How to Grow Collard Greens

Wait until late summer or early fall to plant. Collard greens are a cool weather crop. Planting in late summer or early fall so they can beat the heat and grow well.^[6]

• When the soil temperature reaches 45 °F (7 °C), it is warm enough for collards to sprout.

Dig out rows in the soil if you are planting the collards in the ground. Use your spade to take out some dirt in long lines and mound it up on the sides. Create rows that are 24 inches (61 cm) to 36 inches (91 cm) apart.^[7]

Plant seeds just below the surface of the soil. Whether you're planting them in the ground or in containers, place seeds 0.25 inches (0.64 cm) below the surface of the soil. Alternatively, you can sprinkle seeds on the soil, then lightly cover them.^[8]

• You can simply scatter the seeds, since you will then them out to save the healthiest plants later.
• Your seeds should germinate in about 5 to 10 days.

Thin your seedlings when they are 8 inches (20 cm) to 10 inches (25 cm) high. If you planted lots of seeds there's a good chance a lot of them will sprout. Pull up the smallest or weakest, and leave just the strongest, healthiest ones.^[9]

• If you planted in the ground, thin the seedlings until those remaining in the soil are 18 inches (46 cm) to 24 inches (61 cm) inches apart.
• Save the seedlings you pull up and add them to your salads for a tasty treat.

Transplant seedlings from containers to the ground, if you want. After the seedlings are several inches high, you can take the whole root ball out of the container and plant it in a hole in the ground that's slightly larger. Fill in the rest of the space with soil. Water the seedlings well when you're done

• Collard greens can grow just fine in containers, so there's no need to transplant if you don't want to.

Fertilize your plants. Spread 1 cup of fertilizer to the side of your plants soil for every 30 feet (9.1 m) you have planted in row, once they are several inches high. Lightly rake the soil to mix the fertilizer in, then water your plants.^[10]

• Choose a fertilizer that is high in nitrogen. Collard greens need this nutrient to produce healthy leaves.
• If you have planted collards in containers, use about 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of fertilizer per plant.
• Keep an eye on your plants. If their leaves begin to look pale instead of dark green, fertilize again in 4-6 weeks.

Water your plants well. Keep your collard greens in moist soil. It should remain slightly damp, but not soaking wet. Depending on where you live, you may not need to water the plants every day.^[11]

• If water pools up in the soil, you are watering too much.
• Give your collard greens 1 inch (2.5 cm) to 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) of water a week, unless it has rained at least that much in your area.
• You can keep track of rainfall by setting up a rain gauge in your garden.
• If you live in a dry area, add mulch to the soil so it retains moisture.

Keep pests off of your plants. Sprinkle diatomaceous earth on the ground near your plants to stop slugs. Use an insecticide with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) in it to get rid of caterpillars.^[12]

• You can find these materials at a garden supply store.
• Slugs are slimy, soft-bodied creatures that look like snails without shells. They will eat the leaves of collard greens.
• Caterpillars come in many colors and sizes. The ones that will attack collard greens are likely to be an inch or two long and striped (black, white, and yellow, for instance).
• You may not see these pests at first, but if you see holes chewed through the leaves of your plants, they are the likely culprit.

Stop diseases from ravaging your collards. Collards are fairly hardy plants, but they can still be impacted by a few diseases. Keeping the plants in well-drained soil will prevent clubroot, which can cause plants to wither or not produce leaves. Spots on the leaves indicate a fungus, which can be treated with neem oil, sulfur, or another fungicide. Avoiding planting collards in the same soil in successive years prevents other diseases, including:^[13]

• Black leg
• Black rot
• Yellows

Let a light frost cover your plants before harvesting. Collards actually taste sweeter if they are allowed to frost over before harvesting. Generally, however, collards are ready to harvest anywhere between 40 to 85 days after germination.^[14]

• For best results, harvest anytime after the first frost has come and gone.
• You can pick collards when they are frozen in the ground. However, be gentle with the plants because their leaves become brittle when frozen.

Clip whole plants or pick individual leaves. Cut the whole plant about 4 inches (10 cm) from the ground. Alternatively, pick single leaves, working from the bottom up so that new ones will grow. Either way is a fine method for harvesting collard greens, but picking off individual leaves means your plants will keep producing throughout the growing season.^[15]