Kale advice (garden in Hawaii)

[mendozer]

I'm visiting parents in Hawaii and helping them start a greens garden like the one I have in Seattle. I planted chard, kale, pak choi, and collards. The Tuscan Kale, despite being a hardy plant, was being destroyed by something. I found caterpillars under the leaves one night, so I started a spray treatment of neem oil/mild detergent. Since then, no caterpillars seen, but the plant now exhibits brown spots almost like "burning". It is obviously hot here in Hawaii during the summer, but it's watered adequately.

Another tidbit: their clay soil is junk so I added ratios of Amend, compost, chicken manure pellets, planting mix, and a bit of Oscmocote pellets for fertilizer. Is it possible I overdid the nutrient additions to this already established plant? the seedlings aren't suffering. Also, the chard, zucchini, red kale, and others are doing fine. Just this one tuscan Kale.

I picked off the burned, hole ridden leaves today.

[Northernfox]

There are a number of Products available that attack these types of crops. my sister in law grows them as she really enjoys her leafy greens. she covers them during the period the parent species is flying around and then keeps a vigilant eye on them after. There are plenty of organic solutions such as nematode containing sprays that can help keep the bugs at bay.

good luck and I hope someone who has successfully beaten this affliction can respond