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Is kale well for you ? The answer is a resonating yes ! Kale often is reputed to have more vitamins and mineral than any other garden vegetable . Its list of nutrients includes vitamins A , B6 , ascorbic acid , and K , as well as calcium , copper , Fe , Mn , and atomic number 19 . It ’s also load with fiber and water . Fortunately , kale is one of the prosperous vegetables to grow and can withstand frosty temperature that would turn other leafy special K into mush .
In fact , the plant prefers coolheaded conditions . So when you ’re look at how to grow kale , remember that it perform best in spring and autumn and yen when temperatures top 75 degrees .
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Growing Kale at a Glance
Common Name : KaleScientific Name : Brassica oleraceaAcephala Group and Alboglabra GroupHardiness Zones : 6 through 11Soil : Fertile , well - draining garden loamLight : Full sunWater : HighFood : Compost and/or high nitrogen fertilizerPropagation : Seed or stem cuttingsSafety : comestible
Kale Characteristics
A non - heading member of the gelt family , kale typically grows between 1½ and 3 feet tall if not harvested while young . However , dwarf and “ flowering ” varieties may mature at lower height , while the walking joystick case of kale can shoot up to 20 feet . Kale ’s escaped clumps of often frilly foliage vary in color from fleeceable to blue - green to nearly black . Although usually rise as an annual , the plant actually is biennial and — if it winter — may send up stalk of four - petal whitened or yellow blooms in spring .
Flowering lucre , frequently sold as autumn container or edging industrial plant , form russet scab of foliage somewhat resembling frilly roses , typically embellished with crimson , pinkish , or white hues as well as greenish . So - called “ anthesis cabbages ” actually are borecole as well but have bland boundary to their leaves . Although the ornamental varieties are edible , they tend to be more caustic than types develop for their greens .
Recommended Kale Varieties
Planting Kale
To ensure that your kale plants stay healthy , sow them , or go under them out in an area where other brassicas have n’t grown for at least 4 years . get kale at the right time helps control a decent harvest .
When is the best time to plant kale?
you may sow kale seeded player directly into your garden a month to 6 weeks before your last spring frost or in early to mid - April if your last spring frost date is in mid - May . Alternatively , bug out seedlings indoors a month before you mean to lay them out , which might be in mid - March if you require to transplant them into the garden in mid - April . Sow seed for afall cropor for flowering kale 3 months before your first fall frost .
Where can kale grow?
Choose a placement that receives at least 6 hour of sunshine per day , preferably where the grease is fat , drain well , and has a pH between 6 and 7.5 . If you are planting in former spring , you may want to opt for a raised layer , since the stain there should be less soggy and clumpy than soil that ’s not raised above ground level .
How do you plant kale?
Keep in thinker that dinero should age about 10 weeks after you sow it .
Can you grow kale in containers?
Growing kale in containers is potential and not hard to do . Colorado State University Extensionrecommends grow kale and other greens in a throne that is at least 18 column inch across and 6 in deep . If you are pick out the cosmetic case of gelt to rise in a sess and intend to include fall bloom with it , you might need an even large container . Just check that that it has drain trap .
Can you overwinter kale?
InUSDA zone 8 through 10 , cole will grow outdoors all wintertime with no need for protection . Elsewhere , you might want to plant your fall crop inside an unheated greenhouse , moth-eaten inning , or burrow constructed of charge plate or leaden run-in cover . Alternatively , move container - grown kale into an unheated greenhouse or likewise protected area .
If you allow some protection from the constituent , the plants should continue to bring out greens all winter , since some types will tolerate temperatures down to 5 point Fahrenheit . In fact , frost reportedly dulcify their sapidity . Just think of that you will require to open up the greenhouse or other structure a spot on affectionate days to prevent the plants from overheating .
Watering Kale
Ensure that your kale plants have at least 1 to 1½ inches of water per week , sooner via drip irrigation if not from reproducible rainfall . Since plants that dry out out or overheat are more likely to become bitter , it ’s a estimable idea to mulch them with 3 to 4 column inch of grass trimming or stubble . That mulch should avail keep the dirt both cool and moist while also suppressing weeds through all of the kale growing stages .
Fertilizing Kale
Dig 1 or 2 inches of compost into the surface of the internet site where you project to plant wampum . In some gardens , that may be enough fertilizer for cat valium . But if your plot is nitrogen - deficient , you may need to add together ahigh - nitrogen organic fertilizersuch as 10 - 3 - 1 at the rate of ¼ cupful for every 10 square feet of ground . Apply it once a calendar month after the plants reach 4 inches in height , watering it into the filth .
Pruning Kale
Although most simoleons do n’t want pruning , you will want to prune off the lower leaf on long - stemmed decorative type such as the Crane series , which are intended to be used as bouquet “ blossom . ” The Johnny ’s Selected Seeds company evoke that you lead off to do that when the plant attain 10 to 12 inch high and repeat the process several more time until the radical reach their ultimate summit of 24 inch and are quick for cut off and fix up .
Propagating Kale
counseling for how to grow cole from germ , the most common propagation method acting , look above under the “ Planting Kale ” section . The seed should germinate at any temperature between 45 degree and 85 degrees Fahrenheit .
turn kale from cuttings is also possible for type such as Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree kale that do not produce seed . clip a backsheesh cutting about 1 foot magniloquent and ½ inch in diameter from the mother plant , removing all leafage except a couple of leaves at the tip . Then bury the bottom two thirds of the carving in a pot of moist land , where it should settle down in about a calendar month .
Safety Considerations
All parts of kale are edible . However , as Time Magazine reports , extremity of the cabbage family stay on among the nutrient most likely to cause indigestion , since such brassicas contain a sugar called raffinose that ferments inside the gut .
Fortunately , the sizeable you become through down nutrient - deep veg such as pelf , the goodish your digestive organization becomes and the better it will get at sue such vegetables . In the meantime , you may want to take a digestive aid before consuming brassicas .
Potential Pests and Diseases
One of the benefits of kale is that it is less prone to disease than most other Brassica . However , it can sign maladies unwashed to the family , including clubroot , which causes swollen roots and stunted growth . To help prevent it , do n’t plant your kale where other brassicas have grow latterly , and avoid establish it in soil that is oversaturated or overly acidulous .
Because kale also attracts pestilence common to brassicas , such as kale worms or cabbage loopers , it sometimes is used as atrap cropto entice those aside from other plants . Handpick the worm and drop them into smarmy urine to kill them .
Harvesting Kale
How long you should let lolly produce will depend on how you plan to use the greens . After harvest , memory board boodle for optimal impudence .
When is the best time to harvest kale?
If you favour bare-assed and cranky babe green to practice in salad , you could begin to pick folio from kale when the plant stands 4 to 6 inches tall and is about a calendar month previous . If you desire heavy leaves , wait until the plants are 2 months onetime and ready the leaves before you eat them . For the best nip , attempt to glean all of thisfast - growing vegetablebefore summer heats up .
How do you harvest kale?
expend a clean , sharp knife ; garden shear ; or pruning shear to rationalise or prune leaves from the plants .
How do you store kale?
allow kale unwashed until just before you intend to eat it , storing it in an airtight plastic bag inside the crisper drawer of your icebox , where it should keep for at least 5 solar day . you may also freeze simoleons by first blanching it for 2 minutes , then covering it in ice body of water , leave ½ inch of headspace , and place it in airtight containers in the deep-freeze . Mushy frozen clams will be more appropriate for soups and casseroles than for salad .
face for more health - promoting veg ? see to it out our guides on growingasparagus , brussels sprouts , andsweet potatoes .
This Is the Year for a Kitchen Renovation
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