Well, seeing as I'm totally behind on logs and what not, I'm just hijacking this for the second "Black Magic" garden.Day 47 and although I had doubts about trying for 3 plants, I've been totally happy with this garden! It's grown faster and fuller than the one with two plants! Which was a surprise! That 2 plant garden, I was always waiting for another kale leaf at this stage, but not with this one! I'm cooking it, juicing it, eating it raw in salads to keep up with it.Love this stuff! Staying mannerly so far!
Day 44
UPDATE#2
Grower update
Update #2
🔧Actions taken
🌱PlantingStarted three Black Magic kale sprouts in another Bounty.
This seems to be as crazy as the Black Magic kale gets. I don't know how much longer it can go before I'll be unable to keep it out of the lights.I've been quite pleased with this variety! So I've got three sprouts started in another Bounty model to replace this garden. Three plants might be a stretch, but I won't know until I try it.Day 99:
This garden is now at 114 days. I did a rinse and refill last night, but the plant is into the lights on the right side. The plan is to juice some more of it, maybe have some more in salad, and terminate it by the end of this week. (I have Ajvarski pepper seeds on order...)I really have liked this kale though. When I juiced my dwarf Siberian and Russian Red kales, I always strained my green juice, unless it was only a couple leaves, because I had a fair amount of kale pulp that I didn't like the taste of much.The Black Magic lacinato-type has not been a problem. I've put decent-sized bunches into green juices and never felt a need to strain. I like it better in salad too, and I love the very dark green color which contrasts so nicely with other greens. However, the yield is considerably less, it grew much slower initially, so I was literally watching for opportunities to grab a leaf or two. And the leaves are skinny! Whereas that was not an issue with the larger-leafed kales that grew like weeds. So which sort of kale to grow might depend on how you use it and how much you want. If you want regular stir fries, then I'd go with dwarf Siberian for sure! The Russian Red was also nice.The Bounty with three kales got a rinse and refill last night as well, it won't be too much longer before I'm getting a leaf or two here and there.
The lacinato "Black Magic" is an entirely different growing experience compared to my last crazy kale garden. It has not yet gone crazy, and both plants have been well-behaved and mannerly in so far as leaf and root production goes. They haven't demanded insane amounts of nutrients nor am I struggling to keep them watered.The leaves are narrow, but the kale is wonderfully tender once stripped off the stems. I've been eating a lot of it raw in salads. But also juicing some, as it's very easy to cut. If I'd known that the plants were less rambunctious, I might've tried three plants in the Bounty.The last garden, I was struggling to consume all the Dwarf Siberian and Russian Red kale. This garden, I'm watching it like a hawk for leaves ready to harvest. The long-awaited picture of the stately kale!Quite the contrast to the former, unmannerly kale garden...