A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Vegetable Gardening growing of Kale

Hi everyone
Just discovered this website and looks like something I'll be using a lot. I have planted some kale ( I know this is not the best time) and it is not getting much bigger buit sprouting long stems of flowers. Can anyone tell me if this is going to seed and should I pinch them off to force more growth?
Thanks
Calmthesea

i dont' have an answer, but i do have a welcome

I have a kale come back from last year which I have never had this happen before. It is doing the same thing. I do believe after it blossoms it should go to seed. I'm leaving mine to go to seed because I want seeds. I don't know if you pinch it off what will happen but someone may come on that knows. Welcome to the forum

I've just started some kale seeds for my winter garden. They looked like they were sprouting this morning after just three days. Can anyone give me some tips on growing kale in California weather.

check this out http://www.thegardenhelper.com/kale.html

I found a couple of sites with differing information. On one site a lady was posting about how she loves to grow Kale close to San Franciso. I'm not sure where in CA you are - you may not get as cold as SF.

As far as sprouting, I think it takes from 1-2 weeks.

Some flowering kale has leaves that are lacy with intricate margin patterns. Foliage of both is bluish green at the base, with white, yellowish white, pink, pale purple and pinkish purple margins. Color is best in full sun and after the first frost.

Like their vegetable relatives, flowering cabbage and kale can be planted about now, but instead of getting harvested in winter or spring, they can be left in the garden until it is time to plant warm season annuals. They are biennials that will eventually bolt and bloom, but their tall flower stalks are unremarkable amid their basal foliage as it begins to wither.

Flowering cabbage and kale grow slowly from small cell packs, so they should be planted while the warm season annuals are still blooming. Unlike warm season annuals that have the advantage of increasingly warm weather to accelerate growth, flowering cabbage and kale grow slower through their season as the weather gets cooler. They can be planted among warm season annuals to outgrow and replace them as the warm season ends. Eventually, the remnants of the warm season annuals can be pulled out from between the maturing flowering cabbage and kale.

Soil pH 5.5 to 6.5 - Kale is best grown as a fall crop, for the summer heat makes the leaves bitter. Start the seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the first fall frost. Transplant outside 3 to 4 weeks later, spacing 12 to 18 inches between the plants. To avoid insect damage, cover the entire row with a floating row cover at planting time, removing only to harvest your crop. For best flavor, harvest after the leaves have received a light frost. Kale is very hardy and may be harvested well into the fall and early winter.
Kale is a cold-hardy crop producing "greens" high in nutritive value. It not well adapted to hot weather. Best quality is produced where summers are cool or when it is grown into the fall or winter. Varieties of kale "greens" are of two types. Scotch types have gray-green and very curled and crumpled leaves while Siberian types are blue-green and less curled. Both dwarf and tall types are available with the dwarf types being preferred. Collards are similar in nutritive value but much more tolerant of warm weather.

Is the ph 5.5 to 6.5 essntial for growing kale? I have just started my seeds, I hope they survive the heat wave until I can get them growing. They are almost half inch tall. I have them in bio-degradable pots, does anyone know when I should put them in the ground? I hope they take to transplanting them and don't die in the intense heat we are having now. Does anyone have any tips?

Well, I put my kale plants into the ground today. They seems pretty strong and durable, much like broccoli. We're suppose to have some pretty warm days this week up to 90 degrees. I think about that they will do alright. This is my first year growing kale.