Taking kale cuttings

Growing! May 2018

This is all new to me, but I randomly found a forum post on permies.com about taking cuttings from tree collards.  And I noticed that my kale, which I had just cut back hard because it was starting to flower, had new little shoots that looked just like on this forum post.  So I gave it a try:  I picked off four of these new shoots, and planted two in the ground and two in a pot.

The ones in the ground just wilted--too hot for them, I think.  The ones in the pot I put in my garage, under the window but not in direct sunlight.  I also put a plastic bag over the pot--and what do you know, a couple weeks on, there's a little root poking out of the bottom of the pot!

Now I've taken off the bag, put the pot outside (on the patio in partial shade), and am hoping for the best.  If they're still alive in a week or two they might go into the Holding bed with the rest of the winter brassicas, to be transplanted out at the end of summer.

And I've taken a few more shoots off the kale, and one off the purple sprouting broccoli.  Who knows if they'll take?  I've even begun cutting off spring cabbage heads, leaving the roots in situ rather than pulling the whole thing up--in the hopes they'll resprout and I can try with them too.  Growing from cuttings is way less labor intensive than from seed--and free, too!  I'll report back with my results.

(Edited 27 May, 2018, to add photo)