Kale

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by Mysterious, May 26, 2015.

  1. Mysterious

    Mysterious Junior Member

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    Hi,
    I am looking for more options for long lived kale cultivars.

    I am in Sydney Australia and cannot find any source to obtain tree kale here.

    I have had great success with cavolo nero / dinosaur kale where it is now into its third year and still cropping well.

    I had planted red russian kale at the same time but those plants are now long gone. I also had a crop of chinese broccoli / gai lan but found that that was an annual only in my garden also.

    I am thinking I might just put in more cavolo nero but thought I'd try asking here if anyone has any other suggestions.

    The key features I am looking for is kale which is good to eat and can get a at least a few years out of it.

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

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    i don't have any kale suggestions, but you could try some chards instead (aka silverbeet, but there are different colored types now too other than the green/pale type) if you like leafy greens. if you keep cutting it you can get several seasons out of it if your climate is mild enough.
     
  3. Mysterious

    Mysterious Junior Member

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    Thanks for your reply. I find silverbeet a bit bitter for my liking. In terms of other alternative greens I use sweet potato greens alot. I am interested specifically in a brassica type. Through some further digging on the internet I have ordered some Chou Moellier seeds, which I do believe is a long lived kale. It is apparently relished as fodder by chickens which is a plus to my system. Given I am having such good success with the cavolo nero I am just going to multiply that some more - I have read I can propagate by cutting which is a bonus.

    Would be really awesome to obtain perennial tree collard cuttings. Seems to be impossible to get in Australia. I wonder how difficult and costly it would be to bring some in via legal means.
     
  4. Bryant RedHawk

    Bryant RedHawk Junior Member

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  5. Mysterious

    Mysterious Junior Member

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    I wish it was that easy - Australia is very strict with its biological controls. It is illegal to bring in any plant material - cuttings or seeds. While I can buy kale seeds locally of most of the seeds listed in your first link I am yet to find a local source of tree collard cuttings or plants - one of, if not the best perennial kale from what I've read.
     
  6. Bryant RedHawk

    Bryant RedHawk Junior Member

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  7. Raymondo

    Raymondo Junior Member

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    Cuttings would be problematic but you can import seeds of almost all Brassica species, including all the common kales, as long as you observe the following import regulations: clean seeds, fresh packaging, no species mixes in the same packet, all packets labelled with correct botanical name. Most seed sellers are happy to put the botanical names on the packets if they are not already. I buy seeds from overseas quite often and as long as I observe the rules, have not had any problems. You need to always check with the AQIS ICON database (available online) to see that what you want is allowed and if so under what conditions.
    I have created my own short-term perennial collard/kale mix by just letting kales, collards and the odd cabbage or two to go to seed at the same time and let them cross as they please. This has worked well for Brassica oleracea kales (and collards) but not for Brassica napus kales, like Red Russian, which seem to be stubbornly biennial.
     
  8. Mysterious

    Mysterious Junior Member

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    Wow, this is really good advice on seed importation in general which I was completely unaware of. Thanks!!!
     
  9. Mysterious

    Mysterious Junior Member

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    Very pleased to be able to say I ordered a perennial purple tree collard today - Daleys in Northern NSW has them on offer at the moment.

    The Chou Moellier kale I raised from seed is doing really well. Too early to tell how long it will grow for but it is pumping out some tasty leaves at the moment.
     

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