Divisi
How to grow Rape / covo / kale
Brassica oleracea var. acephala · Brassicaceae
Photo: Coolbrizzy · CC BY-SA 4.0
Rape, covo and kale are the everyday leafy greens of the African plot — the relish in the pot most nights. They are all the same loose-leaf cabbage: unlike a real cabbage, they never ball up into a hard head. Instead each plant grows an open crown of leaves that you pick a few at a time, leaving the plant standing to grow more. From one good planting you can pick for the pot and the market for four to six months, until the plants age — and a cold spell, or a run of heat and thirst — finally pushes them to flower (bolt) and the leaves turn tough. They are hungry, thirsty plants that reward sweet, rich soil, a steady drink of water, and a small feed after every pick — and they ask you to stand firm against their two great enemies, the diamondback-moth caterpillar and the cabbage aphid.
Coolbrizzy · CC BY-SA 4.0 
Ssemmanda will · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Days to maturity
- 120–180 days
- Row spacing
- 45 cm
- Plant spacing in the row
- 45 cm
- Sowing depth
- 1–2 cm
These are general figures for the crop, compiled from published agronomic references including FAO and CABI. The right choice for your field depends on your soil, rainfall and the yield you are aiming for.
Will rape / covo / kale actually do well on your land? Check your field against every crop in the catalogue — free, no signup. Run the free crop check →
Other names for Rape / covo / kale
boerkool · gomen · kale · collards · leaf rape · covo · umbhida · mpiru · rape · tsunga · sukuma wiki
Working in buckets, bags or paces? The farming glossary turns the measures growers actually use into kilograms and hectares — what a 20 litre bucket of each crop really weighs, and how to size a field by walking it — alongside the Shona, Swahili, Ndebele and Yoruba words used in the field. Open the glossary →
Growing rape / covo / kale, stage by stage
Raise strong seedlings in a nursery, plant them out into sweet, rich, well-fed soil, then pick the outer leaves and feed and water the plants every week or two for months — staying a step ahead of caterpillars, aphids and black rot the whole way.
- Raise strong seedlings and ready the soil
- Sweeten and feed the field
- Transplant and settle them in
- Build the leaf frame
- Start picking and keep feeding
- Keep the harvest going
- Keep the leaves fresh to market
20 step-by-step tasks in the app
Every task for rape / covo / kale — what to do, when to do it and why it matters — with the amounts worked out for your own field, reminders as each one falls due, and warnings before extreme weather.
Pests and diseases that attack rape / covo / kale
3 more threats tracked in the app
Divisi tells you which of these is a risk on your rape / covo / kale right now, when to walk the field looking for it, and what to do the moment you find it.
Frequently asked questions
How long does rape / covo / kale take to grow?
Rape / covo / kale takes about 120–180 days from sowing to maturity, though the exact length varies with variety, temperature and how the season runs.
What spacing should I use for rape / covo / kale?
Space rape / covo / kale rows about 45 cm apart, with roughly 45 cm between plants within the row.
How deep should rape / covo / kale be planted?
Sow rape / covo / kale at about 1–2 cm deep. Shallower risks drying out; deeper wastes seed energy before the shoot reaches light.
What pests and diseases attack rape / covo / kale?
The ones covered in this guide are Black rot, Cabbage aphid, Cabbage webworm. Each has its own page explaining how to identify, scout for and control it.
Grow rape / covo / kale with a plan, not a guess
Divisi turns this guide into a dated plan for your own field — what to do each week, reminders as tasks fall due, and warnings before extreme weather. Free for farmers, works offline.
Or check your field first