How To Grow Kale In Florida

[Desmond Hutchins]

Iwould guess that most South Florida vegetable gardeners grow kale. It has become so popular over the last decade, whether people are putting it in smoothies, making kale chips, massaging it for raw salads or producing a wide range of cooked dishes with it. Kale is incredibly nutritious, is a very hardy and long-lasting crop, and offers so many versatile uses in the kitchen.

Kale is a brassica (in the cabbage family), so South Florida is a good home for it throughout the fall-winter-spring season. We have actually managed to keep the lacinato variety going into mid-June or longer some seasons. The biggest issue we have with our brassicas is the infestation of aphids whenever the weather gets a little warm (including now in early April!). Our remedy: spray immediately and repeatedly as needed with a neem oil based mixture; aphids spread quite rapidly but can be stopped with diligent applications.

We are a small group of South Floridians who share a love of organic gardening, cooking and leading a healthy lifestyle. We garden together in Miami on a weekly basis year round, and enjoy the labor, harvest and feeling of community that this provides us. We are learning together what it means to grow food in South Florida, with our unique climate and seasons, which are so different than the rest of the country. This website is a venture in sharing information and resources relevant to gardening (and enjoying the harvest) in our South Florida environment. We hope you will find it useful!

Kale is a leafy vegetable that grows in the form of a rosette during the winter months of Florida. Now, this healthy veggie is not a big commercial crop in Florida but is grown by many gardeners throughout the state. This is because kale prefers to grow in cooler climates, unlike the warm subtropical and tropical climates we have here in Florida. This being said, it is surprisingly easy to grow kale in Florida. It can be grown throughout Florida, but should be grown during the coolest months of the area that you live in. Generally, it is best planted sometime from September through March. Kale can be harvested about two and a half to three months after planting. Once kale is matured, it can be continually harvested until it begins to bolt.

The best varieties of kale to grow in Florida are ones that are slower to bolt and grow well in our milder winters. Bolting is when the plant produces flowers which start the process of making new baby rosettes of kale. By the plant focusing all of its energy on flowering instead of its leafy growth, the leaves become bitter and the harvest is done. The different varieties that are best suited to be grown in Florida are Tuscan, Dwarf Blue Curled Vates, Winterbor, and Red Russian. Tuscan kale is also commonly called Lacinato or dinosaur kale. This variety of kale has skinny, crinkly textured, blueish green to black colored leaves. Dwarf Blue Curled Vates is a low-growing, compact variety that has nicely textured, finely curled, blueish green leaves. Winterbor kale has large, thick, blueish green leaves and can grow up to two feet tall. The Red Russian variety is known for its different red-purple colored leaves.

Kale is considered a superfood as it provides a great source of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, minerals, iron, and calcium. When shopping for kale in the grocery store, look for leaves that are moist, crisp, and unwilted. Make sure to always wash your kale under cold water before eating or cooking it. After purchasing this superfood, it is best kept in the refrigerator in a loose plastic bag and will stay fresh for about a week. Kale is one of the sweetest flavored of the leafy greens we eat. This vegetable can be eaten raw in salads, fried or baked into healthy chips, or can be added to various dishes like omelets, stir fries, and casseroles. Kale pairs well with ingredients such as garlic, pine nuts, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and farro.

Fall is the best time for growing kale in areas where winter doesn't dip below the teens, or in a cold frame farther north, because the leaves are sweeter when they mature in cooler weather. In the kitchen, kale can be steamed, stir-fried, or substituted for spinach in omelets, casseroles, or even quesadillas. It's a wonderful addition to smoothies, too, and tender young leaves make delicious salads.

Set out plants in spring 3 to 5 weeks before the last frost; in late summer, you can begin planting kale 6 to 8 weeks before the first frost for fall and winter harvests, and continue planting throughout the fall in zones 8, 9, and 10. Be sure to choose kale starter plants from Bonnie Plants, so you know they'll be strong and vigorous.

Kale grows best in full sun, but will tolerate partial shade as well. Plants that receive fewer than 6 hours of sun daily will not be as stocky or leafy as those that get ample sun, but they will still be plenty edible! Like collards, kale likes fertile soil to grow fast and produce tender leaves. Enrich the soil with compost and fertilizer before setting out the seedlings. Apply fertilizer and lime according to test recommendations. If you forgo the soil test, work nitrogen-rich amendments such as blood meal, cottonseed meal, or composted manure into the ground before planting.

The soil pH should be 6.5 to 6.8 to discourage clubroot disease, although the plants will grow fine in a pH of 6.2 to 6.8 if clubroot is not a problem in your garden. To be sure about your soil pH, test the soil with a do-it-yourself kit, or by using your regional Cooperative Extension office. If that seems too complicated, you can simply improve your existing soil by mixing in a few inches of Miracle-Gro Performance OrganicsAll Purpose In-Ground Soil with the top layer. Enriched with aged compost, it will improve both the texture and nutrition of the native soil.

Kale is easy to plant, and grows beautifully in both raised beds and containers. To create the ideal growing environment for the plant roots, fill raised beds with 100 percent organic Miracle-Gro Raised Bed Soil and containers with Miracle-Gro Performance Organics All Purpose Container Mix. Set plants at the depth at which they are growing in the container. Space them 18 to 24 inches apart. The leaves will grow bigger if given a lot of space, but smaller leaves tend to be the most tender. After planting, water plants well. Plants grow best when they have access to both great soil and a continuous source of nutrition, so apply a water-soluble fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro Performance Organics Edibles Plant Nutrition regularly for excellent results.

At this point you may need to be patient, because spring-planted kale may stay small until slightly warmer soil temperatures trigger vigorous growth. Kale planted in late summer or early fall may sulk through spells of hot weather. Then, when conditions improve, the plants will take off, quickly multiplying in size.

Kale likes a nice, even supply of water, about 1 to 1.5 inches per week. You can measure how much water rain has provided by using a rain gauge in the garden. Mulch with compost, finely ground leaves, weed-free hay, straw, pine needles, or finely ground bark to keep the soil cool and moist and to keep down weeds. Mulching will also help keep the leaves free of splashing soil for a clean harvest.

Kale often grows as a carefree crop, but there are several insects that like kale as much as people do. Velvety green cabbageworms often can be found chewing holes in kale leaves. The larvae of cabbage white butterflies, cabbageworms are more likely to feed on cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower than to bother your kale.

Colourful black-and-orange harlequin bugs often show up on kale plants that are feeling the stresses of old age. Rather than fight the harlequins, most gardeners pull up and compost old plants if it is mid- to late summer. In late summer, the best way to protect young seedlings from these and other pests (like grasshoppers) is to cover them with a row cover or some other lightweight fabric, such as wedding net (tulle). The covers can be removed in mid-fall, when pest populations usually drop dramatically.

Watch for outbreaks of gray-green cabbage aphids, which often gather in clusters within the folds of frilly kale leaves. Treat small problems with insecticidal soap. Pick off and discard badly infested leaves.

It depends. Young leaves work great for salads, but if you're planning to cook the greens, let leaves reach full size. Pick the largest leaves from the bottom and outside of the plant. Avoid picking or damaging the center of the plant where new leaves arise.

For many months. You can pick spring-planted kale all summer, but leaves may get tough and bitter when heat arrives. Quality improves again in fall and plants continue growing even winter in mild climates. Frost makes them taste sweeter, and plants are cold-hardy at least to the low 20s. The following spring, though, they will bolt. The same is true for fall-planted kale. Winterbor is an especially cold-hardy one that works well in cold weather. Gardeners in cold climates can enjoy it through winter in a cold frame.

Warm weather can make kale bitter and tough. While cool temperatures are the key to sweet leaves, you can help keep roots cool by mulching around plants. Making sure plants remain well watered also improves leaf flavor.

Fertilize during the growing season for a steady supply of leaves. You can side dress plants with compost or blood meal, spray foliage with diluted fish emulsion, or water with a liquid fertilizer like Bonnie Herb & Vegetable Plant Food.

Frost actually sweetens kale. This is the most cold-hardy of all vegetables and will take quite a few of the early frosts before a hard freeze, or "black frost" as it sometimes called, kills it in colder regions. In zones 7 and warmer it often continues to produce leaves all winter long.

Cabbage worm likes to eat kale. If you've noticed a white moth fluttering among the plants, that's the source of your worms. Spray kale with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to control the worms. Bt doesn't affect humans or other wildlife. Bt targets worms, which die after ingesting it. After you spray Bt, worms may take a few bites from the leaves, but they'll stop feeding and die in a few days. Spray any time you spot the moths among plants.

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