How to Grow Kale Organically without Pests and Disease

In today's video we are doing a complete kale breakdown.
We discuss: how to grow kale, what varieties of kale to grow, how to deal with flea beetles, aphids, and harlequin beetles, cabbage moths/butterflies, worms, etc.. We discuss insect netting. How to harvest and store and so much more!
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Citations (apologies to the authors--just putting the title and link):
-Effect of cover crops on the yield and nutrient concentration of organic kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala): www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
-Falling into line: Adaptation of organically grown kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) and kale relatives to fall planting www.sciencedirect.com/science...
-Reaching the highest shelf: A review of organic production, nutritional quality, and shelf life of kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala)nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/d...
-Dual role of milk on aphid and powdery mildew control in kale www.sciencedirect.com/science...
-Eco-toxicological risk and impact of pesticides on important parasitoids of cabbage butterflies in cruciferous ecosystem www.sciencedirect.com/science...
-Dissecting the Environmental Consequences of Bacillus thuringiensis Application for Natural Ecosystems www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

[@t4cchi]

I love blowing everyone's minds when I share overwintered Kale and Spinach with colleagues at some point in January/February when it is -10 outside and get to say "yea, i picked this this morning"

[@mahatmaghandi4288]

I tried milk against powdery mildew this summer, and it's extremely effective.

[@inelouw]

Being from the Netherlands, I literally grew up on kale! 😂

[@SenorGonzo]

Boerenkool met worst! Mmmmmmmh.

[@inelouw]

@@SenorGonzo 🤤🤤🤤

[@xaviercruz4763]

@@SenorGonzowhat sausage preparation is best for kale taste wise?

[@xaviercruz4763]

Jesse No till growers would you do one on basil varieties and strains of those varieties like prospera strain of the Italian large leaf and yields and taste and best quality (non woody yields) would be nice, and spacing for yields vs quality

[@SenorGonzo]

@@xaviercruz4763 No idea. I like our smoked sausage from Dutch supermarkets. Do'nt know how they make it.

[@hawkspiritweaver6664]

Gotta love Sunday mornings with coffee and Jessie... oh and don't forget Kitty Cat.

[@magsterz123]

I am a non-farming psychotherapist living in New York City and I just love and adore your channel. Thank you for everything you’re sharing with the world.

[@francoiswhite4985]

Yes. He has started something in the world. I'm from South Africa. And happily a Farmer Jesse Nerd. Following his lead.

[@petpawteek8776]

OMG aren’t those wasps amazing? I saw a wasp, eating a cabbage worm this past summer and was giddy at the sight of it. It really opens your eyes to the things that are going on in your garden. Every time I see those wasps now hovering underneath my kale leaves I know exactly what they’re doing, and it puts a huge smile on my face. Also, Milk. It does a body good.😊

[@falsificationism]

Holy SMOKES this was comprehensive and incredibly useful. Saving this one for later. Thanks for producing such a sharable, easy-to-understand tutorial!

[@RealDarkBlade]

Love black tuscan kale almost as much as my slugs and caterpillars do

[@charliefoxtrot6017]

Flea beetles repelled by nasturtiums and cabbage butterflies attracted to nasturtiums (trap crop) to lay eggs. Cornmeal worked into soil lightly (or spread under compost dressing) reduces powdery mildew in plants that can tolerate corn as a companion plant. Not a 100% solution in extreme weather conditions but makes significant improvement.

[@93VIDEO]

To combat insect pests, I use a little « black soap » mixed with water. It's organic and radical, and works 9 times out of 10 😉

[@jonkswede9562]

Black soap? What and where can I get it?!

[@gailsegal6843]

Just tried making Kale Chips las night, sooo good!

[@captainlonag3678]

At the beginning of the season I always have a huuuuge wave of aphids. Past 3 years I just have to wait a week and then the ladybugs swarm every plant I have eating all the little monsters, It’s so satisfying to watch.

[@timbushell8640]

Chesse making whey... does well for a few things, pest wise. Mostly used for fungal issues on bush a tree fruit. But 'why not' try. It needs to be live whey, so whey solution out of the bodybuilders tub is likely not going to work.

[@miumjou]

Greetings from Germany! I’ll try growing kale in spring next year, already sowed some in autumn. I used an old local Variety called Ostrfriesische Palme. It should get rather high about 1.8 m i was told… I’ll hope mine grow as well as yours :)

[@Frog13799]

Kale with its pulse from hades cousin the chickpea, belongs in the compost, I seriously wouldn't waste my garden space on them. Some people seem to enjoy it, many don't

[@hansonrh]

Great video. You mentioned harlequin bugs but not how you deal with them. Any tips?

[@y0nd3r]

It's labor intensive but the way I did it last year is get a wide mouth bowl and put water with a little hand soap and then place that bowl in a strategic location that I can move the leaves over the bowl and flick the little beggars off into the soapy water. I only had a few plants, maybe 10, but I still have to move the bowl around a lot. It's too hard to manipulate the leaf and hold the bowl and flick the bug all at the same time. You have to be diligent because I've done this process in the morning and found harlequin bugs when I went to harvest some for dinner. Inspect your leaves daily and scrape off any bugs you find on them.

[@cherylsmith8541]

Great video (as always!) thanks so much. I just thought I would pass on a little kale success that I had this year in case it is helpful. I know that you have discussed it on your channel before and I have been doing a lot of research and planning as well using intercropping. I planned to interplant my kale with chamomile this year but even though that didn't work out, my kale ended up being intercropped with squash. I had far less of a struggle with the worms that I can ever remember. I think that for the cabbage butterflies (but I agree with your worm assessment), I am buying into the theory of "Appropriate / Inappropriate Landings Theory" (essentially saying that flying insects look for a place to lay eggs based on landing on an area of target crops several times. They "taste" the plant with their feet and after landing several times to verify, they lay their eggs. If they don't consistently land on what they think is the right crop, they don't lay eggs.) Anyway, just thought I would add to the discussion - thanks so much for all your content. Proud to be a nerd! :)

[@y0nd3r]

Interesting. I might try one or two kale mixed with the squash this year and see how that works. Maybe I can confuse both the cabbage moth and the squash vine borer, or as I like to call them, the squash vine boar.

[@TW-in3gg]

Another great video, thanks No-Till Growers. One thing I'd like to add is harvest/sales/eating tips. Kale goes from.... baby kale...to midsize kale..... to huge kale. I like kale and eat plenty at every stage of growth... but customers might be looking for just one stage (baby kale). It's easy to plant multiple planting (Spring and Fall) to maximize the baby kale production. I also suggest panting it close together (9" X 9" grid) and cut the "in between" plants as babies as the plants start to crowd each other. Also be prepared to tell customers how to prepare kale. Most Americans have no idea what to do with it.

[@Ben.McNeilly]

I love your content! And the living soil handbook too! Your content is the most informative and easy to watch out of anyone's I can find. If only you had videos about agroforestry or syntropic agriculture... I'd be all over that! 😜

[@jvin248]

I had success the first year of kale, but texting bugs must be as popular around here as for you and now I keep ordering seeds from different places looking for genetics that can survive better without getting skeletonized. Potential for overwintering has been interesting. If they bolt and you collect the seed you can grow microgreens in the winter. Also tillage radish seed pods can be cooked like green beans or in stir fry.

[@janetwise3248]

An episode on aphids, yes please! Thanks for sharing your expertise on kale, Jesse.

[@LD-xd4mb]

Oh please, God, yes! Aphids always show up mid summer, though years I’ve done better keeping up with fertilizing have been better than others.

[@Not_So_Weird_in_Austin]

Lacinato/ Dinosaur kale is only grown in my back yard garden in Austin according to she who must be obeyed. Beach Kale....Row cover and BT /Spinosade/Pyrethium/Insect soap for pest management are what I use for fall planting in Central Texas. I am experimenting with onion intercrop in my back yard garden too

[@lola8590]

I’m in Central Texas too. I have such a problem with pests!!

[@angeladevoti4290]

Spinosad is awful

[@TheNewMediaoftheDawn]

Dinosaur is best anyway.

[@elizabethmilward8301]

I adore my kale. I think it is winter red. It's a red russian type, and it is super sweet and tender for kale, especially after the frost. If you let it overwinter, it sends up huge numbers of kale florets that I like better than broccoli and eat in just about everything, including raw as a snack. The plants grow big when I get the growing right, and produce a lot of food in late winter early spring when there isn't a lot coming out of the garden. I start it in spring, then let it grow all year, harvesting a leaf here and there, but the biggest production is the following late feb-mid april. The caterpillars etc do chew the leaves a bit, and aphids can be a nusiance at the end of the season, but they don't cause enough problems for me to do anything about them, except washing off some aphids when they get excessive - by which point the plants are about to sunset out anyway.

[@aileensmith3062]

This Spring was out first experience with kale, Lacinato. We were definitely pleased with it. We will be getting more and more into fresh greens for our garden and kale is a keeper. As always Thank You for another fun and informative video!

[@billiverschoore2466]

One of my favourite kales is Asturian tree kale; really tender, love to pick all lower broccolini, also really tender for salads, leave top ones to flower (if those ruddy asbo pigeons give them a chance). Fully hardy too, in S British Isles, unlike many other kales... I find that birds don't like the cabbage white caterpillars as the wrigglers promptly spin web threads on being threatened, 'personal boundary' taken to another level. Lóving the great info density of your sharings. Great footage, too! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🌳🕊💚

[@KerryHallPhD]

I planted red russian in my home raised beds in southern Indiana. I've had excellent luck with them overwintering with little protection, going to seed after we ate a lot of flowers, and then volunteering from fallen seed. After a few years of casually growing them very successfully on a small scale, I was overrun with harlequin bugs and cabbage moths. I still had some pretty good harvests in Spring 23 with manual pest removal before they destroyed it again. I will continue to let some kale live among my other plantings/volunteers during my spring weeding efforts :)

[@francoiswhite4985]

You're just a legend Jesse. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@Detour4it]

Enjoy the presentations, always... You're a natural. 👍👊

[@jeshurunfarm]

Respect from Africa 🇿🇦. Kale yeah! Ps. Pun much.

[@markengelson9051]

We grow Dino blue up here in PNW and it grows great, also have a plant that has come back three years now, that overwinters in our hoop house

[@sheryl3268]

In addition to the varieties you mentioned, I love the frilled types of kale (Siber Frills, Feathered Frills, etc). When I move to a new place I like to grow all the leafy kale varieties I can find (except dino/Tuscan 'cause I don't like that kind), and let them go to seed, save the seeds and grow those. Best germination, flavor, etc. with the saved seeds.

[@jamesrichey]

I have grown a fondness for kale. I grow it in my backyard garden and pick off the bugs when they appear. I suggest trying different varieties for your climate. Find the best ones that will survive and have the best flavor, and you can't go wrong.

[@SocksnGreys]

I've got a perennial kale from Experimental Farming Network and it's astonishingly productive. Difficult to get germinated, but once you get one going, it's phenomenal. I have one plant that takes up a 5-foot diameter space, produces all year (zone 7b), and has been providing all we and our rabbits can eat for over four years.

[@angelaphan3346]

Grew a ton of Dino kale last year, now we’re growing several varieties, including Dazzling Blue and Red Russian for some color pop! Dino kale is great stir fried, and we love the baby kale for salad.

[@cherylwhite1920]

Happy Holidays from Kansas, and thanks for all the useful gardening info!!!

[@litsci1877]

My fave: Halbhoher Grüner. Just picked what's probably the second-last of the year yesterday. Highly productive, stands up well in stews and soups, lovely taste, good and tender after frost. No pest issues when grown under netting, and I usually get one or two plants surviving the upper-midwest winter.

[@denisekelley2292]

Great info as always. I grow mostly curly kale varieties; my very unscientific experiments have shown I have less aphid and cabbage worm damage on them versus my red russian.

[@PungentMango]

Scarlet Kale did pretty well for me as an all season crop. Taste was a little bad during summer but held up strong in arid Northern Nevada.

[@rdraffkorn3184]

thanks for the exclude net link :D

[@datwuballa31]

Nice vid as usual. I'm looking forward to seeing you speak in Dallas. Just got my tickets!

[@kathydoherty]

It's strangely comforting to know that you have the same kale problems in the mid south that I have in NH. Flea beetles first, controlled by ProtekNet, followed by cabbage worms, controlled by DiPel. I get them all the way to September and BAM! aphids. Sigh. The milk option sounds interesting so I may give that a try this year.

[@timbennion7079]

Thank you for a very informative and absorbing video. I adore kale and always buy organic offerings from the supermarket. I'll definitely try growing it now, but I don't have much growing space, so it will be under cover in small plastic greenhouses. But I will pay close attention to your growing advice. One thing is for sure, I will make certain to keep to organic pest control methods.

[@richpoints]

Love this song! Oh and the kale stuff was cool too.

[@blacksunshine4679]

Yes! As a first time grower of brassicas, I have never seen so many aphids in my life! Blasting with water is super hard to get them all, especially in fall/ winter temps, I'm afraid I'll kill my plants with so much water.

[@joestatuto5287]

Great video!

[@TheJazzyuknow]

I just came across your page loved it. What should I put to cover my kale, pine straw, mulch or sand. Help I'm trying to find out before a big frost.

[@suave47]

Great video. Flea bettles were the Bain of my existence this year. I grow on my in laws acerage so I'm only there on weekends. One weekend, everything was growing great. The next was an infestation. Blew my mind how fast they took over my cole crops. Gonna insecticide soap regularly next year to control them. May even try a bug net to see if I can reduce the soap needed

[@TW-in3gg]

I'd guess nets + soap might be needed.

[@FrancisFenderson]

Black Magic (lacinato) and Redbor do well in the fall here in central VA. For spring, we also grow Black Magic, Red Russian, and Winterbor. It's hard to beat the flavor and appeal of lacinato types though.

[@Whistlewalk]

VERY useful. Thank you.

[@alexkunnen]

I definitely had milk spray work VERY well for controling powdery mildew on zucchini

[@nelsonjm78]

Great Video Jesse! I grow Red Russian Kale all year long. As baby kale through the summer and larger, "adult" leaf kale for winter and early spring. I noticed in your video (timestamp 3:02) that you seeded multiple seeds, in what looked like, winstrip trays. How do you deal with this? Do you thin the cells to get one plant per cell? Or do you separate the plants in the field (but that could possibly damage the roots on the plants and set the plant back)? On side dressing, what do you find better results from, Alphalpha or Kepl meal? Thanks for the great video! Also, thank you for organizing a great No-Till team and putting all this amazing information out there for all of us to glean information from!!!!!

[@bohemiangardensandgourdfar8812]

Great info... thanks

[@stevebaker8322]

Great Video,

[@Julian_Wang-pai]

Hope I'm not going off subject, spring greens/cabbage, Savoy cabbage does anyone grow them anymore? I actually loved that (boiled in salted water, knob of butter and sprinkle of pepper) as a kid. Nowadays even better sauteed with any of a bejazzling choice of condiments.

[@tcotroneo]

Do you have a planting calendar/schedule ? Your in the same planting zone as me now..

[@rajg7037]

Love the content as usual! Question: Are you dealing with Swede Midges on your Kale or other Brasicas (guessing not bc they are a scourge once you have them and seriously depressing 😢) But if you or the community have any insight or suggestions on how to manage would be most appreciated!

[@juanita1176]

I've been have problems with diamondback moths on brassicas. I've use BT for control.

[@todstaples5971]

Hey Jesse how about some “No Till boggans “ For these cold winter days 😁🥶

[@gangofgreenhorns2672]

Flowers bring wasps. I haven't had to touch my kale and asian cabbage for two years bc I've let more stuff go to flower in order to save seed--not even that I've planted more flowers. Once saw a wasp abscond with a cabbage worm like it was a hawk lol.

[@lindaspellman2108]

Are there any non-plastic row covers or pest exclusion covers? Cotton cheesecloth or something similar??

[@pascalxus]

i like scarlet kale for it's resilience but i really want to grow some lacinato kale.

[@janking2762]

I no longer grow any brassica in warm weather( zone 7B) because harlequin bugs eat them up. Any suggestions for chemical control? I’m trying insect netting and growing into colder weather next time, although covering kale for frost protection also protects the bugs.

[@andrewcrabb8407]

Yes. Do that video on aphids! That would be Rad.

[@mariondunn6580]

i live near the ocean in West Wales and use seaweed to mulch kale (Tuscan) and chard over winter. both outside and in the tunnel. It breaks down with the freeze thaw action and conditions the soil. Do you think I could be overdoing some nutrients with this mulch? I notice you said to go easy with the kelp dressing but I'm thinking that is much more concentrated than fresh seaweed. Thank you for the video.

[@ponchovanillabean8074]

I started using milk for Powdery Mildew several years ago. Didn't know about its use for aphids, though.

[@mollytrap]

How much of each plant can you harvest to optimize production.. like the max amount you can take that will still keep the plants productive for future harvests?

[@trentdouglas8780]

I was taught to leave 5-6 leaves if possible, and you want to harvest from the bottom up, never top down.

[@jimt6151]

"Milk...It does a body good" I think that's the slogan you were looking for.

[@vaniafarmar5281]

Dino Kale is my favorite. Just easiest to eat.

[@mikeash7428]

Tell more about harlequin beetles. They're my biggest pest.

[@sherimatukonis6016]

I get the Itty bitty white flies on all my brassica. 😢

[@StephenVermeulen]

Me too, what are they? Presumably they have some sort of larvae that must be really small?

[@sherimatukonis6016]

@StephenVermeulen I don't know but they're small enough to inhale and made all my brassica sickly.

[@StephenVermeulen]

@@sherimatukonis6016 These show up pretty late in the season for me (zone 3) so they don't seem to do any damage. They are about as small as the head of a pin, maybe 0.5mm, so they just look like little white dots, but they fly off when disturbed. I did find them on my collards too, so you're probably right about them being brassica specific.

[@sherimatukonis6016]

@StephenVermeulen kale, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. So yeah, pretty intense on the brassica. And then I had rodents get my corn sunflower and pumpkins & squash seeds. Pretty irritating year as far as pests are concerned.

[@franksinatra1070]

I'm growing kale through the winter for the first time that I planted in late summer. Can I expect it to survive my 7a garden and produce florets in the spring?

[@janking2762]

You can in 7B. Maybe try some row covers?

[@StephenVermeulen]

How big do you grow the kale before transplanting it?

[@ryankahlor3563]

thank you

[@Bright_iiii_s]

I started from seed. It's winter now with snow and freezing temperatures. My Kale is mostly still green. Will it survive, I dunna.

[@LedfedBassFishing]

is that the mini 72 swift blocker?

[@danphillips4590]

Jesse, how about Pyganic, available at Arbico. Very effective knock down, OMRI, pyrethrin

[@0rganicall3Produced]

I’ve noticed it’s good for once a week, but used too much the pests get used to it.

[@itsno1duh]

A vegan channel showed eating young raw kale with oatmeal ! While not vegan I do admit it is an amazing way to add kale dense nutriets to my favorite steel cut oats for breakfast! WITH as in a side veggie not IN the oats! lol

[@brandelladoyle]

So... is lavender a good trap crop for kale, in terms of cabbage butterfly/moth?

[@DavinStewart]

My kale is overwhelmed with whitefly. I'm spraying with neem oil but it only keeps them away for a couple days at most. Do you have this issue?

[@georgeweier2108]

I am trying to find out how to pinch back flowering kale

[@franceshoward7112]

here's an easy way to get rid of cabbage white butterflies . interplant the kale with large leved tomato plants e.g. sweet million cherry as they grow big and have stinky leaves. the butterflies hate the smell of tomato leaves. i have many butttferflies all over the place but haven't had caterpillars for years. just let the tomato plants get large, don't prune them you will enjoy watching the cabbage whites flying up all ready to lay eggs and then gasp and fly away fast. cheap and easy and it works. i discovered this quite by accident decades ago.

[@melissagoodwin2602]

Can you do a video on Brocolli?😢

[@manolopapas]

Hello farmer Jesse

[@TheNewMediaoftheDawn]

The best justice one can do for Kale is to not grow it at all…😂 That kale in your greenhouse looks great, must be a great winter greenhouse crop for slightly warmer places like yours zone 7, still making money🎉.

[@guardianpresencerobotics7776]

i would like to try kale buy i cant get no seeds

[@rwg727]

You're the best, Jesse!

[@RussFarmerDotCom]

It does a body good....

[@b00gal00]

(Milk)Does the body good and apparently Kale

[@SommaRob]

“Milk, It does a body good”

[@scottbaruth9041]

Hoss video also claimed milk can keep rabbits from eating your plants.

[@lindenlady22]

It was 'GOT MILK?' 😂

[@petanisukses_garden]

See plantations that are very fertile and green

[@deannewilliams3321]

Milk: it does a body good 👍🏻

[@curiousbystander9193]

kale may not the superfood people think it is....with it's high oxalate levels and bitter aspects.... some varieties may be more appropriate, as is the case with with potato.

[@kimberlylumsden]

Tell more, please. What varieties are more appropriate?

[@curiousbystander9193]

I don't know.... I eat collared greens@@kimberlylumsden

[@curiousbystander9193]

potato... red potato has different alkaline components compared to most white@@kimberlylumsden

[@JohnnyZBeatZ]

👍

[@booswalia]

I don't understand how a row cover can help with flea beetles when they emerge from the soil. Aren't you just trapping them under is?

[@mountainbikingwithlogan6163]

Yeah but the ones attracted to the plants can’t get in from the outside

[@rmkadish]

if you rotate your brassicas properly it works

[@lola8590]

I’m just figuring out the difference between Swiss chard and Kale. 🤣

[@vaniafarmar5281]

Milk, just do it 😂😂

[@littleglasshouse5797]

a few years ago my wife told me to NEVER grow kale again. 😊😊😊

[@westlakefarms]

Just do it 🤣