Kale going to flower - cut flowers and keep or start anew?
miscel
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (6)
Seun
5 years agoRelated Discussions
When do you cut back flowering brassicas if you want them to be p
Comments (9)I'll start by saying I don't know the answer to your question, and now I'll just babble for a bit. In general, many plants will go 'vegetative' again if you cut them back before they flower. Right now I have 3 types of kale that are 1 year+ The first is a tree collard - so that's expected to live 5 years. The others are lacinato & standard curly green kale. All three are now enjoying their second winter with lush growth. The tree collard has been flowering and now the lacinato is about to flower. I was told to take cuttings when the tree collard goes to flower, so I snipped them and have a bunch in a rooting mix (peat, fine woody compost & potting soil). I don't see any roots yet, but none of the small leaves have wilted, so I think they will do fine. There are also another bunch of florets coming up, so I guess I'll take more cuttings. I could eat them like broccoli, but I'd rather make more plants. I could't resist to let at least few flowers go to seed, even though these are generally propagated vegetatively. What I really want to do is hybridize the tree collards with the lacinato, to improve the taste of the tree collards. Now it looks like they will both be flowering at the same time, so I might just have a chance at it......See MoreKale, bok choi, Brussel sprouts are flowering
Comments (7)thanks everyone... im near vancouver... i may just start some more of everything from seed again.. could anyone tell me when i should put kale into the garden to keep from bolting to fast.. and the brussell sprouts.. \ i bought some BT .. dont know if i should keep the plants that havnt bolted yet or harvest them all while i can and plant more.... any advice.?...See Moreflowering kale
Comments (4)Sometimes if you cut it back just above ground it will leaf out again for fall. I generally yank them out of the ground in June when the weather heats up and they start looking ratty and plant new, fresh plants for fall and winter. If I keep them from freezing, they often overwinter and bloom until May or June, depending on when I planted them in the fall. Your green cat looks like an imported cabbage worm and they are the larva of a white butterfly with dark brown or black spots on the wings. There are other green cats you'll find on plants in the cole family too, including cabbage loopers....See More3' tall Longan tree starting to flower/fruit, should I cut it off?
Comments (13)Snuffles, How's your longan doing now? The little plant there looks gorgeous--leaves are healthy and blooms fantastic. If you decide to keep the blooms, I hope you get some fruit forming for you. I would keep the blooms too .. just because blooms aren't always guaranteed year on year. Right now, I have got 3 juvenile longans growing in the ground. One of them actually isn't too juvenile. I got it 9 years ago when it was about 2-3 ft tall. So, it must be about more than 10 years old now. I planted it in the ground at first, but it kept getting sick with white flies. So, I dug it out again and nursed it to health. A couple of years back, I planted it back into the ground and since then it has grown to 8 ft tall with a lot more new leaves, but the white flies came back to attack it. Now that it's bigger, I think it's also more hardy to withstand the white flies attack. I used to clean the sticky stuff off the leaves, but now that it's bigger, it's hard to do that. Anyway, here's a picture of it bearing some fruit now: Longan Kohala at 8 ft now: close up of the little fruit formation: The second longan I have is a Biew Kiew (slightly more than 5 ft tall). I'm guessing the age is less 5-7 years. It was blooming last year, but I got no fruit from it. This year, no sign of any blooms. Longans have a habit of growing long floppy limps. I just chopped off two of the lanky limps in the middle. If you look closely, you'll see the old dark green leaves beneath the new flushes that shot up. Here's a third longan which is also a Biew Kiew. It's a little over 5 ft too. No blooms this year. The problem I noticed a while ago was this tree was in a "frozen" state, meaning the little budding shoots from last year got dried out. I was waiting to see if they would grow, but they never did, so I decided to rub them off the branches. A few weeks later, I saw lots of new flushes coming up. So, I did learn something new. I was having so much troubles with my lychees and decided to pay more attention to my longans to see if they will perform better for me. At least, with the lychees, they are pretty pest free except for web worms ... which unfortunately is prevalent when there are mature hard wood trees around. Oh yeah, we have some humongous Oak trees around here ... lol. I hope you enjoy your little longan tree now and hope it'll do well for you in the years to come....See Moremiscel
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
Related Stories
GARDENING 101How to Start a Cut Flower Garden for Beautiful Bouquets All Year
Flower farmer Erin Benzakein shows us how to grow fresh seasonal flowers the most satisfying way: by seed
Full StoryBUDGET DECORATINGSimple Pleasures: Treat Yourself to Cut Flowers
Enjoy priceless beauty with just a few inexpensive stems — and you don’t need fancy vases, either
Full StoryDIY PROJECTSHow to Make Cut Flowers Last Longer
Do your store-bought flowers fade too soon? Get expert advice on helping them stay fresh
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDES20 Favorite Flowers for Butterflies and Bouquets
Discover perennials and annuals that do double duty as butterfly magnets and versatile cut flowers
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESAttract Hummingbirds and Bees With These Beautiful Summer Flowers
Roll out a welcome mat for pollinators to keep your landscape in balance and thriving
Full StoryNATIVE PLANTSAutumn Joy: How to Get 3 Months of Fall Flowers
Enjoy blooms from September to November by mixing 6 asters native to different areas of the U.S.
Full StoryFALL GARDENING20 Favorite Flowers for the Fall Landscape
Vivid blooms and striking shapes make these annuals and perennials a delight in autumn gardens
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESHow to Grow a Flower Garden for Bouquets
Enjoy fresh blooms indoors, bring beauty and fragrance to your garden beds, and help support pollinators
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESFlowers and Foliage That Bring Fragrance Into Your Garden
Create a scented garden with roses, lavender, thyme, jasmine, citrus trees and other sweet-smelling plants
Full StoryFALL GARDENINGAutumn’s Spent Flowers Enrich the Off-Season
The garden season never ends when you think beyond summer blooms
Full Story
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK