Planting guide

When to plant kale

Hardy, handsome leaves that sweeten after a frost and keep going all winter. In Melbourne it goes in Aug–Apr.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 7–11 wks
Spacing: 45 cm
Depth: 1 cm
Sun: Half a day (3–6 hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means kale can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Perth	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Canberra	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Central Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Geelong	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Hobart	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Townsville	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mandurah	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Launceston	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mackay	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bunbury	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Mildura	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Wellington	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
London	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Chicago	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Austin	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Toronto	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mumbai	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Paris	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant kale

Sow seed 1 cm deep or plant seedlings.
Cover with fine net against cabbage white butterflies.
Keep soil moist and feed monthly.
Pick lower leaves and let the crown keep growing.

Kale varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Tuscan Cavolo Nero Classiccold-hardy · heirloom · 8–11 wksDark, crinkled Italian kale for soups and chips
Red Russian Classiccold-hardy · colourful · heirloom · 7–11 wksFrilly blue-green leaves with purple veins; sweet after frost
Dwarf Blue Scotch Classicdwarf · cold-hardy · pot-friendly · 8–11 wksCompact, curly kale for pots and small spaces
Siberian Classiccold-hardy · 8–11 wksTough, flat-leaved kale that handles hard frosts
Redbor Adventurouscolourful · cold-hardy · 9–12 wksBurgundy-purple frilly leaves; striking in beds
Dazzling Blue Adventurouscolourful · cold-hardy · 8–11 wksBlue-green lacinato with purple stems
Ivory Garden Adventurouscolourful · 8–11 wksCream-and-green ornamental kale; edible too
Baby Tuscan Classic8–11 wks
Black Nero Di Toscana Adventurousheirloom · colourful · 8–11 wks
Black Toscana Adventurousheirloom · colourful · 8–11 wks
Borcole Red Classicheirloom · 8–11 wks
Dwarf Blue Curled Adventurousheirloom · dwarf · pot-friendly · 8–11 wks
Dwarf Blue Scotch Curled Adventurousdwarf · pot-friendly · colourful · 8–11 wks
Dwarf Siberian Improved Classicheirloom · dwarf · pot-friendly · 8–11 wks
Halbhoher Gruner Classicheirloom · 8–11 wks
Lacinato Classicheirloom · 8–11 wks
Nero Di Toscana Classic8–11 wks
Onyx Classicheirloom · 8–11 wks
Premier Classicheirloom · 8–11 wks
Red Bore Classichybrid · 8–11 wks
Red Winter Classiccold-hardy · 8–11 wks
Scarlet Classic8–11 wks
Siberian Dwarf Classicdwarf · pot-friendly · 8–11 wks
Tuscan Classic8–11 wks
Westlander ( Demeter Biodynamic) Classicheirloom · 8–11 wks

Where to buy seeds

Buy on The Diggers Club Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Beet, Onion, Dill

Kale by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Lettuce · Spinach · Silverbeet · Rocket · Bok Choy · Celery

Not sure kale is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now