Kohlrabi is another name for our not-so-popular Knolkhol. It belongs to the same family as Cabbage and Cauliflower(Brassicaceae). The Whole plant is edible however, it is mostly used for its bulged swollen stem. It can be eaten raw as well as cooked. Though it prefers a cold weather, it does moderately well for our Bangalore weather.
Knolkhol makes a good candidate for a kitchen garden because of its quick maturity. It comes to harvest in just about 50 days. Another interesting part is that it comes in different colorsĀ :D.
You get them in White, Green and Violet/Purple.
Growing Knolkhol is also very easy. Buy good quality seeds to begin with. You can get them Lalbagh Nurserymen Co-op.
Seed starting:
Take seed starting mix(cocopeat) and moisten it.
Sow the seeds, 1/4 inch deep in the media.The media you see in the pic below is vermiculite. Cocopeat/perlite/sand or a combination of those will do as well.
The seeds germinate in about 4 days.
14/2/2010
They were transplanted into trays (6ā deep) when they showed two true leaves.
Below is the picture of those plants a month later. Look at the growth. I planted about 6 seedlings per tray. From the right, you see Amaranthus, Knolkhol and coriander(+assorted greens).
11/3/2010
Vigorous growth can be seen. At this point, the stem has started to swell and is lemon sized.
24/3/2010
Knolkhol just started to form.
24/3/2010
I removed few leaves from the bottom as it started touch the media.
In about ~50 days time, the knolkhols are ready for harvest. Its better to harvest them little before they are completely mature.
8/4/2010
I harvested mine and here are the pics. Sorry about the shake in the pic. It was taken at night.
11/4/2010
This variety is called Purple Vienna. There is white vienna too. What are you waiting for? Go buy a seed packet and start sowing them..
For information on where to buy and how to seed start Refer the following links:
So you want to start a kitchen garden – Part I
So you want to start a kitchen garden – Part II
Ciao
gg
36 Responses
Hello GG,
The Knolkhol were looking very pretty. Never thought about growing this vegetable before. Will surely try it now after reading your post.
GG, i have a request. Can you just take a snap of all the containers you have for growing vegetables and send it to me. I somehow keep feeling that the containers i have are either too small or not good enough for growing vegetables.
I totally understand if its too much of a hassle.
Warm Regards,
Indrani.
Hi Indrani,
Yeah Knolkhol didnt get the popularity it deserves. Good luck.
I will try taking the snaps. Will it be ok if i give you the dimensions?
Cheers
gg
Hello GG,
Which ever is convinient to you.
Regards,
Indrani
Sure Indrani, I’ll do my best.
GG
Hi GG,
You have an amazing blog!!!
I am a beginner in gardening and the few plants that I have seem to be withering away.
The soil tends to become very tight and clay -ee š
Wanted to know the potting mix you use and if it differs for each kind of plant.
And if a soilless potting mixture is better than a soil based one.
Thanks,
Parimala
Hi Parimala,
Thanks. I use cocopeat and compost for most of my pots and for hydroponics, I just use cocopeat. Soilless is better because, less infection, less weight, easy to work with and doesnt dirty the place. But we need to provide more nutrients ourselves if we are going for soiless mixes. For soilless, you can use equal parts of cococpeat and compost.
gg
Very impressive, I am definitely going to try growing one. I live in cooler weather so this is a great candidate in my garden. Does it need sunny location? Did you use any fertilizer for this one?
Hi Sonali,
Thanks. This grows well in partial shade as well. I had grown this in my balcony that gets sunlight only in the late noon. I had grown this in both Soil based mix with compost and coir based media with NPK nutrients. It performed well in both the setups. This is a must-try.
gg
Thanks for the post. I will definitely try this in the monsoon when the temparature is lower. Right now, in Pune, its 40C almost everyday, i doubt if it will flourish in such temps.
BTW did you take a look at the bamboo shadenet structure and my bottle gourd harvest?
-atul
Hi…Like your new layout. I have never seen such pretty looking kohlrabi..only seen the pale green ones and have no idea how to use them, but seeing your pics makes me want to grow them!
Kohlrabi in this hot season?! Whoa! You must be lucky to be in B’lore! Looks great!
I like the new look š
Hi GG,
Very nice kohlrabi. I liked it. You are always lucky to get plants especially veggies and flowers:(
I am trying to grow bitterguard and tomato. I am not so successfull. I have many containers to plant. Please tell me if it is ok to use soil with fertiliser in a bucket and how should I sow tomato seeds??
Somehow my bitterguard creep is also falling down. How much will be cocopeat for a bucket?
Please let me know asap. Should I place tomatoes in sun or shade?
Post some articles on hanging pots. I want to know how I can pot them. If there are classes conducted about these, please let me know.
Thank you
Sahana
Hi Sahana,
Thanks. You can use soil with fertilizer, there is nothing wrong with that. For sowing tomato seeds, you can refer the posts name “So you want to start a kitchen garden? ā Part II”. Bitter gourd can hold on to strings or trellises. Make sure there is something for it to creep onto. Cocopeat quantity depends on the bucket size. You can use a 10L-20L bucket.
Tomatos can be placed in sun but offlate sun is at its best so keeping them in a place where noon light is not so severe is good.
I will definitely post on hanging pots. Thanks for the suggestion. I will let you know the dates of the training soon.
Thanks
Mani.
Hey Chandramouli,
Thats what I too thought when I sowed. But then shadenet kinda helped reduce the temperature. I am all ready to sow the next batch.
Also I read your email and I will soon send the required info for the same.
gg
Hey GG,
What an amazing n helpful blog you have… Your Kitchen Garden is simply out of world..I found your blog while doing google search…Am new to gadening and have started with a small batch of veggie garden in my patio..i will surely update you with pics. I have a doubt too, how many hours of sunlight does tomato,chilli and eggplant need? Am in States and get around 5-6hrs of sunlight. Will that be sufficient? So far my mint,cilantro and spinach are doing pretty well..
Good Luck..
Hi NewGardener,
Thanks. Tomatoes, Chilli and eggplant love sunlight and need atleast 6 hours for a good yield. However, they perform moderately well in 5-6 hours of sunlight. I have grown them in balconies and had a good harvest. You should definitely give it a try.
Cheers
gg
wow you grew them so well, i learnt a lot form this post. specially starting from seed. They are looking so healthy and beautiful. great job.
Thanks Muhammad.
Hi GG,
I understand you use cocopeat and compost for your container. Can you please mention what is the ratio of cocopeat and compost you use?
Thanks,
Suresh
Hi Suresh,
I use a mixture of 1:1 cocopeat and compost. For hydroponics, I use just cocopeat.
Thanks
gg
Hi GG,
I have one question.. Recently I bought 2-3 flower plants from nursery. I need to pot them as they are in nursery plastic bags filled with garden soil. I use cocopeath as potting mix and plants are in garden soil. How should I pot them? Should I remove soil and clean the roots of plants?
Regards,
Binita
Hi Binita,
You have to slightly cut the poly bags in the sides with a sharp blade carefully that you dont cut the roots. Dont plant them in plain cocopeat as they dont have any nutrients in them. Mix cocopeat+compost in equal proportion and use that as starting medium. Don’t disturb the root of the plant. If the roots are pot bound, gently tease the roots little bit before potting them so that they can explore the new pot.
Hope this helps.
GG
Hello GG,
Very interesting blog with great pics and lots to learn for me!
I am looking for red gongura /sorrel with red stem seeds in bangalore. Any idea where to get a small quantity for experimenting growing in balcony?
Thanks
Janki
Hi Janki,
Thanks. Lalbagh used to have Rosselle ( Gongura) in small seed packets. I dont remember if they still have it or not. Check it out.
Thanks
gg
Hi GG,
Almost 1 month.. and no post??? š …
Hi Binita,
Yeah, Its been too long. Too many things and too little time. I am writing a post on growing water melon in containers.Hopefully it should be out tomorrow. Also watch out this space for some video tutorials š and more goodies.
Thanks
gg
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hi GG,
i mixed equal portion of cocopeat and red soil. dont think bad i have few doubts . whether the cocopeat volume mentioned is for dry one? i got coco peat block.another is compost. i got from plant nursery . whether there is any difference between homemade and commercial compost. should we put same volume irrespective of the type of compost.
thanks
Sir, can i get knolkhol seeds if you have? I would like to try in my garden. As a beginner i have gained more information about gardening from you. Thank you sir.
Hi, i have planted kohlrabi seeds in a seedling tray 8 days ago and they are already growing. How do i know when to transplant them?
Wonderful Citrus’ seedless lemons are slightly earlier, larger, thinner-skinned and juicier than regular lemons, but consumers probably won’t notice any difference, he added. Samples I tried over the last three years tasted just like regular seeded lemons in all aspects, including acidity and aroma.