Kohlrabi seeds

Grow the Crunchiest, Weirdest, Most Underrated Veggie in Your Garden — Kohlrabi Seeds

Alright, I'm just gonna come out and say it — kohlrabi looks like a vegetable from outer space. This little round bulb sitting above the soil with leaves shooting out in every direction like some kind of alien antenna? It's strange. It's funky. And it is absolutely, ridiculously delicious. If you've never tried one fresh from the garden, you're missing out on what might be the most underappreciated veggie in the entire brassica family.

At SeedOrganica, we carry fresh, quality-tested kohlrabi seeds for home gardeners who are ready to grow something a little different. The flavor? Imagine a crisp, juicy apple had a baby with a broccoli stem and a hint of mild cabbage sweetness. Raw kohlrabi is crunchy and refreshing — perfect for snacking, slaws, and dipping. Cooked, it gets tender and buttery with this subtle sweetness that's honestly addicting. And here's the kicker — kohlrabi is one of the fastest, easiest cool-season crops you can grow. We're talking seed to harvest in as little as forty-five to sixty days. Whether you've got raised beds, a small backyard plot, or containers on a porch, kohlrabi seeds for planting give you a quick, satisfying harvest that'll have you wondering why this vegetable isn't in everyone's garden already.

Explore Our Kohlrabi Seed Varieties

Kohlrabi comes in more shapes, sizes, and colors than most people realize. It's not just one thing — there are quick-maturing varieties for impatient gardeners, giant types that grow to absurd sizes without losing quality, and gorgeous purple varieties that look almost too pretty to eat. Almost. Our collection covers the best options for home growers, so you can match your pick to your garden space, your growing season, and how adventurous you're feeling.

Early White Vienna is the classic. If kohlrabi had a greatest hits album, this variety would be track one. It's been a garden staple for generations, and for good reason — it matures fast (around fifty-five days), produces reliably, and has that signature pale green skin with crisp, white, juicy flesh inside. The flavor is clean, mild, and slightly sweet, which makes it perfect for eating raw. Peel it, slice it into sticks, and dip it in hummus or ranch — it's like a better version of a raw turnip with none of the sharpness. Early White Vienna is also one of the most forgiving varieties for beginners. It's not picky about conditions, it sizes up quickly, and it doesn't get woody or tough as easily as some other types if you accidentally let it grow a little past prime. Great starter kohlrabi, period.

Early Purple Vienna is basically the same deal as its white cousin, but way more photogenic. The skin is this gorgeous violet-purple that looks incredible in the garden — like little purple planets growing out of the soil. Peel away that purple skin and the flesh inside is the same creamy white as the green varieties. Flavor-wise, some gardeners swear Purple Vienna is a tiny bit sweeter than the white, though it's honestly a subtle difference. What's not subtle is how good these look at a farmers market table or on a cutting board when you're prepping dinner. If you're growing kohlrabi partly for aesthetics — and there's zero shame in that — Purple Vienna is the one.

Kolibri is a purple hybrid that's taken the kohlrabi world by storm. Deeper, more uniform purple coloring than Purple Vienna, slightly smoother skin, and an incredibly consistent shape — these bulbs come out looking like they were made in a factory. In a good way. Kolibri matures a touch faster than the old-school open-pollinated purples, and the flesh stays exceptionally tender and sweet even if you let the bulbs get a little bigger than intended. It's got good bolt resistance too, which matters a lot if you're growing in spring and temperatures start creeping up. If you want a purple kohlrabi that's basically foolproof, Kolibri is tough to beat.

Winner is a white-green hybrid with a reputation for being, well, exactly what the name suggests. It's fast, it's uniform, and it produces smooth, round bulbs with outstanding flavor and crunch. Winner has excellent resistance to cracking and woodiness — two things that can mess up a kohlrabi harvest if conditions get a little inconsistent. It holds its quality in the garden longer than a lot of other varieties, which gives you a wider harvest window. Less pressure to pick everything on exactly the right day. For gardeners who want a reliable white kohlrabi with a little extra insurance built in, Winner earns its name.

Superschmelz — okay, this one's wild. Superschmelz is a German giant variety that can grow to the size of a softball — sometimes even bigger — without getting woody, fibrous, or tough. We're talking bulbs that hit six, eight, even ten inches across and still have butter-tender flesh inside. Most kohlrabi varieties turn into sad, pithy disappointments if you let them get too big. Superschmelz just doesn't care. It keeps its quality at sizes that would ruin any other variety. The flavor is mild and sweet, and you get an absolutely massive amount of food from each plant. One Superschmelz bulb can feed a family of four for dinner. It does take longer to mature — roughly sixty to seventy days — but the payoff in sheer volume is insane. If you've got the space, definitely throw a few of these in.

Kossak is another big boy — a hybrid giant type that's similar in concept to Superschmelz but with even more vigor. Kossak bulbs routinely hit eight to ten inches across and stay tender and delicious at those jumbo sizes. The skin is pale green and the flesh is creamy white, sweet, and remarkably crack-resistant. It stores well too, which is huge if you grow a bunch and want to keep eating them for weeks after harvest. Kossak is a fall gardener's dream — plant it in late summer, let it size up through autumn, and harvest these monster kohlrabis right before the hard freeze. They'll keep in a cold garage or root cellar for months.

Grand Duke rounds things out as a solid, dependable hybrid that matures early and produces uniform, medium-sized bulbs with excellent flavor. It won an AAS (All-America Selections) award back in the day, and it's still one of the most widely recommended kohlrabi varieties for home gardens. Not flashy, not giant, not purple — just consistently good kohlrabi every single time. Sometimes that's exactly what you want.

Honestly, the move is to plant a mix. Some fast early varieties like Early White Vienna for quick gratification, a purple type for looks and bragging rights, and a giant like Superschmelz or Kossak for fall storage. That combination covers all your bases and gives you kohlrabi from spring clear through late autumn. Your crisper drawer's never gonna be the same.

Gardening Insights for Growing Kohlrabi at Home

Kohlrabi is one of those crops that makes you feel like a gardening genius because it's so easy to grow and so quick to produce. It's a brassica — same family as broccoli, cabbage, and kale — but it's faster and less finicky than most of its relatives. If you can grow radishes, you can grow kohlrabi. It's honestly that approachable.

Sunlight: Full sun is ideal — six or more hours of direct sunlight daily. Kohlrabi can handle partial shade (four to five hours), but the bulbs will size up faster and taste sweeter with more light. In hot climates, a little afternoon shade actually helps because it keeps the plants from bolting prematurely. Remember, kohlrabi is a cool-season crop — it doesn't want to bake in ninety-degree heat. Morning sun with some afternoon relief is a really nice setup in zones 8 and above.

Soil: Loose, fertile, well-draining soil with plenty of organic matter. This is pretty standard brassica advice. Kohlrabi's edible bulb actually forms above ground — it's a swollen stem, not a root — so the soil doesn't need to be as deeply worked as, say, carrots. But loose, compost-rich soil encourages strong root development, which supports bigger, healthier bulbs up top. A pH between 6.0 and 7.0 is the sweet spot. If your soil is heavy clay, work in some compost and maybe a little sand to lighten it up. Raised beds are absolutely ideal for kohlrabi because you control the soil quality completely.

Planting: Direct sow kohlrabi seeds about a quarter to half inch deep, spacing them about four to six inches apart in rows that are twelve inches apart. You can also start seeds indoors four to six weeks before your last frost and transplant seedlings outside a couple weeks before the last frost date. Kohlrabi seeds germinate pretty quickly — usually within five to ten days in soil that's 45 to 85°F. For a spring crop, get seeds in the ground as soon as the soil can be worked — kohlrabi seedlings handle light frost without breaking a sweat. For a fall crop, sow seeds about eight to ten weeks before your first expected frost. Fall kohlrabi is honestly my favorite because cooler temperatures produce sweeter, more tender bulbs.

Watering: Consistent moisture is key. Kohlrabi that gets stressed by uneven watering can develop woody texture or crack — and once that happens, the eating quality drops fast. Water deeply and regularly, especially during bulb formation. An inch of water per week is a good baseline, but adjust based on your conditions. Mulching around the plants with straw or shredded leaves helps maintain even soil moisture and keeps the roots cool, which is exactly what kohlrabi wants.

Harvesting: Here's where people sometimes mess up — they wait too long. Most standard-sized kohlrabi varieties are at their best when the bulb is between two and three inches in diameter. At that size, the flesh is tender, crisp, and sweet. Let it go much bigger (unless you're growing a giant variety like Superschmelz or Kossak) and it can turn woody and fibrous. Check your bulbs daily once they start sizing up — they grow fast, and a few warm days can take a two-inch bulb to four inches before you know it. Cut the bulb from the stem at soil level with a sharp knife. Pull off the leaves — they're edible too, by the way, cooked like collards or kale — and you're good to go.

Succession planting pro tip: Because kohlrabi matures so fast, you can do succession plantings every two to three weeks throughout spring for a staggered harvest instead of everything coming in at once. Same thing in late summer for fall. This way you've always got fresh kohlrabi at peak size instead of thirty bulbs ready on the same Tuesday. Work smarter, eat better.

Frequently Asked Questions