Daubentons kale

[Digeroo]

Just been looking at my HSL and find I have a packet of Daubentons kale, cannot remember requesting it.  Please can anyone tell me what I it is and what I should do with it.

I once went on a NT bat walk and saw Daubenton's bats, they were skimming over water.

[Digeroo]

[pumkinlover]

I've got it from HSL too, and not grown before.
All I know it is a perenial kale! I'm going to put it somewhere I've not grown on before as hope to avoid clubroot, I was wondering how perenial brassicas manage on these old club root infected sites?

[Digeroo]

No problems so far for me with club root.  Only brassicas I buy in come from a very good source who uses good quality compost.   Not sure it likes the lime in the soil.

I am particularly interested in how big they grow.  I seem to have a lot of seeds.  I normally get beans and peas and you only get 12.

[goodlife]

My daubenton's are not grown from seed but from cuttings but as being brassicas..they need looking after just like other brassicas..they just not get dug out.
I give them sprinkle of lime on soil surface late winter and good feed little bit later, just as the new growth is starting to sprout.
They will stay on same spot fair length of time so the soil will need looking after and all the leafy growth will need 'food'..I have given odd sprinkle of chicken pellets during summer too but not in quantity..more of 'little and now and then'.
I LOVE my Daubenton's  ...so easy to grow and look after, they won't get upset if pigeons rip the leaves off during winter and they produce so much greens to eat. I really would not need to grow cabbages and other such a things as several daubenton's plants would keep us going easily.

My plot don't suffer with clubroot so I cannot answer for that...but lime will keep clubroot in check some amount..I'm sure daubenton's ..like other brassicas will tolerate higher PH that over application of lime would cause. Maybe applying lime in few smaller quantities throughout the year would work against the CL.

[Digeroo]

No need for liming.  Our water supply is chock full of the stuff it is more of a problem remembering never to water near the raspberries. 

How many plants do you recommend.  |How many is

several

? What about shade?

[Digeroo]

I am also not clear about whether they will be true because you usually have to propagate through cuttings.  So maybe they have to be called HSL Daubentons.  I am sure they would have taken steps to isolate them, but presume there must be some genetic variation in the parents to allow for the seed to be viable, so maybe the parents were not clones in the first place.

[goodlife]

I'm sure they will grow in partially shaded position..but would grow much better if given more open and sunny position...perhaps you just have to try and see how they will do if you don't have other options. In past kales were grown in small back yards for winter crops..so I should Imagine they will cope with some shade.
I have 6 BIG and mature daubenton plants and we cannot eat through all of them..but I don't know what sort of Daubenton your seeds will  produce as Daubenton kale sizes do vary a lot..different types under same name. My smaller type of Daubenton I would propably have dozen or so...but then again...I like kale, but would I want to eat them all the time, perharps not.
The larger ones of mine are like tree cabbages..about 5ft when in full leaf.

I think Robert has grown some from HSL Seed and is able to tell us their size.
Just grow couple and next year you can increase your stock from cuttings if you need more plants..they are dead easy..you just rip a stem off, trim off some leaves to leave just few on top and stick it the cutting into ground. Job done! If it has plenty of stem stuck under ground...it will root along its length making very sturdy plants.

[Digeroo]

I am ok on the shade, but I have a friend who has part of her plot overshadowed by a very very large willow.  The roots and shade are causing problems, so something like perennial kale might be an answer because it will get good sun early in the year and the roots will not be a problem if you do not have to keep digging them up.  Nutrients is not a problem since she has been piling up her weeds under the tree for some time so has a lot of compost there now.

5ft.  That is huge, they are small trees!!  Not sure how they will cope with Mr NW Wind esq rocking them about.   Tends to let the frost down into the roots.   They will need very sturdy stakes, drat had some available but they have now gone.

If I remember right you also have a huge allotment.  I am running out of space.   I have rows of brassica seedling waiting for transplanting.

[goodlife]

Yes..that particular variety is Huge but I suspect those that are grown from seeds are not..more like the other 2 varieties I have...they grow about 2-2 1/2 ft tall and same wide..bit like any other kale.
Mine are staked as when they are in full leaf, they are top heavy and tend to keel over with the weight (note to myself...get bigger stakes! )
Are you going to get those Daubenton seeds going? I'm interested to hear how you get on with them. Even they sound bit 'different'..they are 'just' kales and grown as usual..just don't dig them up until they are knackered... ..that's all to it really

[Digeroo]

I have a module trays with 12 modules so the seeds are just going into those.  I might put two seeds in each module and then throw out the extras.    I am sure I do not want more than 12.  I buy brassicas in the trays and they are brilliant.  I also find that having stakes sticking out of the top of brassica plants deters the pigeons.

I suppose like any brassica they are hungry plants and need lots of feeding.  The nutrients wash out very quickly from our soil.

[goodlife]

If you have some old woolly jumpers handy that you don't need...those are excellent as mulch for poor soils...when you apply fertilizers on top of that..jumper will slow the fertilizer down and it doesn't wash through
Other option is getting some raw wool...it comes with its own fertilizer too ..and when you pile some other green waste on top of that..you have incredients for world best kale

[Digeroo]

I will see if I can source some wool.  The sheep have been shorn recently so it is a bit thin on the ground.  I think you can get fluff from the woollen weavers.  I tend to wear fleeces nowadays so I can through them into the washing machine.

I cannot call my soil poor.   Everything grows like crazy.  It just needs a lot of feed and water.  But I think it has a good amount of the micro ingredients.  There is a very ancient hedge right at top end of lottie and I think it acts as a reservoir for things like mycorrhizal fungi except Brassicas do not use them.  The spinal berries are incredibly old.   

[grannyjanny]

They have cancelled the sheep shearing weekend at Tatton Park because of the cold weather.