How to Grow Kale
On this page
- Kale (Brassica oleracea Acephala Group)
- Quick Facts
- At a Glance
- Does Kale Regrow After Cutting? (And Is It Too Late t...
- Growth Stages
- Soil & Growing Conditions
- Harvest & Storage
- Companion Planting
- Diseases
- Pests
- Kale, Sowing to Cut-and-Come-Again
- Plan your Kale planting
- Growing Kale in another region
- Sources
- Frequently Asked Questions
Kale is exceptionally frost-hardy, tolerating temperatures down to around -5°C, and a spell of frost is even said to sweeten the leaves by converting their stored starches into sugars.
The short answer
- Ready in
- 50–55 days
- Site
- 4+ hours of sun, soil pH 6–6.5
- Biggest risk
- Club root
Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.
Kale (Brassica oleracea Acephala Group)
Also known as: Leaf Cabbage, Curly Kale · 16 sources cited · Verified
Quick Facts
At a Glance
Does Kale Regrow After Cutting? (And Is It Too Late to Sow?)
Does it regrow after cutting? Yes -- that's the whole point of "cut-and-come-again" harvesting. NC State Extension confirms the method directly: "pick the big, outer leaves and let the center continue to grow." Take a few of the largest, lowest leaves at a time rather than stripping the whole plant, and it keeps producing for months.
Is it too late to sow? Kale is unusually forgiving on timing because it's genuinely hardy -- RHS records it surviving down to around -5°C, and a cold snap sweetens rather than damages the leaves. Two real windows exist, not one: sow in spring for a summer crop, or again in late summer (roughly 6 weeks before your first autumn frost) for a crop that often tastes better, since cool autumn weather is exactly what kale prefers.
Growth Stages
| Stage | BBCH | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sowing & Establishment | 0 | Sow indoors from March onwards in modular trays, or outdoors March to June in shallow drills, at a PLANTING DEPTH of 1cm (RHS). Sow thinly in a seedbed 10-15cm apart and thin to the same spacing, or direct-sow three seeds every 45cm and thin to the strongest seedling per station; for cut-and-come-again salad crops, sow more thickly at roughly 7.5cm spacing (RHS). Transplant out in late spring/early summer once seedlings reach 10-15cm tall, SPACING mature plants 30-60cm apart depending on variety with a minimum of 45cm between rows (RHS). Dig in well-rotted manure or garden compost before planting; kale "prefers rich, well-drained, firm soil, but will grow in most soil types and conditions" (RHS). |
| Vegetative Growth & Transplanting | 3 | Net plants immediately after transplanting with fine-mesh insect-proof netting supported on hoops or canes to keep off cabbage caterpillars, birds/pigeons and cabbage root fly (RHS) -- young transplants are most vulnerable to root fly and flea beetle at this stage. Water regularly while plants establish so the soil does not dry out; once established, kale generally needs watering only during prolonged dry spells (RHS). Feeding "isn''t usually needed, except on poor soils or when growing in containers" -- apply a nitrogen-rich organic fertiliser if needed (RHS). |
| Leaf Development | 7 | Plants bulk up into a rosette of leaves on a thickening central stem, growing to 30-90cm tall depending on variety -- kale does not form a head, unlike cabbage. Keep netting in place and check under it regularly for cabbage caterpillars, flea-beetle peppering on young leaves, and mealy cabbage aphid colonies on the growing points, which can distort growth and make leaves inedible (RHS). Continue watering during dry spells; once well established, kale copes with dry conditions much better than most brassicas. |
| Harvest — Cut-and-Come-Again | 8 | Begin picking mature plants from September onwards, taking two or three of the lower leaves from each plant at a time (RHS); regular picking encourages more leaves to grow, and the whole rosette can also be cut to resprout. Kale is fully hardy (killing temperature around -5°C, FAO EcoCrop) and can be picked right through winter into early spring; a spell of frost is widely held to sweeten the flavour. Biennial plants bolt and flower the following spring if left in the ground -- pull and compost once cropping finishes, or, for perennial heirloom types such as ''Daubenton''s'' and ''Taunton Deane'', leave in place to keep cropping for several years (RHS). |
Soil & Growing Conditions
Harvest & Storage
Companion Planting
Diseases
Pests
Kale, Sowing to Cut-and-Come-Again
Plan your Kale planting
Timing for Kale follows soil temperature and frost, not the calendar date. The Global vegetable planting calendar explains the method. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.
Growing Kale in another region
Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.
Sources
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EPPO code for the species Brassica oleracea (distinct from var. capitata BRSOL used for headed cabbage).
-
Native range: Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of Great Britain, France and Spain, growing wild on sea cliffs; cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts are all cultivars of this species.
These 3 sources are specific to this region. The full list of 16 sources behind this guide (Clemson Cooperative Extension, EPPO Global Database, FAO EcoCrop and others) is in the references of our UK guide to kale; they describe the plant itself, which is the same wherever it grows.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does kale take to grow?
Typically 50–55 days, depending on cultivar and growing conditions.
What soil pH does kale need?
A pH of about 6–6.5. That span reflects genuine variation between the authorities we cite rather than a single agreed figure — the References section lists each source's exact range.
What problems affect kale?
Our data links 6 diseases and 10 pests to this crop. See the sections above for each one and how to manage it.
Plan next season before the problems start
This page gives you the thresholds; the planner turns them into your own calendar. It works from what you can observe and measure in your garden rather than from dates written for somebody else’s latitude.
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How this guide is put together
The growing data on this page — sowing windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against international horticultural research and extension sources. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.
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Last verified 2026-08-06
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