Early White Vienna Kohlrabi Seeds - (Brassica oleracea)

Early White Vienna Kohlrabi – Sweet Cool-Season Crunch, 55 Day Harvests

Slice through the pale-green skin of a freshly harvested kohlrabi globe, and you’ll find a solid, light-ivory core that snaps with the juicy sweetness of a tart apple mixed with a water chestnut. It’s one of the most surprising harvests in the home garden—a cool-season brassica that delivers pure, crisp flavor straight from the soil without any heavy or sulfurous notes. Early White Vienna builds this sweet bulb in just 55 days, providing a fast, reliable crop for early-spring and late autumn beds. 

Details

Early White Vienna kohlrabi grows as a compact, upright rosette 12 to 18 inches tall on a tight 8 to 10-inch garden footprint. Long stems throw out smooth, bluish-green leaves from a central globe 2 inches above the soil. Those leaves carry a light, waxy coating—nature's way of scattering harsh sunlight and keeping moisture locked inside during dry spells. Because the leaves grow open rather than tightly folded like a cabbage head, air flows easily through the plant, drying morning dew and preventing leaf diseases. 

"Kohlrabi" originates directly from German, combining Kohl (cabbage) with Rabi—a Swiss German variant of Rübe, meaning turnip. It translates literally to "cabbage turnip." 

Here is the secret to this vegetable: you aren't growing a buried taproot or a folded head of cabbage. This plant expands its main stem into a smooth, pale-green globe packed with crisp, ivory-white flesh. A couple of weeks after sprouting, the stem stops growing upward and shifts full growth into the bulb. 

Because the edible globe grows above the soil, it avoids wet, heavy clay and stays clean. This delivers a sweet, crisp harvest in half the time needed for standard heading cabbage, just 55 days. There is a catch - this fast-growing stem struggles when the weather turns hot. If summer heat arrives early, you can stretch your harvest window by throwing up 30% shade cloth and laying down a 2-inch blanket of straw mulch. This simple setup insulates the root zone, drops leaf-surface temperatures, and keeps the stem tender a bit longer. Once daytime heat is consistently above 80°F, the plant shifts into survival mode—halting tender growth. Harvesting the bulbs while the weather stays mild locks in that crisp, water-chestnut crunch. On the cold side of the calendar, those concentrated natural sugars thicken the plant's internal sap and lower its freezing point, letting mature stems shrug off freezing night air down to 15°F without damage.  

For container setups, give each plant a pot holding at least 5 gallons that is 12 inches deep so the roots don't dry out quickly. Keep moisture steady in the root zone. If the soil swings from dry to soaked, the internal flesh swells faster than the outer skin can stretch, popping the globe open with vertical splits.

History

Long before grocery stores existed, European farmers relied on cabbages as their long-season winter storage crop. Standard cabbages stored well, but needed up to 120 days of steady weather and significant soil fertility to build a head. When cold autumn rains hit, or early cold snaps threatened the season, growers needed a fast-maturing alternative that didn't require 4 months of steady weather. 

Nearly 500 years ago, growers in Central Europe noticed a few unusual plants in their brassica rows swelling their stems above the soil. By saving seed from those elevated plants generation after generation, they created a completely new vegetable—one that matured in 55 days, used a fraction of the soil nutrients, and stood safely parked above damp ground. 

The first written record of this unique plant appears in 1554, when the Italian physician and botanist Pietro Andrea Mattioli noted that kohlrabi had "come lately into Italy." By the early 1800s, European growers had refined and stabilized this dwarf line, giving rise to "Early White Vienna." Its speed made it a favorite for 19th-century Parisian market gardeners (les maraîchers), who grew early spring crops under glass bell-jars called cloches. These glass covers acted like mini-greenhouses over warm manure beds, letting them harvest tender kohlrabi weeks before field soil warmed up. 

When European immigrants crossed the Atlantic, they brought Early White Vienna seeds tucked safely in their trunks and pockets. By 1863, agricultural historian Fearing Burr highlighted the variety in The Field and Garden Vegetables of America, praising its reliable speed and sweet, fiber-free center. That 1863 benchmark stands as today’s proof of what patient, localized seed-saving can achieve. Centuries of practical seed-saving locked in a tough, fast-growing heirloom that delivers a sweet harvest without needing complicated care. 

Uses

Prepare Early White Vienna by trimming off the top leaves and base, then peel away the tough outer skin until you reach the crisp, pale-ivory core. Eaten raw, the flesh has a dense, juicy snap with a sweet flavor reminiscent of an apple mixed with a water chestnut. Slice it into thin matchsticks for a fresh slaw tossed with apple cider vinegar, or cut it into thick wedges for dipping into hummus.

Cooking caramelizes the natural sugars quickly. Cubing and pan-searing it in a hot cast-iron skillet with butter and garlic turns it into a rich, nutty side dish that makes a light alternative to potatoes. Don't throw away the leaves—chop the tender greens and sauté them with garlic just like kale or spinach. After picking, slice the leaves off right at the top of the globe; leaving them attached draws moisture out of the stem, while trimmed globes keep their crisp snap in the fridge for weeks.

Companion Planting

Because Early White Vienna grows in a compact, upright rosette, it leaves plenty of open soil beneath its canopy. Interplanting shallow-rooted greens like lettuce, spinach, or radishes creates a living mulch that shades the ground, holds in soil moisture, and blocks weeds.

Planting onions, garlic, or aromatic herbs like dill and thyme nearby helps mask the plant's scent from cabbage loopers and egg-laying moths. 

Keep fennel away from your kohlrabi, as its roots release compounds that can stunt stem growth, and avoid crowding it directly next to heavy feeders like tomatoes or dense stands of other brassicas.

Planting and Growing Tips

Kohlrabi performs best as a dedicated cool-season crop during the mild windows of spring and fall. Direct-sow seeds 1/4 inch deep into loose, well-draining soil once the ground warms to at least 45°F - comfortable enough for the back of your bare hand.

Thin seedlings to 6 inches apart once they reach 3 inches tall. Giving each plant room to breathe is essential—crowded rows prevent the stem from expanding, leaving you with thin, woody stalks. Water consistently at the soil line with drip irrigation. Swings between dry soil and heavy soaking cause the inner flesh to swell faster than the skin can stretch, splitting the globe open. Sow a short row every 2 weeks for a steady, continuous harvest.

Harvest Tips

Harvest the globes when they reach 2 to 3 inches in diameter—roughly the size of a tennis ball. Letting them grow larger causes the plant to turn tough and woody. You can test for tenderness by pressing your thumbnail into the skin near the base; if it yields easily with a crisp snap, it is prime for picking.

Harvest in the cool of the morning when moisture levels are highest. Use a sharp knife to cut the taproot 1 inch below the bulb rather than pulling the plant by hand. Cut the leaf stems off right above the globe immediately to stop moisture loss, then store the bare globes in a crisper drawer where they will stay fresh for up to 4 weeks. 

Learn More

• How to Plan for Fall and Winter Gardening

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