In the winter and spring, production moves northward from Florida and Texas with the season to New York and Michigan during the summer and follows the reverse trend in the fall. Tennessee has a window for both spring and fall production. However, certain cultural problems exist for production during both of these seasons in Tennessee. In spring, it is often difficult to get the crop transplanted into the field early enough so that maturity occurs during the market window and before temperature stresses of late spring and early summer exist. With more and more growers having irrigation capabilities, lack of moisture is becoming less of a cultural problem.
Insect pests are also a major problem in cole crop production in Tennessee, especially in the fall.
Because of the climatic adaptation and rather short growing season of cabbage, growers of vegetable and other field crops, notably tobacco, are interested in the economic potential of teaming cabbage production with their traditional crop. Recent research performed by Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station researchers has addressed producing cabbage in both spring and fall seasons with the idea that the cabbage can precede or follow a warm season crop. Tobacco has been the row crop targeted in this research. Research at the branch experiment station in Greeneville has been directed at spring production of cabbage for both the fresh market and for use by processors. The evaluation of cultivars that are best suited to the environment and have attributes desirable of the specific use for which they are grown, along with determining optimum harvesting and packaging techniques, has been a major trust for the past two to three years at that station.