Vegetable

Growing kale

Brassica oleracea (Acephala Group) · Brassicaceae
By Hannah Price · Updated 12 November 2026

Kale calendar

Kale sowing, planting and harvest calendar (UK)
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sow indoors			Sow indoors in March	Sow indoors in April
Sow outside				Sow outside in April	Sow outside in May
Plant						Plant in June	Plant in July
Harvest	Harvest in January	Harvest in February	Harvest in March						Harvest in September	Harvest in October	Harvest in November	Harvest in December

Timings suit lowland southern and central Britain and most of Ireland. In northern England and Scotland, or in a cold spot, start two to three weeks later in spring and finish earlier in autumn.

Overview

When most of the vegetable patch has given up for the year, kale is still standing. It shrugs off frost, which often improves the flavour, and keeps producing fresh leaves through the hungry gap in early spring. It is also less fussy than cabbages or sprouts, coping with poorer soil and colder sites, so it is a good first brassica to try.

Varieties to try

'Nero di Toscana', sold as cavolo nero, has tall plumes of dark, blistered leaves and a deep flavour. 'Dwarf Green Curled' is compact and very hardy, useful on exposed plots. 'Redbor' has frilly purple leaves that look good enough for a border. 'Red Russian' has flat, oak-shaped leaves that are tender enough to eat raw when young.

Soil and site

Best soil: Firm, fertile soil, ideally neutral to slightly alkaline.

Choose a sunny or lightly shaded spot that was manured for a previous crop, such as peas or beans. Brassicas like firm ground, so tread the soil down before planting rather than digging it just beforehand. Acid soil encourages clubroot, and on such ground a dressing of garden lime the winter before helps. Rotate brassicas around the plot each year.

Sowing and planting

Sow in modules or small pots under cover in March or April, or in a seedbed outside in April and May. Plant out when young plants are about 10 cm tall with five or six leaves, usually in June or July. Set them slightly deeper than they were growing, firm the soil well around each stem with your heel, and water them in.

Spacing: Dwarf curly types can go 30–40 cm apart; tall cavolo nero needs the full spacing.

Care

Water young plants regularly until they establish, then only in long dry spells. Tall varieties benefit from a stake on windy sites, and earthing up soil around the stems helps keep them steady. Pull off yellowing lower leaves. Cover the crop with fine netting or mesh as soon as it is planted to keep out cabbage white butterflies and, later in the year, pigeons.

Harvesting and storing

Start picking once plants are knee-high, taking a few leaves from each plant and always working from the bottom up while leaving the top rosette to keep growing. Young leaves are best for salads, older ones for cooking. In early spring, the flowering shoots can be snapped off and eaten like sprouting broccoli before they open.

Common problems

Cabbage caterpillars can strip leaves in late summer; netting is the simplest fix, otherwise check the undersides of leaves for eggs and pick off caterpillars by hand. Mealy cabbage aphids form grey colonies on leaves in dry weather; squash or hose them off. Clubroot causes stunted, wilting plants with swollen roots, so raise young plants in pots before planting out.

Read more on the problems that most often hit kale:

Not sure what you're looking at? Try diagnosing it by symptom.

Month-by-month reminders

Jobs for kale come round in January, February, March, April, May, June, July, September, October, November and December. Each month page lists the rest of the garden's jobs for the same weeks.

Grow alongside

Sources

Names follow Kew's Plants of the World Online; timings and spacings reflect UK growing practice and were checked against the references below. Text is our own. See our editorial policy.