Fall/winter gardening has been an adventure for me too.

I've tried to do winter cabbage such as " Tundra" and "January King" under low tunnels through the winter but didn't get much of a head on those. Those seem to be suitable for the UK.

I've also tried Savory cabbage but those don't seem to be as cold hardy as advertised.

Right now I'm just doing ordinary cabbage like "Late Flat Dutch" and "Bonnie's Hybrid".

I'm in Oklahoma zone 7a/b.

What's your location ?

The general idea of fall cabbage is to choose the shortest day variety that will mature before frost ( that's also true for any other vegetable). Longer day varieties may need to be covered after frost.

Also one rule to keep in mind is the Persephone days when the daylight is less than 10 hours.

https://ourstoneyacres.com/what-does-the-arrival-of-10-hour-days-mean-for-your-garden

Plant growth ceases after daylight gets less than 10 hours.

Then picks up after daylight is over 10 hours.

Anything "growing" during Persephone days should probably be under cover like a low tunnel. .cold frame.... Then should revive after 10 hrs of daylight as you approach early spring.

Eliot Coleman seems to be the god father of winter gardening under cover.

He grows in Maine winters under low/high tunnels ,:

https://www.chelseagreen.com/2024/eliot-coleman-components-of-the-winter-harvest/

Okie HU

Thank you for taking the time and sharing these valuable points. So very helpful!
I am gardening in southern Ohio, now 7a.
Honestly, I stayed away from anything in the brassica family (spring plantings) for quite a while. Until learning how to manage the pests with row cover and/or the timely use of BT.
After a couple years of staying on top of it, I can markedly see the pest pressure has decreased.

Aiming for them to be mature by frost is super to note. Also, the freedom that with protection I can buy some time to harvest.

Getting the timing down for fall crops is a whole new area for me.
Looks like canning tomatoes and seeding for fall go hand in hand.

Another question….is it standard to add on two weeks to the DTM when planning for all fall crops?

Thanks again for helping me with this area of timing. I had better get hopping before the window passes me by.

Yep , add 2 weeks to the DTM. Plants grow slower in the fall due to the declining daylight.

Okie HU

I used to grow 55 day fall broccoli here in the KC area and would seed them indoors around July 4th and plant out the first week of August. The heat and the cabbage worms are a b!tc# in the late summer so be prepared to provide shade cover and BT-K.

Thanks, Lone Jack
It’s usually when we go dry. I really need to set some more dates in a calendar. The spring ones I think I have down pat, but fall is still tripping me up.

I've been growing Savoy cabbage for winter harvest for years. For many years, I started the seed mid June. Then fall got so warm that they kept growing and burst so I started them July 1. This year it seems that July 1 may be too early--they germinated in 2 days and need potting up in 12 days. They're in the garden now and went in about 2 weeks earlier than normal.

Savoy are exceedingly cold hardy. I've had them take temperatures of 7 or 8 degrees when double wrapped in row covers.

I've tried Savory cabbage for the winter but haven't had success with them. Maybe I'm not in the right zone for those. But I didn't double wrap them either.

I've heard that those are pretty winter hardy but they just didn't work for me.

I tried to seed up some Savory last year but they didn't even come up . Bad seed I guess.

Maybe I just don't have the timing down on those.

I've tried winter cabbage varieties like January King and Tundra under low tunnels but didn't get much of a head.

Okie HU

Since you're 11-12 weeks from frost, I’d start the 45-day cabbage seeds first. They’ll give you a head start and have time to mature before frost. A week or two later, start the 65-day seeds, and then the 85-day ones last.

Thank you. I 've already seeded up Copenhagen and Round Dutch and late Flat Dutch.

About to transplant as soon as it cools off from the 100's.

My weather is very erratic. Too hot all of a sudden , too cold all of a sudden. Too wet all of a sudden , too dry all of a sudden.

Makes for proper timing of planting next too impossible.

And GRASS HOPPERS. Oh my , it's the plagues of Egypt .

Okie HU

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