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Vegetables · biennial grown as an annual
Kale from seed
Brassica oleracea · also searched as thinning kale, direct sowing kale
- Germination temperature
- 65 to 75°F (18 to 24°C)
- Minimum soil temperature
- 40°F (4°C)
- Sowing depth
- ½ in (12 mm)
- Days to germinate
- 4 to 8 days
- Light
- Cover the seed; darkness helps
- Before sowing
- Nothing needed
- Start indoors
- 4 to 7 weeks before planting out
- Plant out
- 3 weeks before the last frost
- Sow outdoors
- 4 to 0 weeks before the last frost
- Spacing
- 18 in (45 cm)
Your dates from your last frost Seed not coming up?
Sowing
Start indoors 4 to 7 weeks ahead of planting out or sow direct. Seed comes up in 4 to 8 days.
Care and transplanting
Plant out about 3 weeks before the last frost; kale takes light frost. Mulch and thin; harvest outer leaves.
Problems
Cabbage worms and flea beetles are the main pests; row cover handles both. Leggy seedlings need more light.
Saving seed
Kale flowers in its second year and crosses with other Brassica oleracea such as cabbage and broccoli.