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I have a few kales growing in my raised bed and it keeps producing leaves and I keep consuming them. Do I keep doing this or is there a point where you would remove the plant and put a new seedling? Does kale lose nutrition value of the leaves after a certain point in time? I don't think so but was wondering since leaves are not growing as large as they used to and some of them have a different texture so was wondering

JStorage
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  • I have forgotten where it is you live, what zone? No, Kale wouldn't lose it's nutrition by just forcing it to grow new leaves. I always have starts coming up in the background for leafy greens cause they don't last that long, definitely an annual here. One thing you should know is that Kale as healthful as it is is also an accumulator plant. Dunno if you are following the chemtrail stuff but heavy metals are a big problem in our soils and water now. Heck they just had a huge CHEMTRAIL conference at the UN, don't go to Earth Science with any questions or you'll be run outta town on a rail. – stormy Dec 07 '16 at 22:59
  • Zone 9b. What is this thing about chemtrail? Only use organic fertilizer in case these are related. – JStorage Dec 08 '16 at 00:04
  • Man...wish I could but shouldn't say anything...kind of a hot topic, conspiracy theory labeled. The UN just had a meeting about this stuff. Anyway, you can easily look it up go to Geo-Engineering. Can't believe I feel guilty talking about this subject. No...organic fertilizer is not at all related. I am amazed with 'organic' labeled fertilizers. I think the slow release and smaller percentages and all the micronutrients really make a difference. Sorry for the confusion... – stormy Dec 08 '16 at 06:40
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indicator_plant I've been saying accumulator plant but I think I should have used INDICATOR PLANT. Same thing sorta kinda. – stormy Dec 08 '16 at 07:02
  • https://www.google.com/search?q=indicator+plants&rlz=1C1QJDB_en&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=648&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiIqeXtgeTQAhXohVQKHU4iAm4QsAQIcQ&dpr=1.25#tbm=isch&q=indicator+plants+kale&imgrc=2w4v3gTBpo9XnM%3A – stormy Dec 08 '16 at 07:10

1 Answers1

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Most continuous production systems (tomatoes & peppers in greenhouses or the tropics being the major exception that comes to mind) do find it beneficial to replace old plants with young ones on a regular basis. In zone 4 we don't really have this problem, as winter provides a defined end point (you can pick kale in the snow, but it pretty much stops growing.)

Among other things, at some point (if left over winter around here, the following year) it will opt to go to seed, and flavor is generally not positively impacted by that - likewise the plant's production is aimed towards the seeds, not the leaves at that point.

Ecnerwal
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