[hubballi]

I have some nice purple curly Kale which has strong healthy stems and little compact leafy growth  on the crown. How do I get it to develop a more bushy side growth as I have been taking cuttings from the crown as instructed in my vegatable guidebook but it doesn't seem to promote fuller growth as it states.

Thanks.

[Trebor]

I have two lots of Kale. Some that looks like you describe and some that is short and bushy. The bushy stuff was planted late in the year, the leggy stuff earlier. Maybe this is the answer, maybe it is the variety you use or maybe is something else – I am sure we will find out soon when others join in!

[Elcie]

Mine is short and bushy and I planted mine quite early, have been using it since July, so I guess that rules out that theory then 

[realfood]

There are several different varieties of curly kale. Some are dwarf and some are large, tall plants like Redbore.

[arugula]

Hm, that could explain why ours isn't growing as much as I would have expected, although I don't remember the seed pack saying it was a dwarf variety.... T&M seeds which I haven't got to hand atm and our first attempt at Kale.

[realfood]

I grew a dwarf variety last year and I thought that it was quite good.

[sam on lewis]

We've grown dwarf and not so dwarf, we plant it out in May/June, it's all bushy and has been for two years. I think it might be the peaty soil we have.
People up here still burn peat on thier stoves and open fires, lovely smell.

[HilaryG]

My redbor is about 4ft tall and I've been cropping it for about 4 weeks now. On close inspection there are tiny new shoots where its been cropped so I'm hoping that it will continue through the winter. I'm having to give it a really good wash to get the whitefly off   but it tastes much better than I thought it would

[hubballi]

After a really healthy start mine are tall, thin and leggy and the leaves are even more scarce and smaller. Why would they change like this. It's really disappointing.

[realfood]

Could it be that they needed more feeding while they were growing?