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Brassicaceae FAMILY

Brassica oleracea medullosa

Brassica oleracea medullosa

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitBiennial/Perennial
Growth—

Marrow-stem kale is a very hardy plant, tolerating temperatures down to about -15°c[1]. It also tolerates high summer temperatures[1]. A very easily grown plant, succeeding in full sun in a well-drained fertile preferably alkaline soil[2, 1]. Prefers a heavy soil[2]. Succeeds in any reasonable soil[3]. Shade tolerant, growing well on a north border[3]. Succeeds in maritime gardens[1]. Tolerates a pH in the range 4.2 to 8.3. Marrow-stem kales are very cold tolerant and can be grown to provide a winter crop of leaves even in severe winter areas[4, 1]. There are several named forms[4, 1].

Propagation

Seed - sow in a seedbed outdoors in mid spring. Plant out into their permanent positions in the summer as space permits. Do not let the seedlings get overcrowded or they will soon become leggy and will not make such good plants. If your seedlings do get leggy, it is possible to plant them rather deeper into the soil - the buried stems will soon form roots and the plant will be better supported. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Brassica+oleracea+medullosa>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  2. [2]New Vegetable Growers Handbook. — Simons. · Penguin · 1977 · ISBN 0-14-046-050-0 ↩︎A good guide to growing vegetables in temperate areas, not entirely organic.
  3. [3]The Gardener's Assistant. — Thompson. B. · Blackie and Son. · 1878 · ISBN - ↩︎Excellent general but extensive guide to gardening practices in the 19th century. A very good section on fruits and vegetables with many little known species.
  4. [4]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  5. [5]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  6. [6]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  7. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎