Rainbow Candy Crush Kale (45-50 Days)

Is it for the flower bed or for the garden, how about both? New to the market, this innovative fluorescent-pink ruffled leaved kale offers an excellent eating quality while being highly ornamental. It took ten years of breeding to create this colorful tender leafed kale. The idea was to move the pink and red colors of traditional flowering kale into edible brassicas. Rainbow Candy Crush Kale grows happily in a container or in-ground. Eat it fresh or cooked, use for baby leaves, or allow it to mature. The vibrant color is most abundant in the cooler parts of the season, the hottest part, leaves are darker and more purple. Plants have a naturally rounded, compact shape reaching 12” height by 18” width. 

10 seeds

PLANTING

Brassica oleracea

Germination: 3-10 days

Germination Temperature: Optimum soil temperatures 70-85ºF.

Seed Sowing Depth: 1/2” deep

Starting Indoors: 4-6 weeks before the last frost. Sow 2-3 seeds per cell/pot. Thin to the strongest seedling. Fertilize the seedlings every 7-10 days with a liquid or water-soluble fertilizer, diluted to ¼ of the suggested measurement. Transplant a week or two before the last frost. Space 12-18" apart. Sow in midsummer for fall crops. 

Sowing Outdoors: Starting in spring when the soil temperature reaches at least 55ºF. Sow 2-3 seeds every 12-18”. Sow closer to harvest baby greens. Thin to the strongest seedling per space. Sow in midsummer for fall crops. Germination is slower at lower soil temperatures.

Harvest:  Pick young leaves starting at 8-10". 

Tips: Rainbow Candy Crush Kale should be planted into fertile, well-drained soil.  Leaves become very sweet after frost. Use thinning’s or sow a heavily seeded row every 10-14 days for baby greens.