If you have limited space and want an early variety, Golden Cross cabbage plants should be your top choice for cabbage. This miniature cultivar is a green hybrid cabbage that grows in tight heads and allows for closer spacing and even container growing.
You’ll also get fully mature, tiny cabbage heads sooner than almost anything else in your vegetable garden.
About Golden Cross Cabbage Variety
The Golden Cross mini cabbage is a fun variety. The heads are just 6-7 inches (15-18 cm.) in diameter. The small size makes for easier storage in the refrigerator and also for closer plantings in a vegetable bed or growing cabbage in containers.
Golden Cross is an early variety. The heads mature from seed in only 45 to 50 days. You can grow them twice, once in spring for early cabbage and again in late summer or early fall for a later fall harvest.
The flavor of the Golden Cross is similar to other green cabbages. It is suitable for a variety of uses in the kitchen. You can enjoy this cabbage raw, in coleslaw, pickled, in sauerkraut, stir-fried, or roasted.
Growing Golden Cross Cabbages
Starting the Golden Cross cabbage variety from seed is quick and easy. Start in spring or late summer to early fall. Like all cabbages, this is a cool-weather vegetable. It will not grow well at 80 F. (27 C.) or warmer.
You can start seeds indoors or start them outside in beds three to five weeks before the last frost. Space seeds about 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cm.) apart and then thin the seedlings to about 18 inches (45.5 cm.) apart.
Soil should be fertile, with compost mixed in if necessary, and should drain well. Water cabbage regularly but only the soil. Avoid wetting the leaves to prevent rot diseases. Keep an eye out for cabbage pests including cabbage loopers, slugs, aphids, and cabbageworms.
To harvest, use a sharp knife to cut the heads from the base of the cabbage plant. Cabbage heads are ready when they are solid and firm. While all types of cabbage can tolerate a hard frost, it’s important to harvest heads before temperatures start getting lower than 28 F. (-2 C.). Heads that have been subjected to those temperatures won’t store as well.
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