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Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 14, 2022 15:18:57 GMT -6
The “Nero di Toscana Cabbage” from Baker Creek is the one I’m referring to in this thread actually. I just figured most people were more familiar with the terms Dinosaur or Lacinato Kale since those are the ones I see much more frequently on gardening or cooking websites. My mom got the Nero di Toscana Cabbage as a free seed packet from Baker Creek and had pretty good success with it. She thought it might work well in my space for my family since we’re kale lovers down here. I’m hoping we’ll be able to get some good harvests this fall.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 27, 2022 10:35:24 GMT -6
I had to mush some cabbage worms on my broccoli and kale this morning. If the plants weren’t so big I’d try to squeeze them back under my waste baskets during the next three warmer days, but the broccoli definitely wouldn’t fit, and it would probably not be good for the kale either. I’m going to have to get back into caterpillar hunting mode during the warm, sunny days.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Dec 3, 2022 14:27:37 GMT -6
I had my camera in the garden this afternoon after watering, so I thought I’d just update the thread with a picture. The cabbage worms seems to prefer the broccoli over the kale. Thankfully there didn’t seem to be too many today, but they were bigger than I liked. I had missed a couple days of checking.
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Kale
Dec 3, 2022 19:13:56 GMT -6
Post by woodeye on Dec 3, 2022 19:13:56 GMT -6
Wow! That kale is really doing well...
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Post by chrysanthemum on Mar 8, 2023 21:20:59 GMT -6
I guess I never updated this thread after a pre-Christmas freeze took out my kale. I started new seedlings this spring, but it is a different variety that’s supposed to be a bit more heat tolerant. It’s an Ethiopian mustard but is also called Ethiopian or Highland Kale. Earlier this week I found some cabbage worms on my lettuce. It wasn’t till this morning that it dawned on me that I ought to be protecting my kale. I pulled out my wire wastebaskets but also added an extra layer of protection. I had bought a pack of 2-gallon paint strainers in the hopes of using them to protect eggplant transplants from flea beetles, but so far I haven’t managed to grow the eggplant that I had hoped. I figured I’d put the paint strainers over the kale and what little broccoli or cauliflower survived the fall from the table when my seedlings blew over in high wind and got bent, broken, and mixed up. At least a few survived.
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Kale
Mar 9, 2023 7:49:07 GMT -6
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Post by amyinowasso on Mar 9, 2023 7:49:07 GMT -6
That's cool! My dogs would think it was a toy, but, looks like a good idea. Were there any cabbage worms on your kale? I was hoping it wouldn't be attractive to our bugs. Look forward to hearing about the flavor.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Mar 9, 2023 7:55:33 GMT -6
I did a quick check for worms and eggs and didn’t see any, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t miss some. I’ll have to keep checking over the next couple of days to make sure that I didn’t trap some inside. There wasn’t damage on the leaves, though, so that’s a good sign. I have spotted frass and caterpillars in my lettuce bed. Maybe the abundance of plants there was more attractive to the moths than the few tiny seedlings one bed over.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Mar 11, 2023 1:15:59 GMT -6
Chrysanthemum,
Your post about cabbage worms reminds me that I bought a couple square yards of that tiny meshed material that people use to wrap rice in to throw at weddings. I plan to put it over a cabbage head this summer to see if it will keep cabbage moths from laying their eggs on the leaves. I figure that if I double it, maybe the eggs will tangle in the mesh and never make it to the leaves.
I don't know if it will actually work, but it's pretty cheap to buy in the scrap fabric bins. The stuff I bought was purple, but it was on clearance for 50¢ so not much to lose in finding out.
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Kale
Mar 11, 2023 11:42:44 GMT -6
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Post by amyinowasso on Mar 11, 2023 11:42:44 GMT -6
I have used tulle to protect zucchini with success. I layed it on brassica seedlings, but unfortunately they already had eggs, and nearly died. I replanted and ended up with double in the bed. You need a support to hold the fabric off the plant and it must be secured at ground level. Mine was pink, BTW.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Mar 11, 2023 22:01:39 GMT -6
I was thinking of making covers for my wastebaskets out of tulle. I shopped for some, but once I factored in the cost of elastic and the time and trouble, a cheap pack of paint strainers seemed better. I still may try to get hold of tulle for when zucchini get bigger. I, too, choose colors based on economy, which is why I have both red and green shade cloth, but I’m glad my paint strainers are white.
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Kale
Mar 12, 2023 8:40:43 GMT -6
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Post by amyinowasso on Mar 12, 2023 8:40:43 GMT -6
My biggest complaint about tulle was it tears easily. I put the watering wand through it more than once. The fall season that year, I put brassica seedlings in a laundry basket, draped tulle over it and made an elastic band to hold it to the basket. You have to make sure you have it down far enough that there are no holes.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Mar 14, 2023 7:36:50 GMT -6
I used tulle over my bush beans in pots last year but was lazy on the bottom edges. Somehow, a grass hopper go into it from the bottom edge and had been trapped in it.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Mar 20, 2023 20:01:44 GMT -6
I've got plenty of cabbage transplants this year and plenty of 'Tulle" (new word in my vocabulary). I never knew it had a name.
Now, if I can just figure out how to support it with wires made from old coat hangers and how to seal it to the ground by using dirt or rocks, maybe I can actually grow a decent head of cabbage without all the wormholes.
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Post by amyinowasso on Mar 21, 2023 9:45:01 GMT -6
Just so you know it's pronounced "tool" and it's used for tutus and wedding veils. So now you can ask for it by name. I got mine at hobby lobby, but Walmart probably carries it. I googled and lots of online places turned up. But, like I said, it is delicate and won't hold up long.
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Post by woodeye on Jun 26, 2023 15:54:06 GMT -6
This is the very first time I have ever had kale in the garden, in fact I had never seen kale in person until FrostyTurnip gave me 2 Dixie cups with a kale plant in each cup. I can't remember the date she gave them to me, but I put them under the LED grow light along with my pepper and tomato plants here in the house. I remember telling her, "I'll let you know how I killed them".
Well, I took them outside and had them under the carport for awhile, I can't even remember how long they stayed there. Out in the garden, I set out the tomato plants and pepper plants, but left the kale plants with the leftover tomato plants that were still in cups inside the Iron Curtain.
Death overtook 2 of the tomato plants I had set out, so instead of setting out 2 replacement tomato plants, I decided to officially kill the kale plants first, so I set them out in the tomato row.
Amazingly the kale has gone from the severe pity stage to looking like this. I took this picture this morning, the red is on the left and the white is on the right.
What do I do now, Frosty, just let them continue to grow?
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