Nero Kale keeling over

[Marb67]

Well, I have kept these little Nero kale's going through Winter to harvest small leaves for salad into Spring but for some reason they are flopping over and wilting. I have no idea why 😞

[Plot70]

Waterlogged.

[Andraste]

That's quite a right angle in the stem too - could that bend/break be stopping the nutri-whatsits making it to the top?

[Marb67]

It's not waterlogged and the stem folded over because I felt the stem to see why the leaves had wilted. The stem felt hollow as I bent it to test it's rigidity. .

[Andraste]

It looks like you've had some good pickings from lower down the stem. Could it simply have reached the end of its natural life? Hopefully someone wiser than me might have some other ideas. x

[Marb67]

It looks like you've had some good pickings from lower down the stem. Could it simply have reached the end of its natural life? Hopefully someone wiser than me might have some other ideas. x

It never reached maturity as I planted it too late in the season but I don't think I have harvested it too much for salad leaves. There are still a few others in good shape so just wondered why some are wilting.

[Andraste]

I'll be watching for replies with interest Marb.

I've had hit/miss with Kale myself. I only have notes since 2022 & have made a variety of assumptions (make of this what you will lol):

2022: 'Dwarf Green Curled' (yuck - spikey) & 'Scarlet'. Sown 10 April, potted on, planted out 11 June in what we now call our 'wet bed'. Given no special attention (bit of water at dry times maybe). It was awesome: started picking in August & kept on picking right through to April '23 despite the plants not being staked & almost ending up horizontal.

2023: 'Scarlet'. Sown 16 April, not potted on but started in bigger pots, planted out 24 June in a different bed where we'd grown beans the year before. Gave it more care with compost in the planting holes, stakes, netting, threw some chicken manure pellets at it once/twice. It was rubbish: never got going really - one/two picks in Jan & Feb. I think they were a bit close together & got shaded by PSB plants nearby.

2024: 'Scarlet'. Sown 16 April, potted on, planted in the 'wet bed' again (where they did so well before) on 22 June. Staked, properly spaced, not shaded by other plants, netted, given feed. They were so rubbish we didn't even bother to pick once! I have no idea why these didn't do anything unless they got waterlogged (but I don't think they did).

We didn't grow Kale at all last year as we didn't have space but it's back in the plan this year. I'm going to try a March sowing to see if a head-start helps & they'll be back in the 'wet bed'. On the above I'm thinking space, stake, net & neglect works best for me!

I'm also going to grow a perennial Cottagers Kale plant this year to hedge my bets - if that makes itself at home then we'll have pickings for the next few years even if the annuals don't come to anything.

[Snoop Puss]

Your 2022 notes sound like a great recommendation for Scarlet, Andraste.

[Andraste]

Going on 2022 alone, I'd definitely recommend Scarlet. We really liked the taste & texture too, plus it didn't seem to need to be boiled to death & there was plenty of leaf left after cutting out the thickest part of the stem.

If we'd had the 2023 & 2024 results without having 2022 to look back on so fondly though I'd never have grown it again!