Collard greens (Kale)

Plant family

Kreuzblütler (Brassicaceae) (Brassicaceae)

Season Overview

Details

Light requirement

Sunny

Water requirement

Very humid

Soil

Medium (loamy)

Nutrient requirement

High

Seeding distance

40 cm

Row spacing

60 cm

Seeding depth

2 cm

Instructions

Beginning of May

Cover

Beginning of May

Planting

Beginning of June

Fertilizing

Every four Weeks

Description

Kale belongs to the cruciferous family (Brassicaceae). It is a cultivated form of the vegetable cabbage (Brassica oleracea). Kale is a typical winter vegetable and is also known as brown cabbage or curly cabbage, in Switzerland also as feather cabbage. It owes these names to its feathery and curly leaves. This fast-growing leafy cabbage has green to red leaves, depending on the variety. And, like all cabbages (except cauliflower and broccoli), does not form flowers until the second year. The frost hardiness of kale is excellent. Generally, the plants can withstand -10°C without any problems. A covering of snow is the ideal frost protection. This allows even colder periods to be survived well. This makes kale an ideal vegetable to stand and harvest through the winter. The cold even makes some varieties milder in flavor. However, there are also varieties that are very mild on their own, can be sown earlier and used as baby leaves.

Growing tips

The seedlings can be grown in a cold frame from May onwards, and from June onwards they can be sown directly in the bed. You should pay attention to a sufficient sowing depth (2 cm) to reduce the infestation by the cabbage fly. In addition, mounding the young plants promotes root growth and can prevent the cabbage fly from laying eggs in the stems of the kale. As with all cabbages, you should also avoid growing kale for several years on the same area where cabbage crops were grown to prevent diseases such as cabbage hernia or nematode infestations. If your soils are very acidic, liming is recommended. Kale hernia can be prevented at pH levels between 6.5 and 7.5. If you leave the kale longer on the bed and expose it longer to cold temperatures towards the beginning of winter, it will become milder, more tender and more digestible.