Vegetable / Cool season
Kale
Cold-proof greens that keep coming if you beat the caterpillars
Plant out byMar 23zone 6
- Family
- Cabbage (Brassicaceae)
- Sun
- Part sun (4+ h)
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Days to harvest
- 50-75 days
- Spacing
- 12 in apart, rows 24 in
- Pot size
- 5 gal pot (great in pots)
- Frost
- Hardy
- Start
- Either
- Water
When to plant
Showing .
Averages for a typical garden in the region. Your local frost dates may differ by 2-3 weeks, check a local source.Wait until Feb 9
In zone 6, start seeds indoors Feb 9 to Feb 23; plant out Mar 9 to Mar 23; sow again for fall Jul 21 to Aug 11. Average last frost Apr 20, first fall frost Oct 20.
Units
Kale is about as forgiving as a vegetable gets. It handles cold, keeps making leaves for months, and does not mind much if you skip a weekend. The real trouble is a small green caterpillar. Cabbageworms, the young of those white butterflies that drift over the garden in spring, can strip a plant to its ribs in a week. Check the undersides of leaves for tiny green worms and their eggs, or keep a row cover over the plants from the day you set them out.
Heat is the other weak spot. In a hot summer the leaves get tough and bitter, while a few light frosts in fall make them taste sweeter. That is why many growers treat kale as two crops. Set transplants out about 4 to 6 weeks before the last spring frost, then sow again roughly three months before the first fall frost.
One plant in a 5 gallon pot on a balcony will give you a handful of leaves most weeks. In a bed, give each plant 12 to 18 inches. Pick the lowest, oldest leaves first and leave the top growing. By late fall our plants looked like little palm trees, bare stems topped with a tuft of leaves, and they were still producing after the first snow. Curly types hold up a bit better in a pot, while the flat, dark lacinato kind is the one I reach for in soup.
Things to consider
- Cabbageworms and loopers are the main threat. Row cover put on at planting time keeps the white butterflies from laying eggs at all. Tuck the edges down with bricks or soil so they cannot slip under.
- Summer heat makes the leaves tough and bitter, so the best eating often comes in fall after a couple of light frosts. A spring plant that limps through midsummer often bounces back once nights cool off.
- Do not plant kale where cabbage, broccoli or other cole crops grew in the last 3 to 4 years, since their diseases and pests carry over in the soil. Black rot is the one to watch for.
Good neighbours
Pests to watch for
CabbagewormsCabbage loopersAphidsFlea beetles
Questions about growing kale
When is a kale leaf ready to pick?
Once a leaf is about the size of your hand, it is ready. Take the outer, lower leaves and leave the top cluster in place so the plant keeps growing. Baby leaves for salad can be cut much earlier, about four weeks after sowing for some fast varieties. Strip the leaves off the tough center rib before cooking, since the rib stays chewy.
Will kale survive the winter?
Grown plants handle hard frosts in the mid to upper 20s F and keep growing until it drops near 20 degrees F. In mild areas they can carry right through winter. Where it gets colder, a cold frame or row cover can stretch the picking season a few more weeks. Pick frozen leaves only after they thaw, because they bruise easily while stiff.
What is making tiny holes all over my kale?
Lots of small round holes, mostly on young plants, usually point to flea beetles. Bigger ragged holes with green droppings point to cabbageworms. Row cover helps with both, and older plants tend to outgrow flea beetle damage as they get bigger. If you see clusters of gray or green bugs under the leaves instead, those are aphids, and a hard spray of water knocks most of them off.
Save this crop
Pin it to a garden board so it is there when planting time comes round.
Similar crops
Sources
General guidance for home gardens. Frost dates are averages for a zone or region; check a local source (in the US your county extension office) for local timing.