Sun Recommendations for Planting Kale

Kale is really a must for the backyard vegetable garden. Growing this veggie at home makes it easy to have a nutrient-dense green on hand, right outside your back door.

To make sure you have a steady supply of this cruciferous vegetable, you’ll want to grow it in the best conditions – which, of course, includes knowing how much sun to provide it with.

As with most of the important questions in life, this one doesn’t have an easy answer. How much sun this member of the Brassicaceae family will need will depend on your growing conditions. If you’re new to growing kale, check out our full growing guide.

A vertical picture of a close up of a curly kale leaf in light sunshine on a soft focus background. To the center and bottom of the frame is green and white text.

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So, I’ll offer you sun recommendations for various different situations, and your efforts to grow this superfood at home should be met with success.

Here’s what I’ll cover:

Your Cool Weather Cole Crop

Kale, Brassica oleracea var. acephala, is a cool weather plant – it grows best and will produce plenty of fresh green leaves when the temperature is under 75°F.

A close up of curly Brassica oleracea leaves with frilly edges growing in the garden in light sunshine on a soft focus background.

Due to these requirements, it is typically grown in spring or fall throughout all USDA Hardiness Zones. In Zones 7-10, it will even continue growing through the winter.

A close up of Tuscan Brassica oleracea growing in a wooden raised garden bed covered in a light dusting of snow.

When grown for a spring or fall harvest, this veggie should be placed in a full sun location. This will give it the environment it needs to produce an abundance of leaves.

You can plant it in partial shade during spring and fall, but it will likely produce smaller yields. This may be preferable if you live in a climate with hot spring or fall temperatures.

However, you might want to sacrifice some of your spring growth if you want to harvest these leafy greens during the summer months.

The Situation with Summer

Remember, this veggie is not a summer crop by nature – unless you live somewhere with relatively cool summers that stay at or around 75°F.

If that happens to be your situation, as it is for many folks living in the Pacific Northwest, go ahead and place your plants in full sun and they will happily produce leafy greens for you from spring all the way through to fall.

A close up top down picture of curly Brassica oleracea plants growing in the garden in rows with grass and weeds in between them.

On the other hand, if the idea of such cool summer temperatures sounds like a wild fantasy to you, you probably live somewhere where days with highs around 100°F aren’t uncommon, like I do.

How do you keep your cool-weather plants happy when the mercury is susceptible to rising into the triple digits?

In this situation, you’ll need to plant them in part shade.

A close up of bright green curly kale leaves on a soft focus background.

When I lived in North Carolina, I had a dozen raised beds in my small backyard that all received some shade during the hottest months – thanks to a couple of regal, fully grown willow oak and black walnut trees.

A close up of Tuscan kale growing in a wooden container outdoors with a brick wall in the background in filtered sunshine.

Planted throughout my raised beds, my kale thrived all summer long, with the shade from those well-established trees offering them just enough relief from the midsummer heat.

A Multi-Season Solution

One of the reasons growing kale in part shade worked well for me in Zone 7b was that in spring, those big oak and walnut trees hadn’t leafed out yet, allowing my plants to get more sun.

My plants were already nicely established by the time summer rolled around, and the trees provided them with some much needed shade from the summer heat.

A close up of the dark green leaves of Tuscan kale, with a curly leaf variety in the background, growing in the garden in bright sunshine fading to soft focus in the background.

This is the strategy I still adopt in order to harvest my favorite leafy greens in spring and summer – I plant them in a spot that receives full sun in spring, and partial shade in summer.

You may have a spot like this in your own garden. If so, you may want to give this method a try.

A close up of a green curly kale plant and a purple one planted in small metal pots set on a wooden surface in bright sunshine fading to soft focus in the background.

Or, you might try growing these leafy vegetables in containers.

Place the containers in a full sun location in spring, and then move them to part shade when the summer sun – and heat – reaches a peak.

If you’re growing for a fall harvest, start your containers in partial shade and move to full sun when autumn weather arrives.

Just make sure to keep them well watered, since plants dry out more quickly in containers.

Fifty Shades of Kale

Yes, there may just be fifty ways to shade your kale. My favorite way to grow it is the multi-season solution, so I can harvest it from spring through fall.

A close up of purple curly kale leaves with frilly edges and dark purple stems.

What do you think, are you ready to give this method a try? Or will you just plant your leafy greens in full sun and enjoy them during the cool seasons? Let us know in the comments.

And while you have your mind on kale, I highly recommend these other articles – I consider them required reading for successful gardening of this brassica!

Photo of author
Kristina Hicks-Hamblin lives on a dryland permaculture homestead in the high desert of Utah. She is a Certified Permaculture Designer, holds a Certificate in Native Plant Studies from the University of North Carolina Botanical Gardens, a Landscape for Life certificate through the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the United States Botanic Garden, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in liberal studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Kristina strives towards creating gardens where there are as many birds and bees as there are edibles.

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Jeff P Flanigan
Jeff P Flanigan (@guest_8931)
3 years ago

I’m surprised you can grow anything right under Black Walnut trees. I tried and the hydrojuglone pretty much nuked everything right under the drip line. It’s like nature’s roundup! Allelopathy aside, shade is critical to growing kale in our triple digit, high humidity summers in Western Arkansas.

Last edited 3 years ago by Jeff P Flanigan
Kristina Hicks-Hamblin
Kristina Hicks-Hamblin (@guest_8935)
Reply to  Jeff P Flanigan
3 years ago

Hi Jeff – You’re quite right about those black walnuts, they are pretty potent! In my situation, my big shade trees (including a black walnut) were to the south of my raised beds – but the raised beds were by no means under the trees, not even close to the drip line. The trees just grew big enough to throw most of my backyard into shade for part of the day during summer. I’m glad to know you are using shade to grow kale too! I find kale to be quite the adaptable plant! This year I have a few… Read more »