When do i seed kale

The optimal soil temperature for planting kale is 60 to 65 degrees. All varieties prefer cool temperatures and will be sweetened by a touch of frost. Hot weather turns kale bitter. Kale is a biennial plant , taking two growing seasons or years to complete its life cycle, but it's usually grown as an annual.

It will collapse if exposed to heavy frosts or snow. But it can be grown throughout the winter in USDA zones 7 through 9 if the winters are mild and there is adequate water. When planting, mix fertilizer into the top 3 to 4 inches of soil. Then, feed your kale throughout the growing season, following the instructions on your fertilizer label. Use compost or a high-nitrogen vegetable fertilizer. There are many kale varieties, and they're all worth a try.

The curly-leaf varieties tend to hang on longer in cold weather. But the flat-leaf types generally become established faster. Here are some varieties to consider:. Kale and chard come in similar appearances. Their leaves are often large, crisp, crinkled, and deep green. Their difference comes in their taste. Kale is generally stronger, with a bitter and earthy flavor. And chard is a much more mild green.

Expect to wait approximately two months for your kale plants to mature from seeds. Check the days to maturity on your seed packet or plant label for more precise timing. Spring-planted kale will be good for harvesting throughout the summer months, but it's especially tasty after a light frost. You can harvest young kale leaves to use fresh in salads or allow your plants to mature for use as a cooked green.

Remove the older outer leaves, and allow the center of the plant to continue producing. Kale will keep in the refrigerator, ideally in the crisper drawer, for about a week. Cold winters allow for selection of cold hardiness, put plants in the coldest part of your field or farm if this is a desirable selection trait.

Use disease-free seed. Maintain a 3-year crop rotation and up to 5 years for some diseases Black leg. Eliminate other crucifer weeds as they can host diseases.

Avoid overhead irrigation and water in the morning only. Increase plant spacing and orient rows toward prevailing winds for maximum drying. Plow down any disease residues into the soil. Diseases are classified by severity with a class of 1 being the most severe and 3 the least severe.

High Desert Seed specializes in seed crops that thrive in desert ecosystems—while preserving stories, flavor, and food sovereignty civileats. Today's the deadline for organic growers to apply for the Organic Cost Share Program to receive a partial reimbursement for certification costs. I live in the Philadelphia, PA area and just planted kale and lettuce starts in a container garden that receives 6 to 8 hours of sun a day.

Will they grow? Is there anything I can do to support its growth? Or do they die? It is August now and I would like a winter harvest of my kale, right now the seeds are still packaged, have not done anything as of yet, I want to start them in the egg cartons i have but is it too early to start sowing?

Do the seeds come in clusters like the swiss chard? I planted? I looked up the first frost date for winter and it is December 11th and for fall it is November 12th.. When would you recommend I sow them in the egg cartons. San Diego. Forgot in the previous post to say the name of the perennial kale cultivar is "kosmic. About 5 or 6 years ago I bought a perennial kale in 4" pot. It has survived, thrived, and been divided numerous times since then. Milder flavor than cavalo nero "dinosaur" and slightly more tender leaves.

A nice ornamental as well as edible. So last year I had giant beautiful Kale plants. They overwintered and held out pretty decent. Then they flowered and went to seed. I meant to gather the seeds before they all fell but got sidetracked.

So my dirt is full of Kale seeds. It's mid summer, July, here. Can I just stir some of what's on the ground into the dirt and water and have new Kale for the rest of the summer? Hi Kristan, As long as the temperature is between 60 and 85 degrees F, you can be fairly certain your seeds will germinate in the soil and sprout again! A neighbor novice gardener has several large kale plants, though they look rather ragged in July.

Live in Tennessee. Says her daughter bought the seedling plants, but she is going to destroy them because they are not the 'curly kind' of kale she likes and are broad-leafed instead. I told her, well, if you're going to rip them up, i might try replanting in my garden to see if they'll survive the winter.

Read here that kale is a biennial -- and i'm non-discriminatory insofar as kale varieties go. OK, she says, but lemme know in a week or so or they're gone. Worth the effort? Try planting in a place that gets partial sun, as full summer sun may be too much for transplanted kale. If it survives, you should get more growth as the weather cools in late summer and fall. I have an 18 metre long poly tunnel that I am watering with used bath water as the water table is so low. The tunnel runs, more or less, East to West with the beds going North to South across the tunnel.

The other day I was given a packet of Curly Kale seeds. I've never grown them before so I'm looking for pointers as to 1 when to plant the seeds and 2 how to care for them. Any advice greatly welcome. Thanks in advance Jannie. The sugar acts as an antifreeze to protect the veins, stems and leaves from freezing. WE like it because it makes the leaves sweeter but the plant could care less what we think.

Your putting the leaves in the freezer has no effect on the plant because you've already picked the leaves. Dumping ice around the leaves would also have zero effect. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Please check settings. You can sow kale seeds 1 to 2 inches apart. Once the seedlings come up, thin the plants from 6 to 10 inches apart.

Choose the strongest seedlings to grow on. Use scissors to simply cut the weaker seedlings off at soil levle. Kale can be harvested cut-and-come-again which means you can take two or three leaves for a meal and then back another time for additional leaves. If you have several plants, harvest each cut-and-come-again in order; that will give the first plant harvested time to regrow new young leaves for the next harvest.

Do kale seeds started indoors need light to germinate? Or can I leave the light off until I glimpse the first sprout? Plants produce seeds after they flower; the flowers drop seed.