How to Grow Red Russian Kale UK
On this page
- Red Russian Kale (Brassica napus var. pabularia)
- When to Plant Red Russian Kale in the UK
- Quick Facts
- At a Glance
- Soil & Growing Conditions
- Growth Stages
- Harvest & Storage
- Diseases
- Pests
- Red Russian Kale, Seedling to Harvest
- Plan your Red Russian Kale planting
- Growing Red Russian Kale in another region
- References
- Frequently Asked Questions
In the UK, red russian kale goes in the ground early March to late March.
Timing is the decision that matters most in the UK: sowing early March, and that same window applies across all 4 regions covered here.
The short answer
- Plant
- Early March to late March
- Biggest risk
- White blister
Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.
Red Russian Kale (Brassica napus var. pabularia)
2 sources cited · Verified
When to Plant Red Russian Kale in the UK
When to plant red Russian kale in the UK: in Southern England, sow early March to late March. Find your area in the table below.
| Region | Sow |
|---|---|
| Southern England | early March to late March |
| Midlands | early March to late March |
| Northern England | early March to late March |
| Scotland | early March to late March |
Southern England - detail & sources
RHS gives a single UK-wide sowing window (indoors mid-spring) with no region-specific dates, so this window is applied across all four sub-regions rather than inventing a north/south gradient the source does not support.
Midlands - detail & sources
RHS gives a single UK-wide sowing window (indoors mid-spring) with no region-specific dates, so this window is applied across all four sub-regions rather than inventing a north/south gradient the source does not support.
Northern England - detail & sources
RHS gives a single UK-wide sowing window (indoors mid-spring) with no region-specific dates, so this window is applied across all four sub-regions rather than inventing a north/south gradient the source does not support.
Scotland - detail & sources
RHS gives a single UK-wide sowing window (indoors mid-spring) with no region-specific dates, so this window is applied across all four sub-regions rather than inventing a north/south gradient the source does not support.
Quick Facts
| Factor | Value |
|---|---|
| Soil texture | loam or sand (RHS) |
| Drainage | well-drained |
| Lifecycle | biennial grown as an annual |
| Edible parts | leaves |
At a Glance
Soil & Growing Conditions
Water: fertile, moist but well-drained (RHS)
Growth Stages
| Stage | BBCH | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sowing | 0 | Sow indoors in mid-spring (RHS). |
| Transplanting | 3 | Transplant outdoors May-July, in rows 60cm apart, into fertile, moist but well-drained soil (RHS). |
| Leaf growth | 4 | Deeply cut, frilled leaves develop with distinctive purple veining; can be picked cut-and-come-again from this stage (RHS). |
| Harvest | 8 | Pick young leaves for salads or mature leaves for cooking; remove yellowing leaves as the only maintenance needed (RHS). |
Harvest & Storage
When to pick: Can be harvested cut-and-come-again for tender young salad leaves, or left to mature for cooking; pick individual leaves as needed, leaving the growing point to keep producing (RHS).
Diseases
Pests
Red Russian Kale, Seedling to Harvest
Plan your Red Russian Kale planting
When to sow and plant Red Russian Kale depends on your own frost dates. Check the UK vegetable planting calendar. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.
Growing Red Russian Kale in another region
Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.
References
-
Red Russian Siberian kale is Brassica napus, the Pabularia Group -- a different species from the Brassica oleracea kales (curly kale, Lacinato) already grown on this site. Hardiness H7 (hardy in severest European continental climates, below -20°C). Full sun; south or west-facing aspect; sheltered exposure. Soil: loam or sand; well-drained; acid/alkaline/neutral pH. Height 0.5-1m, spread 0.1-0.5m. Sow indoors in mid-spring; transplant outdoors May-July in rows 60cm apart. Time to maturity 1-2 years. Grow in fertile, moist but well-drained soil. Produces deeply cut leaves with purple veining, softer and sweeter than traditional kale cultivars; can be harvested cut-and-come-again for tender young salad leaves. PESTS: birds, cabbage caterpillars, cabbage whitefly, cabbage gall weevil, slugs, snails, flea beetle, mealy cabbage aphid, swede midge. DISEASES: black rot, club root, brassica downy mildew, foot and root rot, leaf spot, white blister -- named directly for this species/group, not inferred. Maintenance: no pruning required beyond removing yellowing leaves; keep well-watered and protect with netting from birds and insects.
2 independent sources are cited for this crop. Where they disagree - soil pH is the clearest case - every figure is preserved rather than averaged into false precision.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I sow red russian kale in the UK?
In Southern England, from early March. In Scotland, wait until early March. Treat these as a guide rather than a fixed date — the governing rule is to sow only once frost risk has passed and temperatures are reliably warm enough.
When do I sow red russian kale?
Sow early March to late March.
What problems affect red russian kale?
Our data links 4 diseases and 4 pests to this crop. See the sections above for each one and how to manage it.
Plan next season before the problems start
Most of the advice on this page comes down to timing and spacing — sowing at the right moment, rotating beds, and giving plants enough airflow. The UK Garden Planner lays your plot out month by month so those decisions are already made before the season starts.
Get the UK Garden Planner →Instant PDF download · Written for UK growing conditions
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 RHS and Met Office guidance. 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.
Related Problem Guides
Last verified 2026-09-02
Plan Red Russian Kales by month
The months this guide gives for sowing or planting, each with the full list of jobs for that month in the UK:
More from the same group (brassicas & mustards):
Growing advice for your part of the UK
Timing and conditions change a lot inside one country. These guides cover frost dates and growing seasons region by region.
Where To Go From Here
Take this crop from reading into a written plan for your own beds.
Keep going
Plan the next step
Use the printable SoilCommander planner for your region to turn this guide into sowing dates, bed layouts and weekly garden tasks.