Garden Plant Guides

Tower Garden Grow Guide: How to Grow Kale

Easy to grow, easy to prepare, and oh so good for you.
GROWING INFORMATION
Kale
DIFFICULTY
2 out of 5 leaves
TIME TO HARVEST
4 weeks
INDOOR VS OUTDOOR
Both
BEST TOWER POSITION
Top or Middle

Why We Love Kale

It goes without saying, kale is one of the healthiest greens around. This nutritious superfood is rich in vitamins A, K, B6 and C, calcium, potassium, copper and manganese. Studies also show that kale can reduce our risk of heart disease and cancer. With benefits like that, why not eat more of it?

Download the Kale Grow Guide PDF.

Varieties

  • Curly Kale – curly leaves with a more bitter taste
  • Lacinato Kale – long narrow leaves with a sweeter taste
  • Red Russian Kale – red leaves, sweetest variety of kale

Planting Your Seedlings

What You’ll Need

More information on starting your seeds is here.

  1. Germinate your seeds. This step will take roughly 1-2 weeks. When your seeds have sprouted to about 6cm tall, they should be ready for transplant.
  2. Place one seedling cube into each net pot on your Tower Garden Growing System. For kale, use net pots towards the middle of your tower.
  3. Gently press the seedling cube until it touches the base of the net pot.

Growing Conditions

Temperature: 2-27° C

Light exposure and watering cycle can be controlled by our digital timer, but for manual reference:

Light

For outdoor – minimum 6-8 hours of full sunlight daily

For indoor – set grow light timer for 14-16 hours on, 8-10 hours off

Watering Cycle

Please set the Tower timer to “O” for outdoor growing or “I” for indoor growing.

Maintenance & Pest Prevention

  • Check water and pH levels at least weekly.
  • Keep roots away from pump.
  • If not in full sun when outdoors, rotate garden regularly for even growing.
  • Clean pump monthly.
  • Check regularly for pests.
  • Remove dead plant debris.
  • Destroy diseased plant material.

More information on Tower Garden maintenance is here, as well as extra help for pests and troubleshooting.

Harvesting

  • Depending on growing conditions, kale should be ready for harvest in as little as 4 weeks.
  • Pick or cut the bottom-most leaves first, allowing at least three or four leaves to remain and keep growing.
  • You should harvest often as this will encourage continued growth.

More information on harvesting is here.

Ways to Enjoy

  • Salads – rather than lettuce, throw kale into your salad for a nutritious lunch. Here are Tower Gardener recipes for an Asian Kale Salad, a Kale Salad, and a Thai Kale Salad.
  • Smoothies – blend kale with your favourite smoothie ingredients, such as bananas or frozen berries, along with some low-fat yoghurt, ice, and whatever else your heart desires. 
  • Crisps – bake in the oven at 150°C for about 20 minutes with salt and olive oil for a healthy snack.

 Looking for more recipes and kitchen inspiration? Check out Let’s Cook.