet and somewhat warm.

Remove any damaged leaves you notice as they crop up. For those with persistent leaf spot issues, remove them entirely and dispose of them. Do not attempt to compost them as your pile likely doesn’t get hot enough to eliminate diseases.