bok choy

I'll say on thing for the Pak Choi, it is easy to get up. It was up in 3 days. I sat have of it out in the garden today. It shanked up so quick and looked so spindly, I decided to set it out and hope for the best.

The celery is just now coming up and looks like a faint green dot in the cubes. It is going to fun to see how these two does. I just wanted to try something I'd never grown before.

I think the bigger white-stem Bok Choy are a little like celery - except they taste good! (YMMV)

I agree they pop up fast and then want OUT. They would be good for teaching kids seed-starting, because they are fast and easy and fairly early. Also, they MAKE you put them out ASAP because they grow so fast. No bad habits like I have, keeping seedling "in the nest" too long.

I always read that Bok Choy would bolt in frost, but not always. Some say that some varieties are frost hardy! I don't test that, myself.

I'm looking forward to trying some new things this year. We are both veggie eaters but get tired of the same old thing. I tried the Chinese cabbage a couple of years ago and didn't care for it. It was a little two mild tasting. I did like Swiss Chard but my wife didn't particularlly care for it. I'm hoping the celery does good, we both love good celery and it is difficult to find good crunch celery in the stores.

>> I tried the Chinese cabbage a couple of years ago and didn't care for it. It was a little two mild tasting.

I agree that Bok Choy and Chinese cabbage (Michihli or Napa) are very mild.

There are Asian Brassicas with somewhat more mustard flavor, or a lot. Like Komatsuna or Mizuna, or out-and-out regular mustards like 'Red Frills' Mustard (Brassica juncea Gai Choy. And Gai Lan has a lot of flavor.

By the way, any of these, even Bok Choy, get stronger or hotter or more mustardy if you let them go to full maturity and a little longer. And it seemed to me that when grown too dry, they got sharper. And at least some do get kind of bitter once they bolt. Pretty, though!

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This thread about bok choi and relatives is interesting. I just ordered a hydroponic growing kit for microgreens, and I am so excited to get it. I watch the food network all the time and have seen microgreens so often. I never know they were so easy to grow. I sprout seeds like alfafa at times, but the constant watering is a hassle. To be able to have the greens right in my house is neat.

I'm having problems getting my lettace to sprout. What could I be doing wrong? I thought lettace was the easiest thing to grow.

behillman, in order for anyone to help you will need to give us some info- what are the seeds in, where are they located, what medium did you use, etc.

For lettuce germination, I don't cover. Just sow the seed of the surface of moist, loose soil. Be sure to keep the surface moist. Seed germinates quickly.

behillman
Lettuce seeds need light to germinate. Also they need to stay moist all day.
Right now it is too late to seed lettuce ... even if you will be able to sprout them they will start to "bolt" = want to flower really soon.
I am one zone cooler than you and here are the two times of the year I seed lettuce successfully in Dallas: mid August (under some shade) and mid November.
Trust me ... I am turning green on how much lettuce I have eaten this year.

Try Swiss Chard. Mine is evergreen all summer long.

I'm a raised bed gardener and I make small rows across one of the beds to plant lettuce and othe small veggies on. For lettuce I just take my finger and make a slight impression in the soil and plant the lettuce and cover it lightly. The covering is to keep the wind from blowing them away. I mist them every day until I get a stand and they get rooted enough to go a couple of days without water. The raised beds will dry below the seed with the wind blowng every day is the reason for the frequen watering. The wind has been so bad this year I stretched cheese cloth across the bed. I only plant leaf lettuce.

I'll keep the other Chianese vegetables in mind to try next spring.

Jim,
Bok choys are good for fall too.

Thanks bellieg. This is my first to try them.

Thanks for all the info about the lettace. I have planted Swiss Chard in a pot. Do I transplant it after it gets bigger like l would do with the lettace.

Yes, chard can be started and transplanted with little disruption.

On the bok choy, it is amazing how it is growing even with these cold temps as well as being trimmed and feasted upon.

Did I understand correctly that you can grow Swiss Chard almost year round?

I have a flat of seedlings under lights (about 2.5" tall), and will put them out in a few weeks, in a breezy, bright spot, covered with tulle to keep the cabbage moths off of them...

I grew it summer and winter last year. I thought the spring planting did the best.

Thanks, Brother Jim!

>> Swiss chard, really grows for you all summer?

Me, too, at least one Japanese vaiety I grew. It got really b ig really fast if I didn't keep eating it.

But we have mild summers (75-80 F is really "hot" here). And I kept it well watered. And it had some afternoon shade.

Yes... the swiss chard will last the heat of our summer too. And it makes a pretty ornamental if you tuck it into a flower bed. I do prefer the new growth for summer use as it is more tender.

When I let my "Japanese" chard go without harvesting for most of a cool summer, it went up to 3-4 feet tall, and bushy. Will Swiss chard do that?

'Umaina' fudansu (Kitazawa #280)
Beta vulgaris subsq cicla group
Withstands heat & cold. Very slow to bolt.

All right, for anyone with experience at harvesting bok choy or pak choy seeds, at what point are they ready?

Do the pods actually dry on the plant or turn brown or start to split before harvesting for seed?

Guess I'm anxious as I want to replant that bed with other goodies.

Do the pods actually dry on the plant or turn brown or start to split before harvesting for seed?

They do turn brown and dry. I know that pods that are completely green have soft white "seeds" or zseed embryos.

I assumed that they had to be fully brown and fully dry and as c lose to splitting open as prac tical, before the seeds were fully viable. I've never tested that beyond cutting up some green pods and seeing white seed embryos.

When my Bok Choy bolts, I have so many pods that I don 't worry about losing some seed. I wait until some pods have split, then lay down newspaper or cardboard boxes, then cut or strip off all pods that look brown and old.

I leave behind pods that look unready to split for a few days or weeks, and cut them off when some of them are splitting.

So I use more patience than really necessary, so I can expect all my seeds to be old enough to be viable.

amxntransplant
yes, my Swiss Chard grow here all summer.
Right now I am harvesting a full basket every two weeks.
I steam it and it is so good !!

Harvest the seeds when brown before they split open. It is better to cut them with scissors and store them in paper bags.

Belle

Thanks RickCorey and Belle. I was afraid it would take more patience than I have. I guess I just need to build another raised bed. Will have plenty of seed for next years crop though.