How to Cut Cabbage Leaves to Make It Grow

Cabbage is a long-lived food and will keep in the refrigerator for several weeks before spoiling. Before they can be harvested, they must be properly maintained in the soil. To help cabbage grow, remove any leaves or heads that aren't thriving. Cabbage heads are ready to harvest when they are firm and the interior feels dense when the head is squeezed. Soon after the head forms, you must cut the base of the plant from the stem; cabbage that is allowed to get overly ripe will split in two.

Grow Cabbage & Keep Rabbits Away

Set up wire mesh fencing with no more than 1-inch openings around your vegetable garden, if possible. Brush piles, old sheds, tall grass and rubble piles can make rabbits feel all-too-comfortable nesting, breeding and feeding in and near the cabbage patch. Cabbage prefers a level of between 6.5 and 7.5. Sulfur lowers pH while limestone raises it. Reapply after every rainfall. Alternatively, soak rags in a solution of nine parts water to one part garlic oil, blood meal, bone meal and/or hot pepper sauce, and place the soaked rags near the cabbage patch, weighted down with rocks or stakes. Thin cabbage seedlings to at least 18 inches apart when they are about 4 inches high. Choose the hardiest-looking young cabbage plants and remove the others by cutting the stems at the soil line.