How to germinate Kale Seed:
In a minute, I will give details on How To germinate Kale seed…
But first, we have to know why kale farming matters in the first place.
Ready?
Kale is a highly nutritious vegetable that is in High demand in Kenya and across the world.
A recent study showed that 18 million Kenyans eat Kale at least once per Week!
Do you know what this means?
It means the opportunity to profit growing kale is massive.
In fact…
Farmers who engage in sukuma wiki/kale farming in Kenya…often find themselves unable to satisfy the market demand for the vegetable in dry seasons.
That’s why the price of a 50 kilo bag skyrockets to over Ksh 2,000!
Just imagine the notes and coins kale farmers count in times of shortages…
That’s Why
Farmers who grow kale seriously…
- Have a good cash flow,
- Enjoy farming,
- Always get what they want to have a comfortable living.
Be a kale farmer today, and you’ll participate in the kale farming fortunes.
For those reasons, growing Kale is a GREAT WAY to:
- Supplement your income if you are employed, (Shhh… it is dangerous to rely on a salary as your only source of income)
- Diversify your income if you farm full time,
- Wonderful hobby if you choose to grow Kale for fun in your home garden.
That said…
“How do you germinate kale seeds the easy and Profitable way?”
Well…
“There are three ways to do it.”
- The old way where you germinate Kale in a soil nursery
- Direct planting of kale seeds to your farm or garden.
- Or the modern way where you plant the seeds in seedling trays.
Let’s Start by Discussing the Old Way of Germinating Kale Seeds.
- Select a suitable area to dig your nursery.
- To get the best results, the area should be; near a permanent source of water, well protected from animals, thieves, and pests, easily accessible, and free from troublesome weeds like couch grass. Bonus article: How to Control Troublesome Weeds
- Dig the selected area to loosen the soil
- Let the dug area stay for 5 days so that all weeds dry out.
- Using a rope or twine, measure out a rectangular nursery of a width of 1 Meter and a length of 7 Meters. If want to grow a lot of seedlings you can measure several of these nurseries.
- Raise soil into the measured space, thus creating a rectangular mound–measuring 1 M width and 7 M length.
- Using a rake, level the raised mound. Ensure you break the large soil lumps to create a fine surface.
- Using a stick draw lines that are running across the nursery bed that are 7 centimeters apart.
- Sow the kale seeds in the furrows that you have created using the stick.
- Cover the sown seeds lightly with soil. Ensure that seeds are not more than 1 cm deep.
- Cover the sown nursery with suitable mulching material like dry grass.
- Irrigate the nursery every day or when it dries out.
- In 4-5 days your kale seeds should have germinated.
- Once germination takes place, remove the grass mulch.
- Let the seedlings grow until they reach a suitable transplanting height. ( preferably 8-15 cm high)
- Before you transplant the seedlings, harden them. You do this by limiting the number of times you irrigate the seedlings. You can irrigate them one in 5 days, then once in 7 days, then once in 10 days. If the seedlings are under a shade, remove the shade to expose them to the hot sun.
- This is important. Transplant the seedlings before they overgrow in the nursery.
Geminating Kale Seeds in Seedling Trays (this is the best Strategy. Fewer seedlings are affected by pests and diseases
)
- Buy seedling trays from agricultural store. Follow link to see what is in the market. buy Seedling trays here
- Buy coir fiber for use as potting material.
- Fill the trays holes with coir fiber.
- Dip the tray filled with coir fiber in water and rinse them several times to make the coir fiber to have a neutral PH.
- Sow the seeds in the tray compartments containing the coir fiber.
- Irrigate the trays daily until the seedlings emerge.
- Spray the seedlings with some NPK foliar Feed regularly until they reach transplanting height. Great deals on foliar feeds here. Check them out
Great Seedling Trays to Germinate Your Kale. Prices Starting from KES 450. Hundreds of Tray Varieties Available… Click on Image For More Details
Germinating the Kale Seeds By Sowing Them Directly To The Field or Garden
This kale germination strategy saves you lots of time and energy.
However, It has its cons.
- It is prone to overcrowing kale plants on some spots and on others you get no plants at all.
- A lot of seed wastage.
Nevertheless, it is still a good method of germinating kale seed considering the time it saves you.
Here’s how to do it.
- Prepare your garden by ensuring you till it and it is weed free.
- Rake it to break huge soil lumps and to create a fine soil surface.
- Since kale seed are tiny, 1mm in width, mix your seed with fine soil or sand. The ratio should be 1part seed vs 20 parts soil. This will help in reducing overcrowding of germinated seedlings on one spot.
- Lay a nylon string/line that you will use to make out planting lines.
- Along the nylon line, sprinkle your soil seed mixture.
- Space the next line at 15 cm and continue sprinkling the seed along the line until you fully cover your whole garden.
- Once you are done, go back to the first row and using your foot, lightly cover the seeds with soil.
- Irrigate your garden daily using a sprinkler until the seeds germinate.
- There is a hand planting machine that you could use to plant the kale seeds that can save you the effort of mixing soil with seed and using the nylon line. It is shown below. Check it out.