{"id":1994,"date":"2026-11-14T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-14T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.60.121\/?p=1994"},"modified":"2026-11-04T16:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T15:24:13","slug":"black-tuscan-cabbage-in-pots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/en\/black-tuscan-cabbage-in-pots\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Tuscan Cabbage in Pots: Harvest from November to March"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Black Tuscan cabbage in pots: the Nero di Toscana is the vegetable of the winter balcony par excellence: <strong>the harder the frost, the sweeter it gets<\/strong>, and a healthy plant gives you leaves from November to March without making &#8220;the head&#8221; to harvest all at once.<\/p>\n<p>It is a brassica like <a href=\"\/en\/piante\/oib-plant-020-kale\/\">curly kale<\/a> (same genus, same basic rules), but with an enormous advantage: <strong>continuous leaf-by-leaf harvest<\/strong>, which in winter is worth gold.<\/p>\n<h2>Why black Tuscan cabbage in pots works<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Low plant<\/strong> (50\u201370 cm), it adapts to 15\u201320 L pots.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hardy<\/strong>: as a formed plant it holds \u22125\/\u22127 \u00b0C out of the wind.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Long harvest<\/strong>: you remove one leaf at a time, the plant continues.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It sweetens with the cold<\/strong>: after the first frosts, the leaves lose their bitterness and fill with sugar. That is why the winter black Tuscan cabbage is another thing compared to the summer one.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Varieties for the pot<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Nero di Toscana<\/strong>: the classic, big crinkled leaves, the hardiest. It is the one you find in packets as &#8220;black Tuscan cabbage&#8221; \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.it\/dp\/B08RTNFM1V?tag=ortoinbalcone09-21\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the Germisem Nero di Toscana seeds<\/a> are the most widespread packet on Amazon.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lacinato \/ &#8220;smooth black Tuscan&#8221;<\/strong>: narrower leaf, more delicate flavour, slightly less hardy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Early varieties<\/strong>: meant for later spring sowings (April), leaves ready by late summer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For a first attempt, Nero di Toscana. You cannot go wrong.<\/p>\n<h2>When to sow<\/h2>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Sowing<\/th>\n<th>Leaves ready<\/th>\n<th>Notes<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>March\u2013April (pot)<\/td>\n<td>October\u2013November<\/td>\n<td>The best window in the centre\u2013north<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>August\u2013September (pot)<\/td>\n<td>November\u2013December<\/td>\n<td>Works, but watch the heat before sowing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>November (indoors, nursery)<\/td>\n<td>March\u2013April<\/td>\n<td>For whoever wants the &#8220;return&#8221; harvest<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Trick<\/strong>: the black Tuscan cabbage germinates at 15\u201320 \u00b0C. In March, in a pot on a sunny windowsill, it starts in 7\u201310 days.<\/p>\n<h2>Pot and substrate<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Volume<\/strong>: 15\u201320 L per plant. Two plants in 30\u201340 L.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Depth<\/strong>: 25 cm.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fertile substrate<\/strong>: 60% compost, 25% mature compost, 15% perlite. Brassicas are greedy for nitrogen: a poor substrate produces dwarf and bitter plants.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Sowing and transplanting<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Seeds in 10 cm pots or a tray: 2\u20133 per station, 1 cm depth.<\/li>\n<li>Thin to 1 plant at 3\u20134 cm.<\/li>\n<li>Growth for 5\u20136 weeks in the single pot (or transplant at 4\u20135 true leaves).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Transplant to the big pot at 4\u20135 true leaves<\/strong>, well watered.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/09-inline.webp\" alt=\"Hands breaking outer black Tuscan cabbage leaves off the plant\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<h2>The enemy you do not expect with black Tuscan cabbage in pots: the cabbage moth<\/h2>\n<p>Here is honesty: <strong>the cabbage moth (the white butterfly) is the no. 1 pest of the black Tuscan cabbage<\/strong>, and in summer\u2013autumn it is everywhere.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Physical prevention<\/strong>: an anti-butterfly net (or a fine-mesh fleece) over the plant from May to October. It costs little and solves 90% of the problem.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Caterpillars already born<\/strong>: they are removed by hand (they are big, visible, red and black) or with a spray of diluted neem oil.<\/li>\n<li>There are no shortcuts: brassicas attract butterflies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Watering and feeding for black Tuscan cabbage in pots<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Water<\/strong>: regular, never dry. The leaf crumples and &#8220;ruffles&#8221; as a warning.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Feeding<\/strong>: one dose of slow-release at planting + one in October (before the wave of harvests). The full table is in <a href=\"\/en\/feeding-plants-in-pots\/\">Feeding plants in pots<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Deficiency sign<\/strong>: small, pale new leaves = nitrogen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Frost: the ally of black Tuscan cabbage in pots<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Formed plant (from October): <strong>\u22125 \u00b0C<\/strong> without damage.<\/li>\n<li>Young plant (November): protect it with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.it\/dp\/B0HBLG1YBW?tag=ortoinbalcone09-21\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">non-woven fleece<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>After the frost, wait 24 hours to harvest<\/strong>: the &#8220;frozen&#8221; leaves recover, and the flavour changes (it sweetens).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Harvest of black Tuscan cabbage in pots: the leaf technique<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Always start <strong>from the outer, lowest leaves<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Cut with secateurs <strong>1\u20132 cm from the central stem<\/strong>, not flush.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Never remove more than 1 leaf in 3<\/strong> at a time: the plant needs leaves for photosynthesis and to keep producing them.<\/li>\n<li>A healthy plant in a 20 L pot: <strong>15\u201325 leaves from November to March<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Mistakes to avoid<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sowing in June<\/strong>: 8 weeks of heat, certain bolting, bitter leaves.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pot of 10 L<\/strong>: dwarf plant, a 3-leaf harvest.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Removing all the low leaves in November<\/strong>: in January it produces nothing more.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Forgetting the October feeding<\/strong>: small, bitter leaves exactly when you should be harvesting them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The autumn sowing for the winter harvest is in <a href=\"\/en\/what-to-plant-in-november\/\">What to Plant in November<\/a>, and the logic of the protections in <a href=\"\/en\/protection-from-weather\/\">Protection from weather<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Sources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>CREA \u2014 Cabbages (Brassica oleracea): growing cycle, hardiness and harvest (technical sheets)<\/li>\n<li>Orto da Coltivare \u2014 Black Tuscan cabbage: varieties, sowing and harvest in pots and in the ground<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Black Tuscan cabbage in pots: the Nero di Toscana is the vegetable of the winter balcony par excellence: the harder the frost, the sweeter it gets, and a healthy plant gives you leaves from November to March without making &#8220;the head&#8221; to harvest all at once. It is a brassica like curly kale (same genus, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_locale":"en_GB","_original_post":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/?p=1857","oib_translation_group_id":"","oib_affiliate_link_limit":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","en-GB"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1994"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2306,"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1994\/revisions\/2306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}