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Post by oxbowfarm on Sept 29, 2011 20:48:26 GMT -5
I have a Brassica napus kale we call Portuguese Dairyman that I got in 2007 via SSE. Its a very productive variety that we like a lot, doesn't really have the flashy looks that might make it a good seller at market but it's a great variety for putting greens on the table. So I had about 20 or so plant that I overwintered for seed in a garden bed. Got hit by deer very early in the spring so I ended up putting a circle of chicken netting around them to keep the deer off. The plants went ahead and seeded and I got about a half pound of seed out of the patch. After I harvested the seed I ignored the patch completely as we were in a drought and I was spending all my time irrigating that I could. So I am going past the area a few days ago and there's all this kale looking stuff way up above the chicken netting! Five or six of the plants are sprouting new growth from the stalks, but they are the vegetative style leaves vs the "going to seed pointy/waxy look" leaves that kale gets. So did they go perennial? Maybe I should cut them back and see if I can get some nice regrowth at a height that would fit back in the cold-frame to overwinter again? I'll try and get a picture to see what people think.
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Post by johno on Sept 29, 2011 22:38:30 GMT -5
Several of the kales I've grown will do that. Red Russian is pretty reliable about it, and I've got some from a grex that are doing it presently. I haven't tried cutting them back. Which zone are you in?
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Post by raymondo on Sept 30, 2011 2:58:11 GMT -5
I've heard that pruning (by deer for example) a flowering brassica can sometimes trigger it to revert to a vegetative phase, rather like second childhood. We don't have deer nor do I prune my brassicas except when I want a number of varieties to flower at the same time. When I have done that I have never noticed this reversion but perhaps this is what you are seeing.
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Post by oxbowfarm on Sept 30, 2011 5:17:56 GMT -5
Johno I'm in 5a.
Ray, it may have been the deer. The one thing I question about it is that the new growth is at all heights even up to chest height, when the deer hit the plants they were still 18 inches tall or so what is that 40 cm? Not sure if I'm going to do anything with the plants, I have a ton of seed from this year and the last few years. I'm actually looking to save a different variety of napus kale next year. Maybe I'll try and overwinter the plants just to see what they do.
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Post by ottawagardener on Sept 30, 2011 10:15:02 GMT -5
Perennial or close to it kale is one of my interests. I have had several so called biennial kales like the aforementioned Red Russian act in a perennial manner for several years at least. I've even had cabbage do this. My zone is close to a US4/Canada5, a little colder perhaps but we have reliable snow cover and I seem to be in a sheltered microclimate in my current residence. My previous one was in the city so also a microclimate. Red Ursa not only tends to keep going for a few years even if it flowers but it is a reliable self seeder so creates a standing population.
One caveat is that I have tried overwintering several tall brassicas such as Red Cavalier kale and 9 Star Broccoli. They might appear to make it through the winter but suffer from spring kill in the places where the snow has melted off early. I sometimes get resprouting from the nodes in the most sheltered spots that were under the snow or covered with leaves - Leaf Broccoli springs to mind, sprouting from a node at the soil line - or the squashed tall plant might start to resprout along the nodes but succumb to stem rot. I've thought of rescuing these starts as cuttings but haven't tried it yet.
By and large, the most successful plants have been the shorter, less bunchy ones. Cabbages even if they survive, often have head rot in the spring but get leaf and flower growth from the stem nodes. Brussel sprouts has less problem with this and kale very little problem even if the leaves that have survived the winter will often fall off in the sharp spring sunlight and regrow.
All that to say that you might have better luck with with the parts that are covered in snow/leaves so you might want to consider cutting these back assuming there's sufficient growth on the bottom. However if they have gone to seed, then you are likely going to get a population of babies soon as well.
Good luck!
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Post by ottawagardener on Sept 30, 2011 10:16:39 GMT -5
As for the coldframe: For me, this has always been a double-edged sword. It helps survival at the ends of the cold season but in the middle can cause the plants to experience significantly colder temperatures (assuming it's unheated) than those that are covered in snow. However, the growth produced is more sun tolerant.
A really good combo has been a low tunnel that can be covered (but not squashed) by snow. It allows for extended harvesting at either end of the season and insulation in the middle.
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