×
  • Home
  • Daily
    • Composting
    • Container Gardening
    • Easy Healthy Recipes
    • Food Preservation
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Tools
    • Growing Fruits & Berries
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Pests & Diseases
    • Seeds & Seedlings
    • Soil & Fertilizer
    • Spice & Herb Gardening
    • Vegetable Gardening
    • Watering & Irrigation
  • Freebies
  • Videos
  • Magazines
    • Food Gardening Magazine
    • RecipeLion Magazine
  • Guides
  • Cookbooks
    • Beverages
    • Bakery
    • Breakfast
    • Appetizers
    • Salads & Dressings
    • Soups
    • Entrées
    • Side Dishes & Sauces
    • Desserts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Affiliate Program
  • Sponsor Program
  • Give a Gift
  • Privacy Policy & Terms of Use
  • Manage Account
  • Authors
  • Keyword Index
  • Join

Food Gardening Network

Growing Good Food at Home

Join
Mequoda Publishing Network
  • Daily
    • Composting
    • Container Gardening
    • Easy Healthy Recipes
    • Food Preservation
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Tools
    • Growing Fruits & Berries
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Pests & Diseases
    • Seeds & Seedlings
    • Soil & Fertilizer
    • Spice & Herb Gardening
    • Vegetable Gardening
    • Watering & Irrigation
  • Freebies
  • Videos
  • Magazines
    • Food Gardening Magazine
    • RecipeLion Magazine
  • Guides
  • Cookbooks
    • Beverages
    • Bakery
    • Breakfast
    • Appetizers
    • Salads & Dressings
    • Soups
    • Entrées
    • Side Dishes & Sauces
    • Desserts
  • Sign In
  • Search

Growing Kale Plants in Containers

Gardening Guide: Kale: The Queen of Greens

arrow-left Previous
Next arrow-right

Growing Kale Plants in Containers

By Norann Oleson

Kale plants growing inside in containers

Kale plants growing inside in containers

Kale is a great candidate for container gardening. It’s a prolific plant, but you should choose a cultivar that’s the right size for your space and have the kale close at hand while you’re cooking.

Light

Kale needs six to eight hours of direct sunlight a day. Pick a sunny spot with southern exposure. If you have your container on wheels, it will be easier to reposition your plants when you need to.

If you’re really fond of kale, especially in salads, you can reseed your containers throughout the season to keep those salad greens coming. Just keep your container in a sunny spot.

If you have a particularly short growing season or you’re short on outdoor space, you can grow kale indoors using grow lights. LED grow lights are effective, efficient, and they don’t throw off heat like some other grow lights. And since kale likes cooler weather, a corner in the basement would do just fine.

Water

An inch of water a week will keep your kale happy; just be careful not to overwater. Check your soil weekly by poking a garden trowel into the soil; there are even some garden trowels with inch markings on them to help make your gardening easier.

If the soil is only moist for an inch or two, your plants are thirsty! Try to be consistent in your watering; cycles of too much/not enough water will stress out the plants. When kale is stressed, it produces chemicals that change the taste of the kale—for the bitter, not the better.

Soil

Use fresh, packaged garden soil for your containers. You can amend the soil with well-rotted manure or compost. Don’t use fresh manure; it could contain harmful bacteria, weed seeds, or other surprises.

When your plants are about 4 inches tall, you can give them a little fertilizer formulated for garden plants. Kale is one of the exceptions to the nitrogen rule; since the plant’s only job is to produce leaves, kale loves nitrogen. If there are no specific instructions for container-grown plants, mix the fertilizer at half the recommended strength.

Whatever you do when you’re getting fertilizer, don’t ever get any fertilizer that has a weed killer; this product is commonly called “weed and feed.” It could kill your plants.

arrow-left Previous
Next arrow-right

Tags

fertilizer, garden soil, garden trowel, grow lights, kale, kale indoors, led grow lights, salad greens

Comments

Click here to cancel reply.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • Curator’s Corner
  • Introduction
  • Types of Kale
  • Growing Kale from Seeds or Seedlings
  • Soil and Sun Requirements for Growing Kale Plants
  • Planting Kale in the Ground or in Raised Beds
  • Growing Kale Plants in Containers
  • Watering, Weeding, and Fertilizing your Kale Plants
  • Harvesting your Kale
  • Preserving Your Kale
  • Dealing with Kale Diseases
  • Dealing with Kale Pests
  • Essential Tools and Equipment for Growing and Enjoying Kale
  • Plant Profiles

  • Thousandhead Kale
  • Tronchuda Kale
  • Blue Scotch Curled Kale
  • Scarlet Kale
  • Black Magic Kale
  • Dazzling Blue Kale
  • Dwarf Siberian Kale
  • Red Russian Kale
  • Recipes

  • Super Greens Kale Smoothie
  • Kale Dip
  • Slow Cooker Kale Soup
  • Kale Salad
  • Krunchy Kale Chips
  • Additional Articles

  • Nutrition Facts about Kale
  • Health Benefits and Home Remedies of Kale
  • Resources about Kale
  • Kale Glossary
  • Related Articles

  • Growing Kale in Pots For Fresh Greens All Year Long

Enter Your Log In Credentials

This setting should only be used on your home or work computer.

  • Lost your password? Create New Password
  • No account? Sign up

Need Assistance?

Call Food Gardening Network Customer Service at
(800) 777-2658

Food Gardening Network is an active member of the following industry associations:

  • American Horticultural Society
  • GardenComm Logo
  • MCMA logo
  • Renewd logo
  • Manage Account
  • Join
  • About Food Gardening Network
  • Contact Us
  • Affiliate Program
  • Sponsor Program
  • Give a Gift
  • Privacy Policy & Terms of Use

Food Gardening Network
99 Derby Street, Suite 200
Hingham, MA 02043
support@foodgardening.mequoda.com

FREE E-Newsletter for You!

Discover how to grow, harvest, and eat good food from your own garden—with our FREE e-newsletter, delivered directly to your email inbox.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Powered by
Mequoda Publishing Network
copyright © 2023 Mequoda Systems, LLC

Food Gardening Network® and Food Gardening Magazine® are registered trademarks of Mequoda Systems, LLC.