Kale
Brassica oleracea Acephala Group · Cabbage family
Plant portrait
Non-heading kale keeps an open crown of smooth or curly leaves depending on variety.
Harvested part
The leaves.
What to watch for
Watch new leaves at the top and stem elongation, without a tight central head.
Growth stages of the kale
Plotilo illustrates the kale in 5 stages in 3D: seed, small sprout, young plant, growing and harvest. The models show typical shapes; they do not predict how long growth takes.
- Seed
Starting from a seed. It is shown on the surface to make it visible in this illustration.
- Small sprout
A short first stem and its first small leaves emerge.
- Young plant
The young plant carries more leaves and starts to take its own shape.
- Growing
Leaves and stems develop. Their shape depends on the species.
- Harvest
An illustration of the harvested part. Roots are made visible for clarity; this image does not confirm actual maturity.
Same botanical family
Same botanical family as the kale (the cabbage family): the radish, the broccoli, the cauliflower, the cabbage, the turnip, the Chinese cabbage and 8 more plants from the catalogue. Gardeners usually avoid growing the same family in the same spot several years in a row: that is the idea behind crop rotation.
- Radish Raphanus sativus
- Broccoli Brassica oleracea Italica Group
- Cauliflower Brassica oleracea Botrytis Group
- Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group
- Turnip Brassica rapa Rapifera Group
- Chinese cabbage Brassica rapa Pekinensis Group
- Brussels sprout Brassica oleracea Gemmifera Group
- Garden cress Lepidium sativum
- Land cress Barbarea verna
- Mustard greens Brassica juncea
- Winter radish Raphanus sativus
- Horseradish Armoracia rusticana
- Rocket Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa
- Perennial rocket Diplotaxis tenuifolia