GardenCabbage variety
Gonzales Cabbage
✓ In your garden
Gonzales is a mini cabbage, ready in about 55–66 days. It forms a firm head for slaws, sauerkraut, braises, and soups. Cabbage is a cool-season crop — grow it in spring or fall, feed it well, and watch for cabbage worms.
“A cool-season cabbage for slaws, kraut, and cooking.”
Growing basics — shared by every cabbage
Gonzales grows like any other cabbage. The full picture — how deep to plant, spacing, feeding, pests, harvest — lives on the Cabbage page so it's maintained in one place.
- Sun
- Full Sun
- Spacing (in row)
- 12–18 in
- Row spacing
- 24–36 in
- Planting depth
- 0.25–0.5 in
- Soil pH
- 6–7
- Water
- Moderate
What is Gonzales good for?
- Slaw & krautShred raw or ferment it. Great
- Braises & soupsCooks down sweet. Great
- Long storageUse fresh within weeks. Skip it
From how it grows — kitchens vary.
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Want the full 10/50/90% odds + nearest stations? Open the frost tool →When to plant Gonzales in your zone
Zone 6bGreenhouse or cover on: your start slides ~4 weeks earlier and your harvest stretches ~3 weeks later (shown striped).
Planting seeds straight in the ground only works where the season's long and warm — most gardeners start seeds indoors or buy young plants, or you'd pick your first tomato right as frost hits.
Comfortable — first ripe fruit lands around late May, well before your typical frost (~late Oct).
- Start seeds indoors
- mid Feb – early Mar
- Toughen up outside
- mid Mar – late Mar
- Move plants outside
- late Mar – early Apr
- Plant seeds outside
- mid Mar – mid Mar
- Growing
- early Apr – late May
- Picking
- late May – mid Jun
Typical dates for zone 6b — set your zone or ZIP above for yours.
What to plant near Gonzales — and what to keep away
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Aromatic HerbsTrialed
Mixed, strong-smelling plantings make brassicas harder for pests to find — real research, modest effect. Keep mint in a pot.
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DillTrialed
Dill flowers feed the tiny parasitoid wasps that hunt cabbage worms. Let some of it bloom near the bed.
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Flea Beetle Trap StripTrialed
A trap strip pulls flea beetles off young seedlings. UMN found mixes of three-plus trap species beat any single one.
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BeetsTraditional
On the classic chart's companion list for the cabbage family.
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NasturtiumTraditional
On the WVU companion list, with an aphid-magnet reputation. If aphids pile on, pull those plants before they breed.
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Onions & garlicTraditional
Old chart pairing; both hold cool-season beds.
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PotatoesTraditional
Old chart pairing.
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Beans PoleTraditional
Chart canon says no. Nobody's proven why. Cheap to respect.
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StrawberryTraditional
Flagged on the classic charts, including WVU's. Mechanism murky; the canon is consistent.
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TomatoTraditional
Flagged on the classic charts, mechanism murky. Skip the pairing if you've got the space.
The badge is the honesty. Trialed = a published field trial · Practical = a real mechanism · Traditional = companion-chart lore. These pairings hold for every cabbage.
Pairings compiled from University of Minnesota Extension, West Virginia University Extension.
Growing Gonzales — the things that trip people up
- If heads split after rain, they’re over-ripe or got a sudden drink — harvest promptly when firm, and keep water even.
- Brassicas are cool-season — they bolt or turn bitter in summer heat, so grow them in spring and fall. Feed them well and watch for cabbage worms (the little green caterpillars); a floating row cover keeps the moths off.
Gonzales cabbage at a glance
| Type | Mini |
|---|---|
| Days to ripe | 55–66 days after you plant it outside |
| Color | Green |
| Fruit size | Small |
Extra fields from seed-catalog listings and university growing guides. Days to ripe and disease resistance shift with your climate and seed source — double-check with your local extension office before you buy.
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Common questions about Gonzales
How long does Gonzales take to grow?
About 55–66 days from transplant. Start seeds indoors and set out young plants for the best heads.
When should I grow Gonzales?
In the cool of spring or fall — brassicas bolt and turn bitter in summer heat. Fall crops often taste best, sweetened by a light frost.
Browse more cabbage varieties →