Massive Collards!

MichaelL

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Anyone else have collards this massive? I started growing them from little seedlings from Lowes, in February last year. I expected them to bolt in the heat like certain lettuces I've grown, but they just keep getting taller and providing food for myself and the tortoises! Also, aphids are a constant battle which slow down growth on younger plants or even kill them. The smaller plant to the right of the two tall ones has been infested with aphids for a while, I always spray them down and seemingly get rid of all of them but they always come back and multiply exponentially.
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Krista S

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I’ve never seen anything like that. The stem in the picture almost looks like a palm tree lol. It looks kinda cool! My brother had a freak of a rhubarb plant growing beside his house years ago that would get 5 feet tall, and it grew really quickly.
 

MichaelL

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I’ve never seen anything like that. The stem in the picture almost looks like a palm tree lol. It looks kinda cool! My brother had a freak of a rhubarb plant growing beside his house years ago that would get 5 feet tall, and it grew really quickly.
It does look like a palm tree haha! And whoa, that's cool.
 

wellington

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I’ve never seen anything like that. The stem in the picture almost looks like a palm tree lol. It looks kinda cool! My brother had a freak of a rhubarb plant growing beside his house years ago that would get 5 feet tall, and it grew really quickly.
I thought of a palm tree to with the stem. I might need to grow collards seeing I can't grow palms lol
 

MichaelL

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I thought of a palm tree to with the stem. I might need to grow collards seeing I can't grow palms lol
Haha you should! Collards can tolerate frosty temperatures pretty well. They also do great in the Florida heat, as long as they are watered enough. And they also are high in calcium, and provide a constant supply of tortoise food.
 

Krista S

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Anyone else have collards this massive? I started growing them from little seedlings from Lowes, in February last year. I expected them to bolt in the heat like certain lettuces I've grown, but they just keep getting taller and providing food for myself and the tortoises! Also, aphids are a constant battle which slow down growth on younger plants or even kill them. The smaller plant to the right of the two tall ones has been infested with aphids for a while, I always spray them down and seemingly get rid of all of them but they always come back and multiply exponentially.
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@MichaelL I am curious to know if your collards have continued to grow? If it’s changed in appearance, I’d love to see another picture. I have thought about this often since you posted about it. I just think it’s so interesting that it grows like this.
 

MichaelL

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@MichaelL I am curious to know if your collards have continued to grow? If it’s changed in appearance, I’d love to see another picture. I have thought about this often since you posted about it. I just think it’s so interesting that it grows like this.
They are continuing to grow! Not super fast though. I'll send some pics in a bit.
 

Yvonne G

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Wow! I want a couple of those!! I've finally figured out a place where the giant rhubarb will do well, and I'll be getting one of those, and I'm also going to see if I can grow collards like that here.
 

MichaelL

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Wow! I want a couple of those!! I've finally figured out a place where the giant rhubarb will do well, and I'll be getting one of those, and I'm also going to see if I can grow collards like that here.
Make sure to post some pics! And it's funny because the area the collards are growing well in is very, very sandy soil. They added that sandy soil here to level the ground for the house years ago. I didn't add any extra soil or fertilizer except for some topsoil in the cinder block. I'm surprised they did so well in a seemingly poor soil once they spread their roots out of the cinder block.
The russian pen is right next to the plants. This is the type of sandy soil I'm talking about.
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