How to Grow Cabbage
'Greyhound' from Seed
Britain's earliest pointed cabbage — the RHS AGM heritage variety with a conical heart of exceptional sweetness, almost no wasted outer leaves, a compact 30cm spread ideal for smaller gardens, and a season that stretches from late spring right through to autumn with successional sowing
'Greyhound' is named aptly: lean, fast, and elegantly pointed. It is the earliest of the pointed or 'sweetheart' cabbages — a heritage variety that has been grown in British kitchen gardens for generations, and whose enduring popularity rests on a combination of genuine practical virtues that newer round-headed varieties have never managed to displace. The pointed conical head is tightly packed and produces a firm, sweet heart with a tiny core and almost no wasteful outer leaves — in a mature Greyhound cabbage, virtually every leaf from outer to inner is edible. This low-waste quality, combined with its compact 30cm spread that allows closer spacing than round-headed types, makes it particularly useful in gardens where space is limited.
The flavour is genuinely excellent — sweeter and more delicate than large round drumhead varieties, and with a tenderness that makes it outstanding lightly steamed or braised rather than boiled to submission. It can be used at any stage of development: the very young plants pulled as spring greens before the heart has formed provide an early harvest weeks before the full head matures, and a succession of sowings from February to July means fresh Greyhound can be on the plate from May through November. The RHS Award of Garden Merit recognises its consistently outstanding performance across UK gardens.
Quick Facts at a Glance
Crop Type
Summer / Autumn Cabbage — Heritage
Sowing Time
Feb–May indoors · Mar–Jul outdoors
Harvest
Approx. 10–12 weeks from transplant
Award
RHS Award of Garden Merit ✓
Height & Spread
30cm tall · 40cm spread — compact
Difficulty Rating
3 out of 5 — Moderate (netting essential)
Understanding the Variety
'Greyhound' is a Brassica oleracea (Capitata Group) — the common cabbage species — in the pointed or sweetheart form that has been cultivated in British gardens for well over a century. The pointed head is not merely aesthetic: it reflects a head-formation pattern that produces a very different internal structure to round drumhead cabbages, with the leaves wrapping more tightly around a smaller central core. The result is a denser heart-to-outer-leaf ratio — more eating quality, less waste — and a sweeter, more concentrated flavour.
Spring Greens — The Early Harvest Option
Greyhound plants do not need to reach full heart maturity before they are useful. Plants at the young leafy stage — six to eight weeks from transplanting, before the heart has fully formed — can be pulled and used as spring greens: loose, tender, sweet brassica leaves that are among the first fresh green vegetables of the season. This early-harvest option is particularly valuable from the earliest sowings, where the transition period between winter stored vegetables and summer fresh harvest can be bridged by Greyhound spring greens from May onwards.
⚠️ Netting is Non-Negotiable
All brassicas — cabbages, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts — must be covered with fine-mesh butterfly netting from the day of planting out. The cabbage white butterfly (Pieris brassicae) will find Greyhound plants within days of exposure and lay eggs that hatch into caterpillars capable of completely destroying a crop within a week. Pigeons will also strip unprotected brassica plants. Net from the outset, check weekly for any caterpillars that may have entered through gaps, and maintain netting until harvest.
Sowing & Transplanting
Club Root Prevention — Rotate Crops Every Year
Club root (Plasmodiophora brassicae) is a soil-borne disease that causes swollen, distorted roots and plant death. It persists in soil for up to twenty years. Never grow cabbages or any other brassica in the same soil two years running — rotate brassicas to a fresh plot each season. Apply lime to acid soil before planting to raise pH above 7, which reduces club root severity. Purchase transplants rather than saving your own if club root is present in your garden.
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Sow indoors February to May at 10–15°C. Sow in modules or small pots at 1cm depth. Germination takes four to seven days at this temperature. Grow on in cool, bright conditions — a cold greenhouse or cool windowsill produces sturdy, short-jointed seedlings. Warm, stuffy conditions produce leggy plants that perform poorly when transplanted.
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Alternatively, direct sow outdoors from late March to July. Sow in a prepared seedbed, 1cm deep, and transplant to final positions when seedlings have five or six true leaves and are 10–15cm tall. Outdoor sowings for succession into October harvest.
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Harden off over ten to fourteen days. Gradually acclimatise indoor-raised seedlings to outdoor conditions before planting. Start with a few hours of outdoor exposure daily, increasing over two weeks. Direct planting without hardening off causes stress and a check to growth that sets the crop back by two to three weeks.
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Plant out 30–50cm apart in fertile, firm soil. Greyhound's compact habit allows closer spacing than round-headed varieties — 30cm is adequate in good fertile soil. Firm planting is important for all brassicas — a loosely planted cabbage rocks in the wind and develops a forked stem. Plant deeply, to the first true leaves, and firm the soil around the stem very firmly with your foot.
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Net immediately on planting. Install fine-mesh butterfly netting over hoops before or immediately after planting. Leave no gaps — the cabbage white butterfly is a determined opportunist.
Growing On & Care
Consistent Moisture
Cabbages need regular, consistent watering — irregular moisture causes split heads (sudden rapid growth after drought) and poor heart formation. Water deeply at the base of the plant every few days in dry weather. A thick mulch of grass clippings or straw between plants retains moisture and suppresses weeds.
Feeding
Brassicas are heavy nitrogen feeders. Prepare the bed with well-rotted manure or compost the previous autumn, and apply a balanced granular fertiliser before transplanting. Side-dress with a nitrogen-rich feed (liquid seaweed or chicken manure pellets) three to four weeks after transplanting to maintain vigorous leaf development.
Pest Inspection Weekly
Even with netting in place, inspect plants weekly. Check the undersides of leaves for the pale-yellow egg clusters of the cabbage white. Remove and destroy immediately. Look for young caterpillars in the growing point — small ones are easy to miss until damage is apparent. Slug and snail damage is also common on young transplants.
Succession Sowing
Greyhound matures quickly — around ten to twelve weeks from transplanting. Stagger sowings every four to six weeks from February to July for a continuous supply. A June sowing transplanted in July will provide fresh hearts in September and October. A July sowing provides a late October/November harvest from autumn conditions that Greyhound handles well.
Firm Planting Critical
Greyhound and all brassicas must be planted very firmly — so firmly that you cannot pull the plant out by a leaf without it tearing. Loose planting allows wind-rock that damages the root system and produces misshapen, hollow hearts. Use the heel of your boot to compress soil around each plant after inserting with a trowel.
Harvest with a Sharp Knife
Cut the heart with a sharp knife at the base, leaving an inch or two of stem. The remaining stump will often produce a cluster of smaller secondary hearts over the following weeks — a bonus harvest. Score a cross in the cut stump face to encourage multiple side shoots rather than a single regrowth.
Harvesting & Cooking
Greyhound at Its Best
When to harvest: When the pointed heart feels firm to gentle pressure. The heart develops from the tip downward — a heart that feels solid at the tip but slightly soft at the base needs another week. Cut promptly when ready — an over-mature Greyhound splits or becomes hollow. Unlike round-headed winter cabbages, Greyhound does not stand long after maturity.
Spring greens: Pull entire young plants at six to eight weeks before the heart forms — the loose, dark-green outer leaves are tender and sweet as a wilted side vegetable. The very best spring green flavour comes from Greyhound in late May.
Cooking: Greyhound is best treated gently — its sweet, delicate flavour is destroyed by prolonged boiling. Quarter the heart and steam for five to seven minutes, braise with butter and a splash of white wine for eight to ten minutes, or stir-fry shredded leaves in a hot pan with garlic and olive oil. The tender, sweet character bears no resemblance to the over-boiled green wedge of school dinner memory.
Raw in salads: Very finely shredded Greyhound heart makes a delicate coleslaw — the sweetness balancing well with a mustard-mayo dressing, apples and celery. The pale green colour creates a lighter, more refined coleslaw than the dense purple-green of drumhead types.
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| 🌿 Sow outdoors |
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| 🥬 Harvest |
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Common Problems & How to Fix Them
| Problem | Likely Cause | What to Do |
|---|---|---|
| Caterpillar damage | Cabbage white butterfly — unnetted plants | Install fine-mesh netting immediately after planting. Check under leaves weekly for yellow egg clusters and small green caterpillars. Remove by hand. Once netting is established and gaps sealed, this problem is effectively eliminated. |
| Hollow or split hearts | Over-maturity; irregular watering; drought | Harvest promptly when the heart feels firm — Greyhound does not hold in the ground for long after maturity. Water consistently in dry weather. A sudden flush of moisture after drought causes rapid growth that splits the heart. |
| Plants wilt and roots are swollen | Club root disease in soil | Remove and destroy affected plants — do not compost. Lime the soil to raise pH. Do not grow brassicas in that area for at least five years. Cordesa F1 is the clubroot-resistant alternative if this disease is established in your soil. |
| Leggy, floppy transplants | Sown in too much warmth; insufficient light | Grow seedlings in cool, bright conditions — a cold greenhouse or cool windowsill rather than a warm kitchen. Warm conditions produce drawn, leggy seedlings that establish poorly. Sturdy, short-jointed seedlings from cool growing make the best transplants. |
Plant Specifications
The pointed cabbage that has earned its place in British kitchen gardens for generations
Greyhound is the cabbage for cooks who have always thought they did not like cabbage — the sweet, tender, almost entirely waste-free pointed heart that has nothing in common with the grey, over-boiled wedges of institutional memory. Net from day one, firm-plant deeply, sow in succession every six weeks from February to July, and discover what British summer cabbage tastes like when it is grown properly and eaten within hours of harvest.
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