[MattieG]

Hi All

Looking to grow Kale this year and I have seedlings on the go but I only have raised beds 10" deep on concrete.
They worked great for Onions last year but is 10" too shallow for Kale??

Thanks
Mattie

[shokkyy]

I've had kale standing and cropping very well ever since last summer in a raised bed that's 6" deep on concrete. The concrete is very old and cracked and broken, so not as bad for drainage as concrete in good condition, but certainly the kale has done very well in there and is still cropping now. I've got four raised beds in the same area and have grown all sorts of things very successfully in there. The only thing that won't work is the traditional brassicas like caulis and cabbages.

[MattieG]

Cool
Ill start populating it with my seedlings then, thanks for that.

Mattie

[MattieG]

Just out of interest how far did you space your Kale plants?
I only have a 4ft square bed and im looking at putting 9 in.

[shokkyy]

I think you'd get away with that. My beds are 8 ft X 4 ft and I've got 3 kale plants running across the width, so they'd be about 18" apart. You don't say which sort of kale you're doing, but mine are the green curly sort which are not too big. If you're doing a bigger variety it might not work so well. I grew some of the black Tuscan kale in a different area and they did get pretty tall and needed support. Of the two, we much preferred the curly green for eating and also found them a lot more productive.