bok choy

I will like to know if any one in zone 6b winter sow bok choy or sow the seeds in doors

In z6 Virginia, pak choi was direct sowed in late March - early April , same time as radishes and again in late August for a fall crop. It only takes 45-55 days depending on variety. No reason you could not start indoors or in a cold frame earlier, I just never had the need to do so.

Thank you Farmerdill.
, I was just about to sow the seeds in a milk jug so I will wait and sow it direct in my garden bed. Do I have to thin the seedlings?

Yes they will grow well at 6 inch or better spacing, but don't develop well if more crowded than that. They transplant easily, so if they are too crowded, thin and transplant when they get a bout two inches tall.

How do ya'll cook those?

Like regular greens with some onion, BP, seasoning, and some seasoning meat?

They give a nice kick to fresh salads. Otherwise they are good in soups and stir frys. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/search.do?keywords=Pak%20choi

Thanks, Farmerdill!

I sow mine direct out side zone 5 A and it comes up when it will.

Bok Choy:

If anyone does start it inside, be aware that it will germinate fast and then grow fast.

If you have plenty of seeds, sow thicker and eat your young as microgreens (1-2 pair of leaves) or baby leaves (a few inches tall).

But if you have enough room in your garden, Farmerdill is right as usual: transplant them and grow 'em bigger.

Any that I have at 6" spacing, I'm likely to eat every other plant when they start to touch their neighbors, then grow the rest on at 12" spacing.

You can also harvest each plant a few leaves at a time, eating the outermost leaves first, which tend to be the most slug-eaten leavens.

You can cook the leaves like any greens, but there's no neded to boil them for long.

The stems, on the other hand, I would urge you to NOT overcook at all. They get too soft and gushy if you cook them more t6han a few minutes. Warm all the way through is plenty (in my opinion). And I like the stems raw and sweet best of all.


This message was edited Sep 25, 2014 10:40 AM

This year I started them by wintersowing in gallon jugs. I just planted them in a raised bed yesterday a.m. and am surprised to see how much they have grown overnight. Looking forward to growing them out but wanted to say they do transplant well. I'm growing a small container sized bok choy due to raised bed constraints.

They do grow fast! Did you have trouble untangling their roots?

I have a lot of seeds for an extra-dwarf white stem Bok Choy - recommended to harvest at 2 inches tall!

I'll share for postage.

Thanks for the seed offer, RickCorey. I may take you up on that after I see how these do for me. First year to grow it.

No problem untangling roots but I planted them after they got the first set of leaves so the roots hadn't become container bound.

>> first set of leaves

I'm still evolving my potting-out methods. It seems easiest for me to grow 1-2 plants in each cell, then wait until it is a little root-bound. Pop that in to the soil with no root disturbance.

But I don't think that is best for the plant.

"Pricking out" a very young seedling with a tiny root seems too earl;y for me to expose the seedling to all my slugs.

In my experience, rootbound causes one of two problems.

If you don't open up the roots, they will never grow correctly. When you uproot the plant at the end of growing season, you will still find the bound clump of roots with few feeder roots spreading out from the clump.

Conversely, if you untangle the root ball (which is recommended), the plant suffers a bit of delay or setback. For me when the plant is just developing their second set of leaves, it usually has a good tap or main root with smaller feeder roots starting to develop and the plant seems to take off well when set out.

But then I don't have issues with slugs so I understand.

I cook my bok choy with garlic and oyster sauce.
you can also add few drops of sesame oil.

Yummy!!! Belle

Thanks, Belle!

Could ya'll post some pics of what ya'll are calling "bok choy?" Is it more like a cabbage or more like a lettuce?

Pictures at the beginning of this thread.

Yeah. I figured that out after I hit that send button.....LOL!

Thanks, podster. I have to keep experimenting with my transplanting technique. bending is hard for me, and kneeling not possible, so "somewhat root bound" is handy for several reasons if I go directly from the plug tray or insert into the ground.

I should force myself to practice "pricking out" some babies when I plan to pot up indoors (sitting down). I'm too nervous about damaging that tiny tendril.

But you're right about "too root bound" never recovering.

Thank you, Brother Rick!

A pleasure. I one seed swap with a "pig" theme, we talk about "pimping our seeds" when we want to urge them upon people. I always buy bargain-size packets of seeds when I buy Asian Greens or tomatoes, so I can trade.

Anyone interested in trying some vegetables that are less common on this side of the Pacific Pond, let me know! I avoid the "spicy" mustard greens, so I mostly have only mild greens.



Bok Choy varieties:
http://cubits.org/ellasgarden/db/hogwildseedswap/view/95465/

Nine varieties of Chinese cabbage:
http://cubits.org/ellasgarden/db/hogwildseedswap/view/95614/

Other Asian greens like Tatsoi, Komatsuna, Mizuna, Gai Lan, herbs etc:
http://cubits.org/ellasgarden/db/hogwildseedswap/view/93248/

Misc Flowers & Crops :
http://cubits.org/ellasgarden/db/hogwildseedswap/view/17766/

Here are some Chinese cabbage: three tall Michihli and two oval Napa.

Let's see if I can get these other substitutes for spinach, cooked greens, lettuce, mustard greens and cabbage in the right order:

Tatsoi very sweet, very cold hardy - tender for salads
Komatsuna - also mild, very productive
Leaf Mustard, small Gaichoy, somewhat spicy
Mizuna (mustard: spicy)
Red Amaranth (for warm climates, I can't grow it.)

I have plenty of seeds of the first two types.
Mostly, I have Bok Choy and Chinese cabbage (Michihli and Napa) to trade or send for postage.

(I also have some Gai Lan varieties, "Chinese Kale / Broccoli".

I forgot to mention 'Tyfon' (Holland Greens)
O.P. 20-40 days to maturity, then you can cut-and-come-again every 30 days.
cut-&-come-again every 35 day
It is a stablized cross between stubble turnips & Chinese cabbage. Originally bred for a forage crop or a cover crop! But it is very mild and tender when young for bland salads or cooked greens that take on the flavor of what you cook them with. It is VERY hardy - down to 10 F, or -12 C.

How could I forget my favorite Italian Heirloom, 'Broccolo Spigarello'? Also called 'Spigariello Liscia' and Brassica oleracea var. 'Spigariello'. Leaf broccoli much milder than brocolli raab. Cold-hardy to 25 F after established. Mine over=wintered and then produced tons of seed.




No photo.

This message was edited Mar 19, 2013 7:07 PM

I planted michili once and I had too much !!! I made kimchee and gave them to friends.

I do not bother with them now because they are very inexpensive at the Asia store.

The last picture is amaranth. How do you cook them?

Belle

Brother Rick,
I think I'm growing Michihli cabbages #1 and #3, like in your picture. I never knew what they were.

I had some seeds for "Soloist" cabbage sent to me by another DGer. But, somewhere along the way, I was growing the Michihlis, too. Don't know where those seeds ever came from, but they sure look like what in you picture.

I was harvesting the leaves and using them like lettuce on sandwiches. Very nice crunch, almost like Romaine lettuce (which I love!)

Thanks for clearing up my confusion.

BTW, the two Michihlis I have growing have bolted and are making yellow blossoms. Do you want me to save some of the seeds for you?

Linda

Sister Linda,

Thank you! My first reaction was a passionate YES, but most commercial Michihili are F1 hybrid, so I "shouldn't" use limited bed space on them. And you might have to hold the bolted plants for weeks to get dry mature seeds.

But if you DID save a bunch, I would love to try some for baby-leaf "designer salad mixin's", and to test what the F2 variability is like.

I think that Asian greens' common-names are all over the map. Almost anything can be called either "Bok Choy" or "Chinese Cabbage" somewhere in the country. Latin doesn't help, because then they're all "Brassica rapa". The variety or "Group" names might have been useful, but everyone made up their own favorite versions like Chinesis, Pekinensis, Nipposinica, Narinosa, Rosularis , Parachinensis and Purpuraria.
Then Gailan is B. oleracea Alboglabra Group.

if you ever want to try some other varieties of Michihli, check my Have list. Mostly F1 except for a recent addition from Victory Seeds. ( # 3070011 ). 'Monument' Michihli claim s "Moderate tolerance for heat, cold & disease".

If you find any interesting ones online, I would split a pkt with you! I have some red or purple-leaf varieties of Bok Choy & Tatsoi, but not any red-purple Michihili or Napa.

Varieties of Chinese cabbage:
http://cubits.org/ellasgarden/db/hogwildseedswap/view/95614/

>> I had some seeds for "Soloist" cabbage sent to me by another DGer.

Maybe from Sequee?

>> using them like lettuce on sandwiches. Very nice crunch, almost like Romaine
Exactly!

P.S. Was this your first spring crop of Michihli?
Did you start it indoors?
Is it bolting in Texas because of the cold, or because of the heat ?
Or both at the same time? I hear that your "winter changes to summer overnight" during 'Sprummer'.

Both kinds of Chinese cabbage are said to prefer the shortening and cooling days of Fall.

I never got a crop of Amaranth big enough to think about eating. It kept waiting for "Summer", but here, "Summer" is like other peoples' "Spring".




This message was edited Mar 20, 2013 9:15 PM

Rick,
Not sure about that link...

Yes, yes, and, heat! They laugh at fall and mild winters!

Thanks, it was a bogus link.

Sigh! Yours are bolting from heat, already. I'm about 2 weeks away from my last frost date.
I have read about Texans losing tomatoes to heat, before I was ready to set mine outside unprotected.

Oh, well, I'll accept a few minor gardening challenges to avoid those months when you Texans can cook a TV dinner by setting it out in the sun.

For a while, it looked as if my "last frost" might have been 3-5 weeks AGO, then we got freezing rain and hard frost. As usual. I HAVE to build some hoop tunnels and/or cold frames.

All my crocuses, that had been TRYING to open for 2-3 weeks, went plop.

Do you all like kimchee??

Never had it...

It is Korean fermented chinese cabbage. Very strong. Try googling it.

Belle

Most is made much too hot for me (hot peppers). The very mildest I found was still too hot for me.

I've noticed that many of the more unusual Asian greens include "or for pickling" in their description.

There's a saying (I think in South China), that in North China: "They'll cook anything with legs except a table, and anything with wings except an airplane."

When it comes to Korean kimchee, I think you should check the ingredient list to see if they added a little pickled table-leg for the extra crunch. ;-)

Rick,

I learned to make it mild and DH likes it. the ones in the store are too hot for me.Actually it is an acquired taste , i like to eat it with grilled meats.

Belle

Uh, a recipe, please.....LOL!

I hated hot and sour soup, too, before I developed the "acquired" taste for it! Now, I love it!

Linda,

I will give the recipe tomorrow. i promise
Belle

Okie, dokie!

Have a great weekend!

Linda,

Here is the recipe for mild Kimchee:

nappa or micheli cabbage cut chunky
white oriental radish cut chunky
sweet onions cut chunky
fresh garlic-- several cloves sliced
fresh ginger few slices
low sodium soy sauce depending on how much you are making
sesame oil
crushed tomatoes--canned
hot pepper liquid as desired

Sprinkle evenly 1 tsp sea salt on the cabbage radish and set aside for 1 hour.
Drain well and thoroughly mix all the ingredients and set aside for 30 minutes mixing as needed.
place in a plastic or glass jar and refrigerate

The smell is not pleasant because it is fermented and it is an acquired taste so it is not for every one. it does not smell as bad as the ones from the Korean stores!! LOL!!!
Do not make a lot because it get very strong.

Again it is not for everybody. I love it with grilled meats or fish.

Belle

I enjoyed reading the thread. I've never planted Bok Choy but did buy and plant seed of Pak Choy the other day. If Bok Choy seed are as small as Pak Choy, I don't see how you plant them direct in to the garden. I had just planted some celery seed, probably the smallest seed I've ever seen, and just moistened the point of my knife blade and touched it to the seed and raked them off in the Jiffy 7 pellets I was planting them in. I don't have a clue how many seed I put in each cell.

Jim,
f you want to know more about the different asian veggies google oriental veggies or asian veggies.

When i use to plant them I sowed them straight to the ground and thinned them using as salad green.

Talking about small seeds, I will be planting Thai basil this year

Belle

Bok choy/ Pak choi is the same plant. also has many other names depending on language of origen: Pak Tsoi, Baak Choi, Bai Cai, Tsing Pak Choi,Shakushina, Pakchoi, Taisi, Cái Thuong Hai,Phakkaat Farang, Ang Chaithao,Petsay, Pechay, Petsai, Sesawi Putih, Pecal, Pecai, Samho,Sawi Puhit

Thank you Farmerdill