Exposure Full-sun
Matures in 21 days for baby leaves, 50 days to full size
Season Cool season
Seed type OP ?
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Red Russian Organic Kale Seeds grow leaves that are flat, toothed, grey-green leaves with bright purple stems and veins really brighten and sweeten after frosts. Tender for salads and good for bunching, the red and purple hues turn a rich, dark green colour when cooked. Red Russian kale may be richer in vitamins and minerals than other greens and is very disease resistant. Heirloom seeds.
Tender kale leaves are a popular ingredient in baby leaf salad mixes or as full size bunches. This organic strain has very smooth gently lobed baby leaves. Highly cold tolerant, this kale can overwinter in moderate climates. (B. napus.)
Days to maturity: 21 days for baby leaves, 50 days to full size
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Latin
Latin
Brassica oleracea var. acephala
Family: Brassicaceae
Difficulty
Difficulty
Easy
Season & Zone
Season & Zone
Season: Cool season
Exposure: Full sun
Zone: Winter hardy to Zone 6.
Timing
Timing
Direct sow in early spring to mid-summer for summer to winter harvests. Or start indoors 4-6 weeks before the last frost, and transplant out as soon as the soil warms up. Optimal soil temperature: 10-30°C (50-85°F). Seeds should germinate in 7-10 days.
Starting
Starting
Sow 3-4 seeds 5mm (¼”) deep in each spot you where a plant is to grow. Thin to the strongest plant. Space 45-60cm (18-24″) apart in rows 75-90cm (30-36″) apart.
Growing
Growing
Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8. Add lime to the bed 3 weeks prior to sowing. Kale likes well-drained, fertile soil high in organic matter. This plant prefers plentiful, consistent moisture. Drought is tolerable, but quality and flavor of leaves can suffer. Mix ¼ cup of complete organic fertilizer into the soil beneath each transplant, or use 1 cup beneath every 3m (10′) of seed furrow.
Harvest
Harvest
Kale and collards can both be grown as a cut and come again crop for salad mixes by direct-seeding and cutting baby leaves. They will re-grow if you pick leaves from the bottom up, as you need them. Continue harvesting lower leaves as they mature—plants will keep producing all season. Kale can overwinter in many areas. In fact, the leaves get sweeter after frost, though growth will slow. In spring, the surviving plants start to flower, so eat the delicious flowering steps and buds.
Diseases & Pests
Diseases & Pests
Protect from cabbage moths and other insect pests with floating row cover. Prevent disease with a strict 4-year crop rotation, avoiding planting Brassicas in the same spot more than once every four years.
West Coast Seeds is a family-owned company that embraces an organic lifestyle. A group of imagination catalysts and passionate educators, dedicated to producing products and services that better the environment. As part of our mission to repair the earth, we aim to inspire and empower people to take responsibility for the state of the planet. For us, organic is about much more than saying no to chemicals, it is about saying yes to building a healthy soil for the future.
For over 35 years, we have upheld our strong reputation as a leading seed supplier, seeking out the highest quality untreated seeds for organic growing and putting them through rigorous independent testing. We built our company on the exchange of generational wisdom in a masterclass community of newbies and masters alike. Our world may have changed, but our commitment to our people, our customers, and our planet has not.
We’re a values-based business that has blossomed into a lifestyle ethos, with products that support seeders, feeders, keepers, and the tiniest of creepers. Our mission? To mobilize the next generation of gardeners with products that nourish soil and grow vigorous, sustainable gardens. We believe all plants should be grown without the use of chemicals, and that the seeds we supply are an important component of regenerative gardening.
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At West Coast Seeds we believe in the power of small and that little can be large. Like the tiniest seed germinates to evoke incremental change with massive potential, so to can our community of gardeners and growers together. Gardeners are the earth’s stewards, planting seeds of creative declaration. The soil provides the canvas, we provide the seeds.
Direct sow in early spring to mid-summer for summer to winter harvests. Or start indoors 4-6 weeks before the last frost, and transplant out as soon as the soil warms up. Optimal soil temperature: 10-30°C (50-85°F). Seeds should germinate in 7-10 days.
Sow 3-4 seeds 5mm (¼”) deep in each spot you where a plant is to grow. Thin to the strongest plant. Space 45-60cm (18-24″) apart in rows 75-90cm (30-36″) apart.
Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8.
Add lime to the bed 3 weeks prior to sowing. Kale likes well-drained, fertile soil high in organic matter. This plant prefers plentiful, consistent moisture. Drought is tolerable, but quality and flavor of leaves can suffer. Mix ¼ cup of complete organic fertilizer into the soil beneath each transplant, or use 1 cup beneath every 3m (10′) of seed furrow.
Days to maturity: From transplant date.
In optimum conditions, at least 80% of seeds will germinate.
Kale and collards can both be grown as a cut and come again crop for salad mixes by direct-seeding and cutting when plants are 5-8cm (2-3″) tall. They will re-grow. Or pick leaves from the bottom up on mature plants as you need them. In spring, the surviving plants start to flower, so eat the delicious flowering steps and buds.
