How to grow Kale

Brassica oleracea · curly kale, borecole

One of the hardiest leafy vegetables, a non-heading cabbage picked leaf by leaf from autumn through winter into spring. It tastes best in cool weather, and frost improves the flavour.

Quick facts

Type	Vegetable
Family	Brassicaceae
Light	Full sun
Soil pH	6–7.5
Frost	tolerates light frost
Soil for sowing	from 5 °C
Germination	7 days
Seedlings ready	35 days
Sowing to harvest	65 days
Where it grows	Greenhouse, Open ground, At home

When to plant

Sow for seedlings about 6 weeks before planting out.

It tolerates light frost: plant out in open ground about three weeks before your last spring frost.

In an unheated greenhouse everything moves about three weeks earlier.

The first harvest comes about 65 days after the shoots appear.

Frost dates · When to plant

Care

Greenhouse

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 2 days	18…21 °C	—
Growth	every 4 days	-4…24 °C	nitrogen, 28 days into the stage
Harvest	every 4 days	-4…24 °C	—

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 2 days	18…21 °C	—
Growth	every 7 days	-4…24 °C	nitrogen, 28 days into the stage
Harvest	every 7 days	-4…24 °C	—

At home

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 2 days	18…21 °C	—
Growth	every 3 days	—	nitrogen, 28 days into the stage
Harvest	every 3 days	—	—

Growing notes

Light

Prefers full sun but copes with light shade.

Soil

Fertile, well-drained, firm soil rich in organic matter, pH 6–7.5.

Care

Plant out 30–60 cm apart, set deeper than before with the lowest leaves at soil level. Water deeply about once a week, 25–50 mm, keeping moisture even, as dry spells make leaves tough and off-flavoured. Feed nitrogen about four weeks after planting out if the soil is poor. Pick two or three lower leaves per plant at a time so the centre keeps growing. Net against cabbage white caterpillars and pigeons, and watch for aphids.

Pests and diseases of Kale

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.