Kale from seed

[thesilverbail]

Last summer I planted Kale saplings in containers on my balcony in Northern California and they grew wonderfully and gave me a great harvest. This year I thought I'd try to grow them from seeds. I planted 6 of them in cups on my window sill (indoors but facing the sun). I used miracle gro potting soil (that's all i had) and I watered them every other day. I would also rotate them around to try to get all sides equally exposed to sunlight. At first they seemed to be growing well, but now after 4 weeks this is what they look like:

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The stalks seem thin, and while the two in the middle look like they have healthy leaves, they all still seem too delicate, and keep leaning over unless i compact the soil really hard. Did I do something wrong? Is it still possible to salvage them and keep growing some more? Can I even take any of them outdoors?

Thanks. (I'm a very newb gardener, I'm sure i did something really dumb)

 

[Silentrunning]

I can't open your picture but from your description I am going to guess it is a result of a lack of proper sunlight. Kale is a plant that does well in northern areas where it is cooler. But this also means more hours of sunlight during the summer months. Since you were successful before in containers, I would hurry and get them planted even if they look sickly. You really have nothing to loose and you could get another great harvest.

 

[TomatoTango]

Probably inadequate light and possibly dampening off due to high temps/humidity. Window sun shouldn’t sustain kale in the winter. It needs more light or at least something like a T5 light until it’s bigger. Less than 6 hours of full sun or light will shut them down and when they’re small they do not have a large enough surface area to photosynthesize food.