Plot · field guide
How to Grow Kale
Kale is about as easy as a garden crop gets. It shrugs off cold, it rarely gets fussy, and a single plant keeps producing for about 16 weeks if you pick it right. It even tastes better after frost. If you are new to gardening, kale is a great place to start.
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Plant it in spring or fall
Kale is a cool-season crop that grows in the mild ends of the year. Set out a spring crop for early summer eating, then a fall crop for a long harvest into the cold. Fall is the standout window, because kale holds in the garden for weeks once the weather turns.
From a transplant, kale is ready to start picking in about 45 days, versus about 60 days from seed. Both spring and fall crops want full sun, 6 hours or more, though a little afternoon shade helps a spring crop last longer before summer heat pushes it to bolt.
- Grow a spring crop and a fall crop; fall lasts longest.
- About 45 days to first picking from a transplant, 60 from seed.
- Full sun, 6 hours or more, keeps plants stocky and productive.
Give each plant room
Space kale 16 inches apart in the row, with 18 inches between rows. It grows into a big, spreading rosette of leaves, so crowding it means smaller plants and damp, crowded leaves that invite disease.
You can direct sow the seed a quarter inch deep or set out transplants. Transplants are handy for hitting the fall window on time, since you can start them while the summer crop is still in the ground.
- Space plants 16 inches apart, rows 18 inches apart.
- Sow seed a quarter inch deep, or use transplants.
- Transplants make it easy to slot in a fall crop on time.
Let the frost sweeten it
Here is kale's best trick: a hard freeze makes it taste better. When the temperature drops below freezing, the plant pumps sugar into its leaves as a kind of natural antifreeze, and that turns the flavor from sharp to sweet and mild.
So do not rush to pull your fall kale when frost hits. It stands through cold that flattens most crops, and it keeps producing well past the first freeze. In many gardens kale is the last thing still standing in the bed.
- A hard freeze makes kale sweeter, not worse.
- Leave fall kale in the ground through the first frosts.
- It out-lasts most crops, holding well into cold weather.
Pick outer leaves and it keeps going
Never pull the whole plant. Harvest the oldest, outer leaves first, snapping them off low while leaving the small center leaves to keep growing. Take a few from each plant and it just makes more.
Picked this way, one kale plant produces for about 16 weeks, which is roughly 4 months from a single planting. Start harvesting when the outer leaves are about the size of your hand, and check the plants every few days once they get going.
- Pick the outer leaves, leave the center to grow.
- One plant keeps producing for about 16 weeks.
- Start when outer leaves are hand-size; pick every few days.
Watch for cabbage worms
The one pest to watch is the cabbage worm, the small green caterpillar from those little white moths. They chew holes in the leaves and can get thick in warm weather, though a fall crop usually sees fewer of them as the weather cools.
If you see the white moths flitting over the bed, spray Bt, a natural spray that only harms caterpillars and is safe for bees and people, every 7 to 10 days. A row cover on young plants keeps the moths from laying eggs in the first place.
- Cabbage worms are the main pest; watch for small white moths.
- Spray Bt every 7 to 10 days if you see damage.
- A row cover on young plants blocks the moths entirely.
Questions, answered straight
Yes, it is one of the easiest crops there is. It handles cold, rarely gets fussy, and one plant keeps producing for about 16 weeks if you pick the outer leaves and leave the center to grow.
Yes. When a hard freeze hits, kale pumps sugar into its leaves as natural antifreeze, which turns the flavor sweet and mild. Leave fall kale in the ground through the first frosts instead of pulling it early.
About 16 weeks, roughly 4 months from a single planting, as long as you pick the outer leaves and leave the small center leaves to keep growing. Take a few leaves from each plant and it just makes more.
In spring and fall, since it is a cool-season crop. Fall is the best window because kale holds in the garden for weeks into the cold. Count on about 45 days to first picking from a transplant, or 60 from seed.