hakaku
AGA Sprout
Never enough plants!
Posts: 121 
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Post by hakaku on Mar 17, 2020 21:25:19 GMT -5
This is probably about a month's worth of growth, maybe a month and a half tops :
A couple of them are actually from Aerogarden's salad kit, where they were labelled "Dino Kale". They all look the same to me though.
Prior to this I pretty much never went out of my way to eat kale, but I gotta say, these are some of the best things I've enjoyed growing and eating so far. They simply have a really cool look to them and, unlike salad, they don't bolt and you don't have to worry about heat as much. They also just keep giving.
One thing though, Lacinato Kale sucks up nutrients like crazy and is more demanding than salad.
I wonder how big it would get if it were planted outside with space to grow.
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Sher
AGA Farmer
Posts: 7,025
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Post by Sher on Mar 17, 2020 23:42:27 GMT -5
I just read the article you linked to. I'm intrigued! Your picture and description make me want to try it someday.
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Happy
AGA Bounty
Posts: 506
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Post by Happy on Mar 18, 2020 9:49:47 GMT -5
This is probably about a month's worth of growth, maybe a month and a half tops :
A couple of them are actually from Aerogarden's salad kit, where they were labelled "Dino Kale". They all look the same to me though.
Prior to this I pretty much never went out of my way to eat kale, but I gotta say, these are some of the best things I've enjoyed growing and eating so far. They simply have a really cool look to them and, unlike salad, they don't bolt and you don't have to worry about heat as much. They also just keep giving.
One thing though, Lacinato Kale sucks up nutrients like crazy and is more demanding than salad.
I wonder how big it would get if it were planted outside with space to grow.
Looking good, kakaku, I always enjoy eating the kale I grow, as it tastes milder than the larger leaves that I buy. Yes, all of the brassicas love more nutes. I can't say that I enjoy looking at the kale I grow... it has too high a stem/leave ratio and looks ratty.
Any suggestions on how to get a higher leave/stem ratio? (other than more nutes?)
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Post by clumsythumbs on Mar 18, 2020 13:39:17 GMT -5
Looking great hakaku! I have grown Lacinato/Dinosaur kale a few times. I enjoy it, but I also echo Happy comment that the stem to leaf ratio is not so great versus commercially bought kale. I enjoy growing it, but I would need an entire 9 pod unit to grown enough for one meal I think. That being said, I do use as a mix with other greens, and it works out. I do find the Lacinato kale to be better than the other varieties of kale I have grown... Good job with yours! |
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hakaku
AGA Sprout
Never enough plants!
Posts: 121
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Post by hakaku on Mar 19, 2020 0:01:10 GMT -5
I'll admit, I'm not clear-cutting the kale to make kale-only salads. I'm just cutting some leaves here and there to add to meals and/or mixed salads. I'm sure some of the leaves could have gotten bigger, but I've been cutting the ones off the bottom as they got too big and started crowing out other plants, hanging over plants in the basket to the left, or curling on themselves.
Things that may have helped:
I definitely think the farm is better for kale given their size, the amount of light it can provide and the height it gives. I can't imagine growing these in a harvest unit. That said, I do only run the lights for 16 hours.
The ph of the water has been kept around 6.5. For reference, my tap water is around 8.4-9.0 and the AG nutrients are usually sufficient to lower the ph to around 5.5-6.0, but Kale eats up the nutrients fast enough for the ph to remain higher.
I always keep the water topped off to the max (I check and top off daily). Temperature-wise the water is around 21-23 °C, while the room varies from 22-26 °C.
Nutrient-wise, at the beginning I had no way to check and was simply following the suggested two-week schedule. When I got a TDS meter though, I found that the nutrients were at 50 PPM (roughly the amount in my tap water) which probably wasn't helping them. Adding and raising the nutrients** definitely causes the plants to spurt out new leaves and look healthier. I don't specifically know if it made the existing leaves bigger though.
** Note: I'm also reading now that kale is nitrogen sensitive, so it looks like too much nitrogen in the nutrients given could cause leaf burn.
And lastly, the variety of seeds I got could be a factor. They do seem to be doing better than the ones from Aerogarden's kale pods.
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