What to do with cabbage that has bolted? (2025)

What can I do with bolted cabbage?

Once a cabbage plant bolts, a head will not form — but you can still eat the leaves! Harvest them as soon as possible, or they'll start to taste bitter. Growing your own garden should be simple, accessible and attainable.

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What to do with after bolting?

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What does it mean when a cabbage plant bolts?

What Is Bolting? Bolting occurs when a crop prematurely grows flower stalks and produces seeds, preventing the plant from bearing a vigorous harvest. Also called "running to seed" or "going to seed," bolting redistributes a plant's energy away from the leaves and roots to instead produce seeds and a flowering stem.

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Does flowering cabbage come back every year?

They are considered an annual which means they will not grow back the following season. They basically come in three colors, purple, white or pink. Cabbage and kale prefer the cool weather that can survive to temperatures as low as 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

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How do you stop bolting?

How can bolting be prevented?
  1. Plant in the right season. ...
  2. Avoid stress. ...
  3. Use row cover or plant in the shade of other plants to keep greens and lettuce cool as the season warms. ...
  4. Cover young broccoli or cauliflower plants and near-mature bulbing onions during a cold snap to protect them from bolting.

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What happens if you dont harvest cabbage?

If you're wondering when will cabbage make a head, you may simply need to wait longer or your plants may be stressed by improper culture or temperatures. When a cabbage does not form a head, this condition is called blindness and can arise for many reasons.

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Can you cut back cabbage leaves?

Prior to harvest, cabbage must be nurtured and maintained as it grows, and part of this maintenance may include pruning cabbage plants. So, the answer is yes, pruning cabbage plants is possible and, in some cases, necessary. The purpose of pruning cabbage leaves back is to create overall healthier plants.

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Can you reverse bolting?

Occasionally, if you catch a plant in the very early stages of bolting, you can temporarily reverse the process of bolting by snipping off the flowers and flower buds. In some plants, like basil, the plant will resume producing leaves and will stop bolting.

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Why is my cabbage flowering?

Bolting, or flower of cabbage, is directly related to temperature. If the plants become dormant because of extended periods of cold weather, they will often go to seed, or bolt, when growth resumes. This condition can also occur if the temperature becomes too hot.

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Can you cut down bolted lettuce?

How to Trim Bolted Lettuce? You can easily trim bolted lettuce with gardening shears or with a sharp knife, but since the lettuce will be bitter to eat, it's best to just pull the plants out. You can then replant if it's early enough in the season.

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Is bolting good for plants?

Bolting refers to a vegetable plant's sudden growth of a flower stalk. Seed formation follows the flowers and the desired growth of the vegetable itself stops. The first thing to realize is that bolting is a problem for you, not for the plant. For the plant, bolting is perfectly natural and desirable.

What to do with cabbage that has bolted? (2025)
Why is plant bolting bad?

One of the biggest nuisances in the summer vegetable garden is bolting - when crops put on a vertical growth spurt to flower and set seed before the vegetables are ready for harvest. The result is inedible, bitter-tasting leaves or poor-quality produce with little that can be salvaged.

How do you stop seedlings from bolting?

As discussed earlier, the best way to prevent leggy seedlings is to make sure the seedlings are getting enough light. If you are growing seedlings in a window, try to grow them in a south-facing window. This will give you the best light from the sun.

Can you eat cabbage that has flowered?

Answer: Of course they're edible. They are, after all, cabbages (Brassica oleracea) or, to be more precise, kales (cabbages that don't form a head).

Is bolted lettuce poisonous?

It is safe to eat lettuce during the bolting phase. The leaves of lettuce will taste less bitter earlier in the bolting process and more bitter towards the end. Leaves will become rough, dull, and yellow throughout the bolting process.

Why is my cabbage plant growing tall?

What went wrong? The cabbage plants grow leggy for two reasons: The first one is that the plants are in a space that's too dark and/or too warm. They might have been under a grow light, but probably too far away from it.

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