Editing Cabbage (section)

== Cultivation ==

=== History ===
Although cabbage has an extensive history,<ref name="briefhistoricalsketch"/> it is difficult to trace its exact origins owing to the many varieties of leafy greens classified as "brassicas".<ref name=Ingram/> A possible wild ancestor of cabbage, ''[[Brassica oleracea]]'', originally found in Britain and continental Europe, is tolerant of salt but not encroachment by other plants and consequently inhabits rocky cliffs in cool damp coastal habitats,<ref>[[#Dixon|Dixon]], p. 2</ref> retaining water and nutrients in its slightly thickened, turgid leaves. However, genetic analysis is consistent with [[feral]] origin of this population, deriving from plants escaped from field and gardens.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1007/s10722-020-00945-0|title = Survey and genetic diversity of wild ''Brassica oleracea'' L. Germplasm on the Atlantic coast of France|year = 2020|last1 = Maggioni|first1 = Lorenzo|last2 = von Bothmer|first2 = Roland|last3 = Poulsen|first3 = Gert|last4 = Härnström Aloisi|first4 = Karolina|journal = Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution|volume = 67|issue = 7|pages = 1853–1866|s2cid = 218772995|hdl = 10568/121870|hdl-access = free}}</ref> According to the [[triangle of U]] theory of the evolution and relationships between ''Brassica'' species, ''B. oleracea'' and other closely related kale vegetables (cabbages, kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower) represent one of three ancestral lines from which all other brassicas originated.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Chen, S. |author2=Nelson, M. N. |author3=Chèvre, A.- M. |author4=Jenczewski, E. |author5=Li, Z. |author6=Mason, A. |author7=Meng, J. |author8=Plummer, J. A. |author9=Pradhan, A. |author10=Siddique, K. H. M. |author11=Snowdon, R. J. |author12=Yan, G. |author13=Zhou, W. |author14=Cowling W. A. |title=Trigenomic bridges for ''Brassica'' improvement |journal=Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences |year=2011 |volume=30 |issue=6 |pages=524–547 |doi=10.1080/07352689.2011.615700|bibcode=2011CRvPS..30..524C |s2cid=84504896 }}</ref>

Cabbage was probably domesticated later in history than [[Near East]]ern crops such as [[lentil]]s and [[wheat|summer wheat]]. Because of the wide range of crops developed from the wild ''B.&nbsp;oleracea'', multiple broadly contemporaneous domestications of cabbage may have occurred throughout Europe. Nonheading cabbages and kale were probably the first to be domesticated, before 1000 BC,<ref name=Katz284>[[#Katz|Katz and Weaver]], p. 284</ref> perhaps by the [[Celts]] of central and western Europe,<ref name=Texas/> although recent linguistic and genetic evidence enforces a Mediterranean origin of cultivated brassicas.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Maggioni|first=Lorenzo|date=2015|title=Domestication of ''Brassica oleracea'' L.|url=https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/12424/1/maggioni_l_150720.pdf|journal=Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae|volume=Doctoral Thesis no. 2015:74}}</ref>

While unidentified brassicas were part of the highly conservative unchanging [[Mesopotamia]]n garden repertory,<ref>"Cabbage plants" are mentioned in Oppenheim, A. Leo (1977) ''Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 313.</ref> it is believed that the ancient Egyptians did not cultivate cabbage,<ref name="encyclopedia">{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Cultivated Plants: From ''Acacia'' to ''Zinnia'' |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2013 |page=169 |isbn=978-1-59884-775-8}}</ref> which is not native to the Nile valley, though the word ''shaw't'' in [[Papyrus Harris]] of the time of [[Ramesses III]] has been interpreted as "cabbage".<ref name="Janick">[[#Janick|Janick]], p. 51</ref> The ancient Greeks had some varieties of cabbage, as mentioned by [[Theophrastus]], although whether they were more closely related to today's cabbage or to one of the other ''Brassica'' crops is unknown.<ref name=Katz284/> The headed cabbage variety was known to the Greeks as ''krambe'' and to the Romans as ''brassica'' or ''olus'';<ref name="Dalby">{{cite book |author=Dalby, Andrew |title=Food in the Ancient World from A to Z |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |page=67 |isbn=978-1-135-95422-2}}</ref> the open, leafy variety (kale) was known in Greek as ''raphanos'' and in Latin as ''caulis''.<ref name="Dalby"/> [[Ptolemaic Egypt]]ians knew the [[cole crops]] as ''gramb'', under the influence of Greek ''krambe'', which had been a familiar plant to the Macedonian antecedents of the Ptolemies.<ref name="Janick"/> By early Roman times, Egyptian artisans and children were eating cabbage and [[turnip]]s among a wide variety of other vegetables and [[Pulse (legume)|pulses]].<ref>''Selected Papyri'' I, 186, noted in Alan K. Bowman, ''Egypt After the Pharaohs'', p 151.</ref>

[[Chrysippus of Cnidos]] wrote a treatise on cabbage, which Pliny knew,<ref>[[Pliny's Natural History]], 20. 78–83.</ref> but it has not survived. The Greeks were convinced that cabbages and [[grapevine]]s were inimical, and that cabbage planted too near the vine would impart its unwelcome odor to the grapes; this Mediterranean sense of antipathy survives today.<ref name="Toussaint">[[#Toussaint-Samat|Toussaint-Samat]], p. 622.</ref>

''Brassica'' was considered by some Romans a table luxury,<ref name="Pompeii">{{cite book |title=The Natural History of Pompeii |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2002 |page=94 |isbn=978-0-521-80054-9}}</ref> although [[Lucullus]] considered it unfit for the senatorial table.<ref>[[#Toussaint-Samat|Toussaint-Samat]], p. 623.</ref> The more traditionalist [[Cato the Elder]], espousing a simple Republican life, ate his cabbage cooked or raw and dressed with vinegar; he said it surpassed all other vegetables, and approvingly distinguished three varieties; he also gave directions for its medicinal use, which extended to the cabbage-eater's urine, in which infants might be rinsed.<ref>Cato, ''De agricultura'', CLVI, CLVII; the passages are paraphrased by Pliny the Elder.</ref> [[Pliny the Elder]] listed seven varieties, including [[Pompeii]] cabbage, [[Cumae]] cabbage and [[Sabellians|Sabellian]] cabbage.<ref name="encyclopedia"/> 

According to Pliny, the Pompeii cabbage, which could not stand cold, is "taller, and has a thick stock near the root, but grows thicker between the leaves, these being scantier and narrower, but their tenderness is a valuable quality".<ref name="Pompeii"/> The Pompeii cabbage was also mentioned by [[Columella]] in [[Columella#De Re Rustica|''De Re Rustica'']].<ref name="Pompeii"/> [[Apicius]] gives several recipes for ''cauliculi'', tender cabbage shoots. The Greeks and Romans claimed medicinal usages for their cabbage varieties that included relief from [[gout]], headaches and the symptoms of [[poisonous mushroom]] ingestion.<ref name=UCD>{{cite web|url=http://aic.ucdavis.edu/profiles/Cabbage_2006.pdf|publisher=University of California – Davis|access-date=2012-08-21|title=Commodity Profile: Cabbage|author1=Boriss, Hayley|author2=Kreith, Marcia|date=February 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207142003/http://aic.ucdavis.edu/profiles/Cabbage_2006.pdf|archive-date=2012-12-07|url-status=dead}}</ref>  

The antipathy towards the vine made it seem that eating cabbage would enable one to avoid drunkenness.<ref name="Toussaint"/> Cabbage continued to figure in the ''[[materia medica]]'' of antiquity as well as at table: in the first century AD [[Pedanius Dioscorides|Dioscorides]] mentions two kinds of coleworts with medical uses, the cultivated and the wild,<ref name="Sturtevant 1919">{{cite book |author=Sturtevant, Edward Lewis |author-link=Edward Lewis Sturtevant |title=Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants |year=1919 |publisher=J.B.&nbsp;Lyon |pages=115, 117 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/20118475|isbn=9780486204598 }}</ref> and his opinions continued to be paraphrased in [[herbals]] right through the 17th century.

At the end of Antiquity cabbage is mentioned in ''De observatione ciborum'' ("On the Observance of Foods") by [[Anthimus (physician)|Anthimus]], a Greek doctor at the court of [[Theodoric the Great]]. Cabbage appears among vegetables directed to be cultivated in the ''[[Capitulare de villis]]'', composed in 771–800 AD, that guided the governance of the royal estates of [[Charlemagne]].

In Britain, the Anglo-Saxons cultivated ''cawel''.<ref>Bosworth, Joseph. ed. ''An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary'', ''s.v.'' "cawel" gives parallels: Scottish ''kail, kale''; Frisian ''koal, koel''; Dutch ''kool'' (fem.); German ''kohl'' (masc.), etc. but also Welsh ''cawl''; Cornish ''caul'' (masc.); etc.  Compare Latin ''caulis''.</ref> When round-headed cabbages appeared in 14th-century England they were called ''cabaches'' and ''caboches'', words drawn from [[Old French]] and applied at first to refer to the ball of unopened leaves,<ref>''[[OED]]'': "cabbage".</ref> the contemporaneous recipe that commences "Take cabbages and quarter them, and seethe them in good broth",<ref>Forgeng, Jeffrey L. and McLean, Will (2009) ''Daily Life in Chaucer's England''. ABC-CLIO. p. 298. {{ISBN|9780313359514}}</ref> also suggests the tightly headed cabbage.

[[File:Tacuinum Sanitatis-cabbage harvest.jpg|thumb|Harvesting cabbage, ''[[Tacuinum Sanitatis]]'', 15th century]]
[[Manuscript illumination]]s show the prominence of cabbage in the cuisine of the [[High Middle Ages]],<ref name=Ingram>{{cite book|pages=64–66|title=The Cook's Guide to Vegetables|author=Ingram, Christine|publisher=Hermes House|year=2000|isbn=978-1-84038-842-8}}</ref> and cabbage seeds feature among the seed list of purchases for the use of [[John II of France|King John II of France]] when captive in England in 1360,<ref>Parrain, Charles (1966) "The evolution of agricultural technique" in M. M. Postan, ed. ''The Cambridge Economic History of Europe: I. The Agrarian Life of the Middle Ages''. Cambridge University Press. p. 166. {{ISBN|9781139054423}}, {{doi|10.1017/CHOL9780521045056}}</ref> but cabbages were also a familiar staple of the poor: in the lean year of 1420 the "Bourgeois of Paris" noted that "poor people ate no bread, nothing but cabbages and turnips and such dishes, without any bread or salt".<ref>
{{Cite web |url=https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/carlin/www/parisjournal1.html |title=Extracts from ''A Parisian Journal, 1405-1449'', translated by Janet Shirley from the anonymous ''Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968). |access-date=2014-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222204356/https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/carlin/www/parisjournal1.html |archive-date=2014-02-22 |url-status=dead }} 
</ref> French naturalist [[Jean Ruel]] made what is considered the first explicit mention of head cabbage in his 1536 botanical treatise ''De Natura Stirpium'', referring to it as ''capucos coles'' ("head-coles").<ref name="Wright2001">{{cite book |author=Wright, Clifford A.|title=Mediterranean Vegetables: A Cook's ABC of Vegetables and Their Preparation in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, and North Africa with More Than 200 Authentic Recipes for the Home Cook|year=2001|publisher=Harvard Common Press|isbn=978-1-55832-196-0|pages=77–79|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tka838efZvkC&pg=PA77}}</ref>

In Istanbul, Sultan [[Selim III]] penned a tongue-in-cheek ode to cabbage: without cabbage, the halva feast was not complete.<ref>A translation is in Isin, Mary (2013) ''Sherbet and Spice: The Complete Story of Turkish Sweets and Desserts''. I.B. Tauris. p. 146. {{ISBN|978-1848858985}}</ref> In India, cabbage was one of several vegetable crops introduced by colonizing traders from Portugal, who established trade routes from the 14th to 17th centuries.<ref name="Dabholkar 2006">{{cite book |author=Dabholkar, A. R. |title=General Plant Breeding |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oxooQMXeYhcC&pg=PA135 |year=2006 |publisher=Concept Publishing |isbn=978-81-8069-242-0 |page=135}}</ref> [[Carl Peter Thunberg]] reported that cabbage was not yet known in Japan in 1775.<ref name="Sturtevant 1919"/>

Many cabbage varieties—including some still commonly grown—were introduced in Germany, France, and the [[Low Countries]].<ref name=Texas/> During the 16th century, German gardeners developed the [[savoy cabbage]].<ref name=Sydney/> During the 17th and 18th centuries, cabbage was a food [[staple food|staple]] in such countries as Germany, England, Ireland and Russia, and pickled cabbage was frequently eaten.<ref name="Tannahill"/> [[Sauerkraut]] was used by Dutch, Scandinavian and German sailors to prevent [[scurvy]] during long ship voyages.<ref name="universityofarizona-cabbage"/>

[[Jacques Cartier]] first brought cabbage to the Americas in 1541–42, and it was probably planted by the early English colonists, despite the lack of written evidence of its existence there until the mid-17th century. By the 18th century, it was commonly planted by both colonists and native [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indians]].<ref name=Texas/> Cabbage seeds traveled to Australia in 1788 with the [[First Fleet]], and were planted the same year on [[Norfolk Island]]. It became a favorite vegetable of Australians by the 1830s and was frequently seen at the [[Sydney Markets]].<ref name=Sydney>{{cite web|url=http://www.freshforkids.com.au/veg_pages/cabbage/cabbage.html|title=Cabbage|publisher=Sydney Markets, Ltd|access-date=2012-08-10|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808031331/http://www.freshforkids.com.au/veg_pages/cabbage/cabbage.html|archive-date=2012-08-08}}</ref> In [[Brno]], Czech Republic there is an open-air market named after cabbage which has been in operation since 1325, the [[Zelný trh]].

=== Modern cultivation ===
[[File:Dojranski zelki.jpg|thumb|A cabbage field in [[North Macedonia]]]]
Cabbage is generally grown for its densely leaved heads, produced during the first year of its biennial cycle. Plants perform best when grown in well-drained soil in a location that receives full sun. Different varieties prefer different soil types, ranging from lighter sand to heavier clay, but all prefer fertile ground with a [[Soil pH|pH]] between 6.0 and 6.8.<ref name=Brad56/> For optimal growth, there must be adequate levels of [[nitrogen]] in the soil, especially during the early head formation stage, and sufficient [[phosphorus]] and [[potassium]] during the early stages of expansion of the outer leaves.<ref name="Wien and Wurr 533">[[#Wurr|Wien and Wurr]], p. 533</ref> 

Temperatures between {{convert|4|and|24|C|F}} prompt the best growth, and extended periods of higher or lower temperatures may result in premature [[bolting (horticulture)|bolting]] (flowering).<ref name=Brad56>[[#Bradley|Bradley et al.]], pp. 56–57</ref> Flowering induced by periods of low temperatures (a process called [[vernalization]]) only occurs if the plant is past the juvenile period. The transition from a juvenile to adult state happens when the stem diameter is about {{convert|6|mm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}}. Vernalization allows the plant to grow to an adequate size before flowering. In certain climates, cabbage can be planted at the beginning of the cold period and survive until a later warm period without being induced to flower, a practice that was common in the eastern US.<ref>[[#Wurr|Wien and Wurr]], pp. 512–515</ref>

[[File:Cabbages Green and Purple 2120px.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Green and purple cabbages]]
Plants are generally started in protected locations early in the growing season before being [[transplanting|transplanted]] outside, although some are seeded directly into the ground from which they will be harvested.<ref name=UI/> Seedlings typically emerge in about 4–6 days from seeds planted {{convert|1/2|in|mm|abbr=on|order=flip}} deep at a soil temperature between {{convert|20|and|30|C|F}}.<ref>[[#Maynard|Maynard and Hochmuth]], p. 111</ref> Growers normally place plants {{convert|12|to|24|in|cm|order=flip|abbr=on}} apart.<ref name=UI/> Closer spacing reduces the resources available to each plant (especially the amount of light) and increases the time taken to reach maturity.<ref>[[#Wurr|Wien and Wurr]], p. 534</ref> 

Some varieties of cabbage have been developed for ornamental use; these are generally called "flowering cabbage". They do not produce heads and feature purple or green outer leaves surrounding an inner grouping of smaller leaves in white, red, or pink.<ref name=UI/> Early varieties of cabbage take about 70 days from planting to reach maturity, while late varieties take about 120 days.<ref>[[#Maynard|Maynard and Hochmuth]], p. 415</ref> 

Cabbages are mature when they are firm and solid to the touch. They are harvested by cutting the stalk just below the bottom leaves with a blade. The outer leaves are trimmed, and any diseased, damaged, or necrotic leaves are removed.<ref>{{cite book |author=Thompson, A. Keith |title=Fruit and Vegetables: Harvesting, Handling and Storage |year=2003 |edition=2nd |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |page=178 |isbn=978-1-4051-0619-1}}</ref> Delays in harvest can result in the head splitting as a result of expansion of the inner leaves and continued stem growth.<ref>[[#Wurr|Wien and Wurr]], p. 524</ref>

When being grown for seed, cabbages must be isolated from other ''B.&nbsp;oleracea'' subspecies, including the wild varieties, by {{convert|1/2|to|1|mi|km|1|order=flip|abbr=on}} to prevent cross-pollination. Other ''Brassica'' [[species]], such as ''[[Brassica rapa|B.&nbsp;rapa]]'', ''[[Brassica juncea|B.&nbsp;juncea]]'', ''[[Brassica nigra|B.&nbsp;nigra]]'', ''[[Brassica napus|B.&nbsp;napus]]'' and ''[[Raphanus sativus]]'', do not readily cross-pollinate.<ref>[[#Katz|Katz and Weaver]], p. 282</ref>

===Cultivars===
[[File:Cabbage.jpg|thumb|White cabbage]]
There are several [[cultivar group]]s of cabbage, each including many cultivars:
* [[Savoy cabbage|Savoy]]&nbsp;– Characterized by crimped or curly leaves, mild flavor and tender texture<ref name=Ingram/>
* [[Spring greens (Brassica oleracea)]]&nbsp;– Loose-headed, commonly sliced and steamed<ref name=Ingram/>
* Green&nbsp;– Light to dark green, slightly pointed heads.<ref name=Ingram/>
* [[Red cabbage|Red]]&nbsp;– Smooth red leaves, often used for pickling or stewing<ref name=Ingram/>
* White, also called Dutch&nbsp;– Smooth, pale green leaves<ref name=Ingram/>

Some sources only delineate three cultivars: savoy, red and white, with spring greens and green cabbage being subsumed under the last.<ref>[[#Ordas|Ordas and Cartea]], p. 124</ref>

===Cultivation problems===
Due to its high level of nutrient requirements, cabbage is prone to [[micronutrient deficiency|nutrient deficiencies]], including [[Boron deficiency (plant disorder)|boron]], [[Calcium deficiency (plant disorder)|calcium]], [[Phosphorus deficiency|phosphorus]] and [[Potassium deficiency (plants)|potassium]].<ref name=Brad56/> There are several physiological disorders that can affect the postharvest appearance of cabbage. Internal tip burn occurs when the margins of inside leaves turn brown, but the outer leaves look normal. Necrotic spot is where there are oval sunken spots a few millimeters across that are often grouped around the midrib. In pepper spot, tiny black spots occur on the areas between the veins, which can increase during storage.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nonpathogenic Disorders of Cabbage |url=http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Crucifers_Nonpathogenic.htm |author1=Becker, Robert F.  |author2=Bjorkmann, Thomas |publisher=Cornell University: Department of Plant Pathology |work=Vegetable MD Online |access-date=2013-08-30}}</ref>

Fungal diseases include [[Rhizoctonia solani|wirestem]], which causes weak or dying transplants; [[Fusarium|''Fusarium'' yellows]], which result in stunted and twisted plants with yellow leaves; and [[Blackleg (Brassica)|blackleg]] (see ''[[Leptosphaeria maculans]]''), which leads to sunken areas on stems and gray-brown spotted leaves.<ref name=Brad57/> The fungi ''[[Alternaria brassicae]]'' and ''[[Alternaria brassicicola|A.&nbsp;brassicicola]]'' cause dark leaf spots in affected plants. They are both seedborne and airborne, and typically propagate from spores in infected plant debris left on the soil surface for up to twelve weeks after harvest. ''[[Rhizoctonia solani]]'' causes the post-emergence disease wirestem, resulting in killed seedlings ("damping-off"), root rot or stunted growth and smaller heads.<ref name="Keinath2007">{{cite book |author1=Keinath, Anthony P. |author2=Cubeta, Marc A. |author3=Langston Jr., David B. |chapter=Cabbage diseases: Ecology and control |title=Encyclopedia of Pest Management |volume=2 |year=2007 |editor-last=Pimentel, David |publisher=CRC Press |pages=56–59 |isbn=978-1-4200-5361-6}}</ref>

[[File:Groene savooiekool schade van kooluil (Mamestra brassicae damage).jpg|thumb|right|[[Cabbage moth]] damage to a savoy cabbage]]

One of the most common bacterial diseases to affect cabbage is [[black rot]], caused by ''[[Xanthomonas campestris]]'', which causes [[chlorosis|chlorotic]] and [[necrosis|necrotic]] lesions that start at the leaf margins, and [[wilting]] of plants. [[Clubroot]], caused by the soilborne [[slime mold]]-like organism ''Plasmodiophora brassicae'', results in swollen, club-like roots. [[Downy mildew]], a parasitic disease caused by the [[oomycete]] ''[[Peronospora parasitica]]'',<ref name="Keinath2007"/> produces pale leaves with white, brownish or olive [[mildew]] on the lower leaf surfaces; this is often confused with the fungal disease [[powdery mildew]].<ref name=Brad57/>

Pests include [[root-knot nematode]]s and [[Delia radicum|cabbage maggot]]s, which produce stunted and wilted plants with yellow leaves; [[aphid]]s, which induce stunted plants with curled and yellow leaves; [[harlequin cabbage bug]]s, which cause white and yellow leaves; [[thrip]]s, which lead to leaves with white-bronze spots; [[striped flea beetle]]s, which riddle leaves with small holes; and [[caterpillar]]s, which leave behind large, ragged holes in leaves.<ref name=Brad57>[[#Bradley|Bradley et al.]], pp. 57–59</ref> The caterpillar stage of the "small cabbage white butterfly" (''[[Pieris rapae]]''), commonly known in the United States as the "imported cabbage worm", is a major cabbage pest in most countries.<ref name="Finch2007"/>

The large white butterfly (''[[Pieris brassicae]]'') is prevalent in eastern European countries. The diamondback moth (''[[Plutella xylostella]]'') and the cabbage moth (''[[Mamestra brassicae]]'') thrive in the higher summer temperatures of continental Europe, where they cause considerable damage to cabbage crops.<ref name="Finch2007"/> The mustard leaf beetle (''[[Phaedon cochleariae]]''), is a common pest of cabbage plants.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gross |first1=Jürgen |last2=Müller |first2=Caroline |last3=Vilcinskas |first3=Andreas |last4=Hilker |first4=Monika |date=November 1998 |title=Antimicrobial Activity of Exocrine Glandular Secretions, Hemolymph, and Larval Regurgitate of the Mustard Leaf BeetlePhaedon cochleariae |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0022201198947814 |journal=Journal of Invertebrate Pathology |language=en |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=296–303 |doi=10.1006/jipa.1998.4781 |pmid=9784354|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The mustard leaf beetle will often choose to feed on cabbage over their natural host plants as cabbage is more abundant in palatable compounds such as glucosinolates that encourage higher consumption.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Müller |first1=Thorben |last2=Müller |first2=Caroline |date=24 August 2015 |title=Behavioural phenotypes over the lifetime of a holometabolous insect |journal=Frontiers in Zoology |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=S8 |doi=10.1186/1742-9994-12-S1-S8 |issn=1742-9994 |pmc=4722364 |pmid=26816525 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The cabbage looper (''[[Cabbage looper|Trichoplusia ni]]'') is infamous in North America for its voracious appetite and for producing frass that contaminates plants.<ref>Turini TA, Daugovish O, Koike ST, Natwick ET, Ploeg A, Dara SK, Fennimore SA, Joseph S, LeStrange M, Smith R, Subbarao KV, Westerdahl BB. Revised continuously. ''UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines Cole Crops.'' UC ANR Publication 3442. Oakland, CA.</ref> In India, the diamondback moth has caused losses up to 90 percent in crops that were not treated with insecticide.<ref>[[#Janick|Janick]], p. 195</ref> Destructive soil insects such as the cabbage root fly (''[[Delia radicum]]'') has larvae can burrow into the part of plant consumed by humans.<ref name="Finch2007">{{cite book |author1=Finch, Stan |author2=Collier, Rosemanry H. |chapter=Cruciferous root crop insects: Ecology and control |title=Encyclopedia of Pest Management |volume=2 |year=2007 |editor-last=Pimentel, David |publisher=CRC Press |pages=131–134 |isbn=978-1-4200-5361-6}}</ref>

Planting near other members of the cabbage family, or where these plants have been placed in previous years, can prompt the spread of pests and disease.<ref name=Brad56/> Excessive water and excessive heat can also cause cultivation problems.<ref name=Brad57/>

Factors that contribute to reduced head weight include: growth in the compacted soils that result from [[no-till farming]] practices, drought, [[waterlogging (agriculture)|waterlogging]], insect and disease incidence, and shading and nutrient stress caused by weeds.<ref name="Wien and Wurr 533"/>

=== Production ===
{| class="wikitable floatright"
! colspan=2|Cabbage production – 2020
|-
!  style="background:#ddf;"| Country
!  style="background:#ddf;"| <small>Production<br/> (millions of [[tonne]]s)</small>
|-
| {{CHN}} ||  {{right|33.8}}
|-
| {{IND}} ||  {{right|9.2}}
|-
| {{RUS}} ||  {{right|2.6}}
|-
| {{KOR}} ||  {{right|2.6}}
|-
| {{UKR}} ||  {{right|1.8}}
|-
| '''World''' ||  {{right|'''70.9'''}}
|-
|colspan=2|<small>Source: [[FAOSTAT]] of the [[United Nations]]<ref name="faostat">{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC |title= Crops/Regions/World list/Production Quantity (pick lists), Cabbages and other brassicas, 2020|date=2022|publisher=UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT)|access-date=20 January 2022}}</ref></small>
|}

In 2020, world production of cabbages (combined with other brassicas) was 71 million [[tonne]]s, led by China with 48% of the world total (table). Other substantial producers were India, Russia, and South Korea.<ref name=faostat/>