How to grow kale

Brassica oleracea (Acephala) · Brassicaceae · Vegetable

Kale is a cool-season vegetable in the Brassicaceae family, grown either from a direct sowing or from transplants. It wants full sun, though it tolerates a little afternoon shade in hot regions and steady, even moisture. From sowing to first pick is about 50–65 days. It is one of the toughest crops here, standing through hard frost and often improving for it.

Grower’s note: Flavour turns sweet after a hard frost, so the fall crop is the good one. Pick lower leaves and let the plant keep growing upward.

Sowing

Sow about 0.5″ deep, into soil between 45–85°F — germination is quickest near 70°F. It comes up fast (5–10 days). For an early crop, start seed indoors about 6 weeks before your last spring frost and grow it under bright light.

Spacing & layout

Give each plant about 16″ along the row with roughly 20″ between rows. On a square-foot grid that is 1 per square foot. Allow at least 18″ of loose, workable soil for the roots. It grows well in containers at least 12″ deep.

Fitting it to your season

As a cool-season crop, kale does its best growing in the mild weather of spring and fall and tends to bolt or turn bitter in summer heat. A second sowing in late summer, timed to mature as the weather cools, is usually the better crop of the year — and light frost only sweetens it.

Quick facts

When to plant kale

Companions

Common problems

Pests: cabbage worm, cabbage looper, cabbage aphid, flea beetle, harlequin bug.

Diseases & disorders: black rot, clubroot, downy mildew.

Same family (Brassicaceae)

Rotate these so they don’t follow each other in the same bed year to year.

Figures are typical home-garden ranges from Cooperative Extension planting guides, cross-checked against multiple state sources. Your variety and conditions will vary.