Sukuma Wiki Planting Spacing.
I clearly remember when I first began growing kales.
The confusion I faced… only God knows.
Issues like:
- The right spacing from one plant to another, and one row to another confused me.
- How to stop devastating nursery diseases affecting kale was a nightmare.
- How to get buyers for my produce—drove me nuts.
However, through practice and experience, I became a master grower of Sukuma wiki.
The three-acre kale farm I had was able to feed thousands of people—every week.
My success did not come easy.
It was tough.
And there were times I considered throwing my hands in the air and saying, “I quit.”
When I look back at my experience and struggle—I don’t know how I was able to survive growing kale for so long.
However, all that struggle is NOW in the past.
Please don’t feel sorry for me.
I was able to overcome, and now I am sharing my experience so that you too can experience the joy of growing kales.
To cut the long story short, let us get to what brought you here:
Sukuma Wiki Planting Spacing—the Right spacing for Maximum Yields.
I’ll get to the point very fast.
The right Sukuma wiki planting spacing is, “15 cm from one plant to another. And 40 cm from one row to another. (15X40 cm).”
When you critically consider the spacing from one Sukuma plant to another, it may seem too near.
However, it is not.
Let me explain the full details…
and the logic behind this spacing as opposed to any other spacing touted by other people.
Why space kales 15 cm apart from one plant to the other?
- First, it has to do with the economics of production.
When you adopt this Sukuma wiki spacing, you are able to achieve a plant population of over 50,000 per acre.
Now let us assume 1 kale plant gives you 25 grams (this yield is quite conservative—it could be higher) of kale leaves in one harvest.
If we do the math, you’ll find in one harvest you will get
1.25 tons of kale.
And that production is very good.
If we assume that one kilo of kale sells for KES 25, in one harvest you’ll get KES 31,250/=
Under normal conditions, you’ll be able to have 4 harvests in a month so that makes it a cool KES 125,000/=
- Second, close spacing conserves soil moisture…
When you space kale at 15cm inter row X40 cm intra row, when the kales grow, they create a canopy that covers the soil surface.
The canopy thus protects the soil from losing a lot of moisture to evaporation.
Consequently, you save lots of cash on irrigation.
- Third, close spacing discourages weed growth.
Here’s how.
The canopy created by the kale shades the weeds that grow underneath the plants.
Consequently, the weeds grow very slowly thus unable to outcompete the kales.
Recently… I wrote a detailed article on the herbicides to use in Kale growing.
Check it out for awesome info.
- Finally: close spacing gives high yields
I wrote about this in a previous post…
Titled “Yields per acre of Sukuma Wiki.”
Instead of being repetitive and include what I said earlier, visit the post for more details.
Conclusions and Summary
The kale spacing you adopt influences:
- Kale yield per acre,
- Irrigation costs,
- Weed management pressure,
- The profitability of your farm.
Adopt a spacing of 15cmX40 cm and you’ll see your yields and profits skyrocket!
