Kale · Ecatepec de Morelos, México, Mexico
When to plant kale in Ecatepec de Morelos
Main outdoor window
26 Jan - 16 Feb
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
9 February
In Ecatepec de Morelos, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
22 Mar - 11 Apr
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Ecatepec de Morelos
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Start indoors
29 Dec - 19 Jan
Six weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow for overwintering
30 Jul - 20 Aug
Counting back 89 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
26 Jan - 16 Feb
Two weeks before your last frost.
Plant out
26 Jan - 16 Feb
Two weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
22 Mar - 11 Apr
Kale through the year
Against the frost risk in Ecatepec de Morelos
Why these dates
Spring sowings feed you through summer; the sowing made twelve weeks before first frost is the one that carries you through winter.
Survives -12C and sweetens markedly below freezing as starches convert to sugars. Frost is a feature of this crop, not a threat.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Kale are timed from 6 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Ecatepec de Morelos.
The median frost-free season here is 281 days, against 55 to 75 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Nearby
Kale in places close by
Also in Ecatepec de Morelos
Other vegetables to time
Growing kale in Ecatepec de Morelos
When should I plant kale in Ecatepec de Morelos?
Aim for 26 Jan - 16 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 14 Feb - 7 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will kale be ready to harvest in Ecatepec de Morelos?
Expect to start picking around 22 Mar - 11 Apr, based on 55 to 75 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will kale tolerate?
Survives -12C and sweetens markedly below freezing as starches convert to sugars. Frost is a feature of this crop, not a threat.