Growing haakh
Brassica oleracea var. viridis · also called haak, hak saag, kaleKashmir's everyday leafy green, a loose-leaf kale picked leaf by leaf over a long season. The valley grows it twice a year, with the main crop raised in July and picked from October.
Temperate Himalaya: Kashmir valley, Shimla, Kullu, Uttarakhand hills
At a glance
Haakh in the Temperate Himalaya
Two seasons in the Kashmir valley: a spring to summer crop and the main autumn to winter crop1
Each crop gives pickings for about four to six months from transplanting. The autumn crop often stands through the winter and keeps giving leaves until it flowers in spring.
No published guide covers this for the Temperate Himalaya, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.Mid-February to mid-March, under cover if frost is expected1
Across India
When to sow it
Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.
Wait until February
The next sowing here is Mid-February to mid-March, under cover if frost is expected.
- Nursery
- Transplant
- Harvest
- Today
- Not suited here
Compare all 12 regionsShow fewer regions
See the dates as a table
| Region | Sow | Nursery | Transplant | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temperate Himalaya | Mid-February to mid-March, under cover if frost is expectedJuly | Late March to AprilAugust | May to JulyFrom October onwards | |
| Cold desert | Not suited here | |||
| Sub-tropical foothills | September to early October | October to early November | December to March | |
| North-west plains | Not suited here | |||
| Gangetic plains | Not suited here | |||
| North-east hills and valleys | September to early October | October to early November | December to March | |
| Arid west | Not suited here | |||
| Central plateau | Not suited here | |||
| Deccan plateau | Not suited here | |||
| South interior | Not suited here | |||
| West coast | Not suited here | |||
| East coast | Not suited here | |||
From seed to harvest
One season, day by day
Days from sowing
Before sowing
Field preparation, well before transplanting
Well-decomposed farmyard manure
15 to 20 t per hectare
Work into the field well before transplanting
Field preparation, well before transplanting
Vermicompost (instead of farmyard manure)
7.5 to 10 t per hectare
Work into the field well before transplanting
Day 0
Sow
Day 120 to 180
Last picking
No published guide covers this for the Temperate Himalaya, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Before sowing
Well-decomposed farmyard manure
15 to 20 t per hectare · Work into the field well before transplanting · Field preparation, well before transplanting
Vermicompost (instead of farmyard manure)1
7.5 to 10 t per hectare · Work into the field well before transplanting · Field preparation, well before transplanting
Day 0
Sow
Day 5 to 10
Seeds come up1Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.
Day 28 to 35
Transplant1
Day 45 to 60
Leaves are picked again and again over a long season. In a SKUAST-Kashmir trial, leaves were picked every 15 days, four times in each season.
Day 120 to 180
Last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Temperate Himalaya, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Keep the soil evenly moist so the leaves stay tender. Water regularly, and more often in dry spells. Drip irrigation saves water and helps keep moisture-borne disease down.1
What it needs
Soil, sun and warmth
Soil pH1
5.5 to 6.5
Well-drained loam rich in organic matter
SunlightNo published guide covers this for the Temperate Himalaya, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
At least 6 hours a day
Full sun. Light shade is fine in warm weather and keeps the leaves tender.
Temperature1,2
Grows best at 15 to 21 °C
Takes hard frost.
Monthly temperatures for the Temperate Himalaya aren't in the library yet.
Water and feeding
Watering1
Keep the soil evenly moist so the leaves stay tender. Water regularly, and more often in dry spells. Drip irrigation saves water and helps keep moisture-borne disease down.
Weeding1
Weed with care in the first month after transplanting, when weeds compete hardest for food, water and light.
| When | What | How much | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Field preparation, well before transplanting | Well-decomposed farmyard manure | 15 to 20 t per hectare | Work into the field well before transplanting |
| Field preparation, well before transplanting | Vermicompost (instead of farmyard manure) | 7.5 to 10 t per hectare | Work into the field well before transplanting |
Varieties and yield
15 to 25 tonnes a hectare
Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.
Khanyari
Kashmiri landrace with juicy, puckered leaves and a tall, little-branched habit; copes with warmer weather.
GM Dari
Kashmiri landrace with large flat leaves, suited to the cool season.
Hanz Haak
Kashmiri landrace, much branched, with rosettes of leaves on each branch that keep coming for many pickings.
Kawdari
Traditional Kashmiri type.
Anchar Haak
Traditional Kashmiri type.
Good neighboursNo published guide covers this for the Temperate Himalaya, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Pests and diseasesNo published guide covers this for the Temperate Himalaya, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Organic and cultural controls only.
Cabbage aphid
Signs
Grey-green clusters on the undersides of young leaves; leaves curl and turn pale.
What to do
- Wash colonies off with a strong jet of water
- Pick off and destroy badly infested leaves
Prevention
- Check the undersides of leaves every week in warm, dry spells
Cabbage butterfly
Signs
Yellow egg clusters under the leaves, then green or yellow-black caterpillars that eat holes in them.
What to do
- Crush egg clusters and hand-pick caterpillars
Prevention
- Grow a border row of mustard or coriander to draw in the wasps that feed on the caterpillars
- Cover young plants with fine net
Diamondback moth
Signs
Small green caterpillars that wriggle when touched and leave window-like holes in the leaves.
What to do
- Hand-pick caterpillars and remove leaves that are badly eaten
Prevention
- Clear old cabbage-family plants and weeds from around the field
Black rot
Signs
V-shaped yellow patches from the leaf edges, with dark veins.
What to do
- Pull out and destroy badly affected plants
Prevention
- Use seed from healthy plants
- Do not grow cabbage-family crops in the same plot year after year
- Destroy crop debris after the last picking
Damping off
Signs
Seedlings in the nursery fall over and die at soil level.
Prevention
- Raise the nursery on raised, well-drained beds
- Do not overwater the nursery
Downy mildew
Signs
Yellow patches on the upper leaf with grey-white growth beneath, mostly in cool, damp weather.
What to do
- Remove affected leaves
Prevention
- Keep the recommended spacing so air moves between plants
- Water at the base rather than over the leaves
Seed and the season's end
Saving seedNo published guide covers this for the Temperate Himalaya, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Keep a few healthy, true-to-type plants over winter and let them flower in spring. Keep them well away from other cabbage-family crops in flower, or they will cross.
When the seed is ready
Pods turn yellow-brown and dry, and the seed inside turns dark.
Cleaning the seed
Cut the seed stalks as the pods dry, dry them in shade for a few days, then thresh and clean the seed.
Store dry seed in a sealed container in a cool, dark place. It keeps well for about three years.
After the last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Temperate Himalaya, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Once plants send up flower stalks in spring, the leaves turn tough. Pull the plants unless they are kept for seed, compost them, and follow with a crop outside the cabbage family.
Pull the old plants once they bolt and compost them. Burn or bury plants that showed black rot rather than composting them.
Rotation
Do not follow with another cabbage-family crop for two to three years. Peas, beans, onion or a summer cucurbit are good next crops.
Sources
Where this comes from
Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.
These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.
- Kales and collards: superfoods for health and wealth (Indian Horticulture, September to October 2026)ICAR-Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Srinagar (Malik, Jabeen and others)Read the source
- Effect of plant density and integrated nutrient management on growth, yield, quality and economics of kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) in temperate region (Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 80(1), 2010)SKUAST-Kashmir, Shalimar (Naik and Gupta), published by ICARRead the source
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