What Does It Mean if My Kale Plants Are Wilted & Falling Over?

Growth Cycle

• Vegetable and ornamental kale are both variations of the same plant species, Brassica oleracea. This biennial plants sprout and grow leaves in the first year and then produce their upright stems of tiny yellow flowers in the second year. Once seeds develop the plant dies. The species perpetuates in the landscape because of the continual re-seeding.

Growing Season

• Kale grows best during the cool months of the year. Chilly temperatures, between 30 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit develops the most succulent leaves with deepest coloration, as well as the best culinary flavor. Kale survives subfreezing temperatures as low as 5 degrees, but extended freezing temperatures eventually desiccate tissues and kill the plant. Excessive heat in mid to late spring causes hastened growth, including wilting and legginess that causes plants to look awful, wilt, flop over and eventually shrivel up. Stressed kale is more susceptible to fungal diseases from overly wet soil or sucking damage from pests such as aphids or spidermites.

Planting Insight

• If your kale plants didn't seem to last more than a month or two in the garden, chances are you planted them at the wrong time of year. Plant kale the same time you plant other cool-season vegetables such as radish, spinach and lettuce or annuals such as pansies and snapdragons. Depending on climate -- particularly the severity of winter cold -- kale may be planted either in fall or early spring when temperatures above 70 degrees aren't expected.

Solution

• Once kale plants begin to wilt from dry soil and summer heat, pull up the plants. Focus your energy and garden space on warm-season flowers and vegetable crops. Harvest kale leaves during the cool weather months when their quality is best, and once the kale begins to elongate and produce a flower stem -- also called bolting -- pull up the kale and dispose of them in the compost bin. Once bolting starts, nothing can prevent the flowering and set of seed. Leaf flavor becomes bitter once flowering approaches and temperatures get too warm. Replant kale again in fall or spring when plants perform best.