Daubenton perennial kale (potted plant)
£10.00
PLANT IN 1L POT
Daubenton perennial kale – Brassica Oleracea var Ramosa. A well loved and productive perennial kale with leaves that have a nice have a nutty flavour.
Awaiting Re-stock
We can email you when it's back ...
Description
Daubenton perennial kale – Brassica Oleracea var Ramosa. A well loved and productive perennial kale with leaves that have a nice have a nutty flavour. Each plant can grow more than 1m tall and wide (although it can be pruned to grow in a smaller space). Once mature, leaves can be harvested all year round. Plants can go on producing for 5 – 8 years and are hardy down to about -10c. By taking stem cuttings from mature plants, you can propagate all your future stock yourself. So from this single plant, you can basically produce perennial kale for the rest of your life. Price is for one good sized Daubenton potted plant with 20-25 cm of leaf growth.
About
Daubenton kale was first described by the French naturalist Louis Jean-Marie Daubenton – or D’Aubenton – (1716 – 1800). Once established it can be harvested for most of the year. Really productive for the first five years they slow down a little after that but have been known to reach nine or ten years old. Our oldest specimen is nine years old and still squeezing out leaves.
How to grow
When your plant arrives, plant it out in a deep planting hole and firm it down. It does not need a particularly well cultivated bed, just an area free of weeds and grass. Give plants an occasional mulch of compost and prune off any dead branches to keep them thriving. Prune plants to encourage new growth and remove any damaged branches. Lateral stems can flop and root themselves, part of the characteristic of these branching bush kales Brassica Oleracea var Ramosa.
Propagating more plants
Known to periodically flower, seed collection is possible, but they will cross with other brassicas. The best way to propagate them to ensure they are true to type is through stem cuttings (a thick side stem with all leaves removed apart from the growing tip), which can either be potted up or popped directly in the soil to root. We recommend taking cuttings once or twice a year so you always have more plants as back up.
Pests & diseases
After a year or two they should be large enough to survive without any protection. We don’t use any crop covers with ours and although Daubenton can be attacked by cabbage whites, even the most well nibbled plants bounce back completely by autumn. We have also found that interspersed plantings of perennial kales make great companions for other brassicas – greatly reducing the damage to regular brassica crops by acting as pest beacons, whilst having the innate capacity to survive them. Perennial alliums are great companions for perennial kales in general, as they can create a nice ground cover and poke through the branches of the kale.
Harvest & eating
Let your plant get to the size of a small shrub before you start harvesting. Once mature you can harvest leaves all year round. Use exactly as any other kale. It has the most delicious nutty taste. Small young leaves can be used in a salad.
