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How to Grow Kale in Western Australia

Daniel Dohrman · June 7, 2021 ·

Kale has earned its reputation of being a superfood by being rich in vitamins, magnesium, iron and anti-oxidants. It’s versatile in the kitchen, being a staple that can be used in salads or soups, steamed or baked as chips.

Choose your variety of Kale to grow

There are many different varieties with many different properties from flavour to curly leaves. The 3 varieties we grow are Red Russian, Black Toscana and Blue Curly. All these varieties grow well with minimal issues but the curly varieties of kale are harder to spot pest due to plenty of places to hide.

Red russian, black tuscan and curly kale growing together
Red Russian, black tuscan and curly kale growing together

Planting your kale seeds

Kale seeds can be both direct sown or sown into seedling trays. When sowing the seeds for kale, we sow 2 to 3 seeds per hole to ensure they sprout then thin down to one plant. Plant seeds or seedling 50cm apart. Kale can be grown all year round but due to pests we only grow it in the cooler months, sowing our seeds in March and pulling the plants out in October.

Where to plant your kale

Kale is another plant that likes full sun, if you choose to grow to kale throughout the summer you will need to plant them in either part shade or cover them with shade cloth to protect them from the heat. When preparing the soil add plenty of chicken manure and blood and bone as kale is a leafy green and need a rich source of nitrogen. Remember put plenty on but don’t overdo it!

Red Russian Kale grown in the aquaponics
Red Russian Kale grown in the aquaponics

Caring for kale

Kale is a fairly hardy plant, however, regular liquid feeds will ensure plenty of leaves to harvest.

Common problems

Here are some common problems with your kale plants and how we deal with them.

Curly Kale
Curly Kale

Great Companion Plants for Kale

Plants that grow well with kale are beans, beetroot, celery, cucumber, onions, marigolds, nasturtium, rhubarb, herbs.

Bad Companion Plants for Kale

Avoid growing with capsicum, chilli, eggplants, mustard, potato, tomatoes and strawberries

Until next time Grow Safe, Grow Organic!

Filed Under: In The Garden Tagged With: hardy, kale, winter

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Comments

  1. tree removal melbourne eastern suburbs says

    July 6, 2021 at 6:21 pm

    This is a very interesting topic. Its full of information and I love to post a comment that “The content of your post is awesome” Cheers!

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