The Expert-Approved Guide on How to Grow Your Own Kale at Home

6 min read

Kale is a popular superfood that’s a great choice for home gardens. “Kale is easy to grow, even if you’re just getting into gardening,” says Nate Muri, founder of Garden Like a Viking and Viking Growing System. “It’s not fussy and has a high yield, so it’s rewarding and gives you the most return for minimal effort.”

Kale is incredibly versatile, too. You can eat baby kale fresh, sauté it with olive oil and garlic, add it to soups and stews, juice it, or bake it drizzled with olive oil and sea salt to make kale chips, says Muri.

One package of kale seeds, which only costs a few dollars, will provide you with harvests all season long.

“Kale is the gift that keeps giving,” says Chelsey Lenczyk, Bejo Seeds home and farm manager. “Since you can harvest as you need it, it's a great investment on the footprint, particularly since the hardy plants last from summer through fall frost.”

In most regions, you can plant kale from late spring to early August, so you can sow it a couple of times during the growing season. In fact, kale harvested in the fall is especially delicious. “It’s probably the most cold-hardy plant in the garden, and kale that matures in the cooler temperatures of fall will be less bitter because the plant converts starches to sugars,” says Muri.

Read on to learn everything you need to know about growing kale.

• Common Name: Kale
• Botanical Name: Brassica oleracea
• Family: Brassicaceae
• Sun Exposure: Full sun
• Soil Type: Rich, well-draining
• Mature Size: 2 to 4 feet tall and 1 to 4 feet wide
• Native Area: Eastern Mediterranean
• Toxic to Pets? No, but not recommended

Though it’s not necessary, you can get a jump start on the growing season by starting kale seeds indoors about six to eight weeks before your area’s last expected frost date. Use a grow light or move seedlings outside during the day to get the sunlight and bring them indoors at night when temperatures are still in the low 40s to upper 30s. “Eventually, when night temps stabilize to upper 40's and low 50's, I let them remain outside,” says Jeannine R. Bogard, a wholesale product specialist with Syngenta Vegetables.

You also can plant kale seeds directly in the ground, known as the direct-sow method, which requires less pre-planning. Simply sow seeds about ½ inch deep in garden beds or raised planters about three to five weeks before the last expected frost date in your area.

Kale can be planted in rows, leaving about 12 to 18 inches between plants and setting rows about 24 inches apart to allow for weeding, harvest, and good airflow, which keeps plants healthy. But if you have enough space, plant in a checkerboard pattern, offsetting the plants from row to row, allowing for more oxygen flow. “Proper spacing dramatically reduces the chance of seasonal leaf issues such as pests and disease,” says Lenczyk.

You also can grow kale in containers, but choose a much larger pot than you think you need because some varieties of kale become huge. A minimum three-gallon, or preferably a five-gallon, container is ideal for growing one to two plants. Plant five to 10 seeds per container, then when they’re about six inches tall, thin the seedlings out so that only one or two of the most vigorous-looking remain, says Muri.

Soil

Soil should be loose and well-draining. Add compost to improve the soil’s texture if your garden soil is heavy because kale doesn’t like standing water, which will contribute to root rot. Any bagged potting mix works fine in containers, says Muri. Just make sure to use potting mix, not raised bed soil, which is totally different.

Sunlight

Kale needs full sun to part shade, meaning a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight per day. If you don’t have the right exposure in the ground, this is the ideal time to plant in containers because they can be placed where plants will get the correct amount of sunlight.

Water

Keep soil moist as seedlings emerge and establish, then give plants one to two inches of water per week. It’s important to water deeply, allowing soil to dry down—but not dry out completely—between waterings. “This will force roots to grow deeply and search for water and nutrients, creating a strong base for healthy plants,” says Lenczyk.

Kale in containers dries out more quickly than in-ground plants. Make sure the pot doesn’t become totally dry, which will cause the root hairs to die back, and the plant will not recover its full vigor, says Muri.

Mulch

One of the best ways to keep your kale healthy is to mulch. “I top my beds with the leaves I raked in the fall,” says Bogard. “It’s free and easy. When I clean up the beds, I’ll till these leaves into the bed and let them compost. In addition to weed control, a mulch layer is great at moisture management.”

Add House Beautiful as a preferred source in your Google search results.

Use your Google account to add this to your settings.

Add to Google settings

Fertilizer

Leafy vegetables such as kale need plenty of nitrogen. Use fertilizers that are higher in nitrogen than the other numbers (the “N” part of NPK on the label). Organic sources, such as bat guano, are an example of one that can be mixed into the soil before planting, says Muri.

Temperature and Humidity

Kale is a cool-weather crop that is most prolific in spring and fall. When temperatures soar into the 90s, it may slow down, though you can keep it going if you maintain consistent moisture.

Start harvesting kale about two months after planting, when plants are about 12 to 18 inches tall. If you plan to harvest for the whole season, never take more than 30 percent of the foliage at a time, says Lenczyk.

Harvest from the bottom to the top of the plant. Use a knife or shears to snip one leaf at a time, as close to the center stalk as possible without nicking the stalk itself. “This allows new, fresh leaves to develop while you make use of more mature leaves. It serves the secondary purpose of keeping leaves off the ground where they can pick up unwanted diseases and harbor pests,” says Lenczyk.

Crop rotation and spacing are the best deterrents for disease. Later in the season, Fusarium yellows in lower leaves is common. Planting resistant varieties and keeping lower leaves off the ground helps with control. Common pests are cabbage worms and loopers, which can be naturally controlled with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), says Lenczyk.

While a few holes are tolerable and come with the territory when growing kale, if you see that pests are decimating your plants so that you won’t have a harvest, you’ll need to handpick or treat with Bt, says Muri.

Lacinato kale.

• Lacinato, or dinosaur, kale has long, large dark green leaves, making it ideal for cooking or juicing.
• Red Russian has sweet, tender, frilly leaves that are excellent as baby greens.
• Rubybor has beautiful red tinges and frilly leaves.
• Darkibor is a Fusarium-resistant variety with dark green leaves.
• Starbor is a more compact variety with blue-green leaves.
• Prizm is a more compact variety with tightly curled bright green leaves that does especially well in containers.

Although kale is super healthy for humans, it’s not so great for pets.

“Kale is not considered to be toxic, but there are a few risks. It is high in oxalates, so if your pet has a history of calcium oxalate kidney stones, it should be avoided,” says Tina Wismer, DVM, senior director of toxicology for ASPCA Poison Control. “While dogs and cats don’t eat enough kale to cause thyroid problems, grazing animals can reach these levels.”

One other note from Dr. Wismer is that kale can make dogs gassy, so it’s probably best left out of their regular diets.

Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.