Growing Kohlrabi: The Best 7 Helpful Facts You Need To Know!

Growing Kohlrabi: Consider a few points if you want to plant Kohlrabi in the garden. Besides time and the right temperature, several other factors are essential to let the garden’s kohlrabi sprout. We will show you what is necessary here.

Planting kohlrabi: Growing kohlrabi in your garden

Kohlrabi can be successfully grown in your garden, and it is a very vitamin- and nutrient-rich member of the cabbage family.

In contrast to many other cabbages, Kohlrabi is not harvested from the flower heads, as is the case with cauliflower and broccoli, but from the bottom’s thickened stem.

In its cultivation, the Kohlrabi also differs somewhat from its colleagues. Here is what you should consider when planting and growing Kohlrabi.

What matters when planting kohlrabi?

You can easily sow the plant every four weeks from April to July.
The different seeds are available on the Internet or at your local supermarket or hardware store.
Temperatures between 18 and 25 degrees are best for the plant to grow ideally.
Make sure that there is a distance of about 30 by 30 cm between the plants.
Kohlrabi develops best in a medium heavy soil, which has been treated with compost beforehand. Otherwise, the plant also grows in other neutral soils and is therefore relatively undemanding.
After about ten weeks, the kohlrabi is ready for harvesting. However, if you let it ripen, the vegetables can become woody.
When harvesting, cut off the plant directly under the tuber with garden shears.

How to proceed when planting kohlrabi?

As the plant is very thirsty, you should water it regularly and several times a day. Here you should make sure that the water is evenly getting distributed over the kohlrabi. Too much water on one spot can cause the plant to burst open.
While the plant is growing, you should carefully remove weeds that grow on or around the plant.
Vermin, such as white cabbage butterflies, earth fleas, or whiteflies, can also harm the plant, so you should also control them.

Kohlrabi – growth, and cultivation

Kohlrabi can easily be sown from April to July in four-week intervals. Then fresh vegetables are available at any time from summer to autumn.

Favorable temperatures for growth are 18 to 25 degrees Celsius. The cultivation temperature may be between twelve and 15 degrees.

Plant seeds in bowls and seedlings plants in the garden beds. A planting distance of 30 by 30 centimeters is getting recommended.

The correct planting depth is necessary: the individual seedlings grow up to the cotyledons in the soil. We should plant the small potted plants a few centimeters deep.

During cultivation, the plants like a lot of moisture. As for the soil, they prefer a humus-rich and evenly moist terrain.

Regular watering is essential for growing kohlrabi.

Kohlrabi is considered an insensitive vegetable. In temperate regions, the plants can even overwinter outdoors without any problems.

If the plants only receive water irregularly, the tubers can burst easily. Therefore, even watering is very important. It makes sense to fight weeds from time to time; the best suit for this is a hoe.

We must pay attention to vermin because if we do not control cabbage flies, aphids, or earth fleas, they can affect the harvest.

Do not let kohlrabi ripen too long when growing.

Kohlrabi ripens already six to ten weeks after sowing. A tennis ball’s size is enough with traditional varieties: they are ready for harvest.

With more extended ripening, the vegetables often become woody. The plants are getting cut off with garden shears just below the tuber for harvesting.

Growing kohlrabi on the balcony

If you don’t enjoy or have access to a garden but have a beautiful and sunny balcony, don’t despair. Kohlrabi cultivation is also thriving there.

However, the mandatory minimum distance of 25 cm between the individual kohlrabi plants is a limiting factor. Usually, the plant pots are only large enough to accommodate a kohlrabi plant.

A homemade raised bed can be an alternative to plant pots.

How to buy kohlrabi seeds?

Kohlrabi seeds are available in specialized trade and at many online garden companies. A seed bag with about 50 seeds is available for sale. First, put the roots on small pots (diameter approx. 5-6 cm) or pot plates.

Here it is essential to use a loose and water-bearing planting medium (such as compost). During the germination phase, Kohlrabi needs temperatures around 20°C.

These temperatures are best reached on the windowsill or in the greenhouse. After the Kohlrabi has germinated, the temperature can be getting reduced.

Attention: It should not fall below 10°C; otherwise, it will form no tubers! The Kohlrabi should not be planted in the bed before the end of March to avoid night frosts.

How to buy kohlrabi plants?

The safest way to get healthy and robust young plants is to buy kohlrabi seedlings in specialized shops. Often the young seedlings are sold on multi plates with ten or more plants.

The seedlings are also very affordable. You can already buy a potted plate with about ten young plants. At purchase, the plants have usually left the greenhouse phase and are 6 to 8 weeks old.

Harvest kohlrabi

When is harvest time? The Kohlrabi’s harvesting period is not easy to narrow down, as we can plant it from early spring to midsummer. Instead, you should pay attention to some characteristic signs to harvest your beloved Kohlrabi at the right time. We have listed some tips for you:

About 12 weeks after planting, the kohlrabi tubers are ready to be harvested (differences depending on the variety reserved)
An above-ground tuber is oval
Blue types need longer than white kohlrabi varieties to mature
leaves are juicy green
White varieties tend to lignify more than blue varieties
Harvest kohlrabi before the first winter frost at the latest
Don’t wait too long; Tissue lignifies with increasing plant age

Storing and preserving kohlrabi

Store kohlrabi in the refrigerator

Kohlrabi keeps for about a week in the fridge. Remove the woody parts and the leaves to reduce the evaporation surface.

Freezing kohlrabi

Kohlrabi can be stored well, even when frozen. Wash and part your Kohlrabi beforehand and blanch it in boiling salted water for 2 to 3 minutes. When defrosting, it will lose less of the juicy green.

Boil down the kohlrabi

Before you boil down your Kohlrabi, you should blanch it for a few minutes. After blanching, put the Kohlrabi into preserving jars. You can now fill the glasses with salted water or a delicious vegetable sauce.

Important

Both liquids should be boiled and cooled down before pouring. Saltwater or sauce ensures a longer shelf life. After closing the glasses, we should cook them again for about 20 to 30 minutes.

Conclusion

Kohlrabis are particularly juicy when they have not yet reached their final size. Thus, harvest them at this stage. If you let Kohlrabi too long, it becomes woody.

Cut the tubers above the stem base with a sharp knife when harvesting. You can freeze Kohlrabi very well, and when raw, it will keep in the refrigerator for a few days.

Autumn kohlrabi can survive light frosts on the bed quite well. But, if heavier frosts are dangerous, start to harvest. This variety of Kohlrabi keeps for months in the cool cellar.

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Last Updated on 23/03/2022 by Buzz This Viral