How to Grow Bok Choy (Brassica rapa subsp. Chinensis L.)

By Erin Marissa Russell

Ready to grow some bok choy ? This member of the Brassica kinsfolk has been cultivated by Asian gardeners for over 1,000 years . That ’s likely why most of us are most conversant with this cruciferous veggie as a part of Asiatic culinary art , served either on its own ( check out ourrecipe for grill baby bok choy ) or as part of stir fry , soups , congee , dumplings , egg roll , and noodle dishes .

Bok choy has a clean gustatory perception that falls somewhere between that of cabbage and that of spinach beet . Gardeners inUSDA Hardiness Zones2 through 13 can grow their own bok choy in their garden , in containers , or even indoors .

Bok Choy growing

First , you should be mindful that bok choy goes by a gross ton of different name calling with even more spelling variation . You may see thistasty penis of the Brassica familyreferred to as any of the following .

The classic bok choy is a immature biennial plant with white stems in the middle of each folio , but assortment are useable with unripe stems as well . plant grow in an upright gun barrel - work shaping with very thick stalks that resemble celery ( without the strings ) .

Bok choy uprise to reach heights between 10 inch and 24 inches with a 12 - inch spread , and the angry walk can stretch to height twice that of the rest of the plant . Baby bok choy is mostly less than 10 inches improbable . When the plant goes to germ , it produces a efflorescence stalk that grows from the center of the works and blossoms in the yellow four - petal cross that is unremarkably see with cruciferous veggie .

Bok Choy at the supermarket

Varieties of Bok Choy

Bok choy has a long account of cultivation , so there are a variety of heirloom and hybrid species that gardener can choose from . A selection is number below , with a bit of information about each one . Choose the case of bok choy that sounds like it will do considerably in your climate and with the soil and sun you have useable in your garden .

Asian Delight : Asian Delight is a unique variety of bok choy , with distinctive frilly leaves in a cryptical shade of emerald green with contrast white stems . It produce dense , succinct heads that are heavy even when harvested at the miniature or baby size . The flavor of this species is mild , and head grow up to 8 to 10 inches tall and 5 to 7 inches all-encompassing . This smorgasbord is exceptionally resistant to both heat and go off , ensue in a longer crop period and increase yields as compared to like variety that are not as adaptable — generating harvests of double the yield of similar variety or even more , as a matter of fact . grow as a winter crop is an choice in regions that have temperate atmospheric condition . 2018 All American Selections National award success ; 30 - 50 days to maturity .

Black Summer : Black Summer produce heads of dark green leaves that grow from low-cal gullible stems rather of the traditional bloodless root word . This potpourri performs well when the bok choy is allowed to grow to full size instead of being reap as mini or babe bok choy , though it is suitable for mini heads as well . Black Summer is get it on for being very slow to bolt , and it is a little pocket-sized than most bok choy variety show , grow to 10 to 12 column inch tall . 45 twenty-four hour period to maturity .

bok choy seedlings and chopped in kitchen with text overlay how to grow bok choy in the home garden

Ching - chiang : This variety of bok choy is an early maturing dwarf type that is excellent when harvested for babe bok choy . The Ching - Chiang species is a bit sturdier and stockier than most other gnome bok choy variety . It ’s known for its mild gustation and pinnace leaves that are light on the stringiness that can be galling with some types of bok choy . Ching - Chiang is well suited for planting in early spring , former summer , or precipitate , as it has been work to withstand heat , rain , cold , and moistness . 40 - 50 twenty-four hour period to maturity .

Green Pac : Green Pac bok choy gets its name from its classifiable cryptical dark dark-green ellipse leave of absence and pallid green stem . It is specially well suited for harvest home as a baby bok choy . When allowed to suppurate to full sizing , Green Pac reach meridian of 10 inches tall . 48 days to due date ( 21 days for baby bok choy ) .

Joi Choi : Joi Choi is a versatile type of bok choy that has been breed to tolerate both hot and cold weather , and it is also slow to go off , making it a versatile variety that is suitable for growing in a unsubtle orbit of climates . It is a loan-blend with white stem that contrast with the lustrous dour green leaves and is valued for its luscious leaves with mild flavor that is similar to table mustard viridity . Joi Choi is known for get on promptly , give rise in high spirits yields , and growing to big sizing , up to around 18 inches grandiloquent when finished growing . 45 - 55 sidereal day to due date .

Li Ren Choi : Unlike most miscellany of bok choy mean to be harvest as baby bok choy , Li Ren Choi creates heads that are proportionally shaped and completely fill out with obtuse , tightly packed leaves . Its pocket-sized size of it saves space in the garden and matures apace . prize for its tender sinister green leaves with wan green stems that have crisp texture and sweet smack . This variety tucket in chilly weather condition , so it can be sown repeatedly from late summertime until the middle of autumn . In some areas , Li Ren Choi can even be raise through the Thanksgiving vacation time of year . 40 - 45 days to maturity ( 21 - 24 days for baby bok choy ) .

Mei Qing Choi : Mei Qing Choi is celebrated for being the first bok choy hybrid green stem dwarf species that is both resistant to bolting and tolerant of both raging and insensate weather . Produces undifferentiated , compact , vase - determine heads with a thick , enceinte base and tolerant ellipse leave of absence in a fertile shade of viridity that are prized for their tenderness . This adaptable variety can be grown in spring or fall , and gardener in nerveless field can grow it in summertime as well . 40 - 50 daytime to maturity .

Red Pac / Red Bok Choy : Instead of the usual green leave-taking , Red Pak bok choy has leaves that are dark cherry purple or burgundy in chromaticity . Their pigment outcome in a meek spirit like to that of mustard greens . Red Pak is well suit for harvesting as baby bok choy . 45 days to maturity ( 21 days for baby bok choy ) .

Rosie : This hybrid salmagundi creates vase - shape heads backpack with leaves that are smart hemangioma simplex crimson , with greenish red stems . Rosie grows to tiptop of up to 12 inches tall if allowed to mature to stock sizing , though it is also well suited for harvesting as baby bok choy . This coinage is just as beautiful as it is tasty , and it is sometimes used as a mete plant in the garden . 45 days to maturity ( 21 for infant bok choy ) .

Win - Win : Win - Win produces miniature or full - sized bulky vase - shaped heads of gullible leaves on white stems that are slightly small with denser head than those of the Joi Choi variety — around 10 to 12 inch tall . This species of bok choy is renowned for the first-class flavor of its leaves . 52 days to maturity .

Growing Conditions for Bok Choy

Bok choy perform best when the temperature is between 64 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit , although plant life can survive in temperature up to 95 degrees and down to 27 degrees . However , gardeners should be cognisant that temperatures in surfeit of 75 degrees will ensue in tipburn , while more than a workweek of temperature that dip lower than 50 point will make plant to blossom and begin the bolting process when the atmospheric condition warms up again .

Some gardeners choose to delay planting until the conditions is warmer to avoid the danger of bolting , although this delay think of that bok choy plant life will present some serious heat while they ’re maturing . While there are heat - large-minded multifariousness available , experience hot weather condition while the head is constitute will cause the bok choy to form head that are less slow and leaves that are narrower than they would normally be .

Another way that gardener can warn bolt in bok choy when it ’s planted as a spring craw is to choose a location for bok choy plants that offer up partial shade , then verify to keep the plants consistently hydrate . Baby bok choy is also less probable to go off than standard sized bok choy because of the 10 to 14 fewer days required for baby bok choy to suppurate .

When days are short , the plant life will focus its resources on turn the foliage we wipe out as a veggie . Longer days will trigger the plant to pore instead on reproduction , triggering the increment of the flowering stem . Asian greens with small leaves than bok choy do better than it does over the winter , but in USDA Hardiness Zones 4 to 7 , bok choy may subsist through the winter if it ’s protected by growing under covering fire . However , once spring get , the plants will go to seed .

Choose an expanse in your garden for bok choy that offers full Dominicus if potential , though the plants will tolerate fond subtlety if needed . At lower limit , bok choy needs to get between three and five minute of sunlight each day to raise strong and healthy . check that the area where you plan to grow your bok choy has not been boniface to a Brassica crop ( such as broccoli , Brussels sprouts , loot , Brassica oleracea botrytis , rutabaga , or turnips ) in the former four year .

The plant prefers growing in sandy grime copious in food that drains well but also retains moisture to keep it useable for the plants . It will tolerate a pH horizontal surface ranging from 5.5 to 7.5 , but really flourish when the pH range is between 6.5 and 7.0 . ( If you are n’t indisputable of the pH storey in your garden , refer to our clause “ How to Test pH in Your Soil . ”

Prepare the ground where you plan to grow bok choy byamending the soilwithcompostor well - rotted manure andorganic fertilizer . pick out a fertilizer that has a high value for all three of the numbers separated by dash , because bok choy is a operose feeder that postulate spate of nitrogen , phosphorus , and atomic number 19 ( the nutrients the three numbers game represent ) .

How to Plant Bok Choy

Four to five weeks before the last expected frost of the spring in your arena , you canstart your bok choy seeds indoors . ( If you are n’t sure how to determine your last Robert Frost escort , you could find out in our articleHow to determine Your Last Frost Date or Freeze Date ) .

Do n’t transplant your bok choy seedling into the garden until the temperature is staying above 50 degrees Fahrenheit at dark — and if the temperature light below 50 degrees after you ’ve transpose your bok choy , cover the seedlings to protect them . If your young bok choy plants feel a prolonged period of parky conditions or a frost , they will think they ’ve gone through the winter season and will react by bolt .

If you prefer , instead of starting source indoors and transplant them , you’re able to wait until one or two hebdomad before the last freeze appointment in your area to sow your bok choy seeds directly into the garden alfresco instead . The seeds germinate relatively quickly , usually in about four to eight days .

Seeds should be planted between a quartern of an column inch and half an inch deep , with an inch of space between each plant . Once the seedlings are a few column inch tall , lose weight them out to at least six inches apart if you ’re growing full - sized bok choy instead of baby bok choy . For baby bok choy , thinly to four inches aside .

Care for Bok Choy

ensure to keep the soil equally moist as you wait for the seeds to spud and sprout . Do n’t allow for the ground to taste out while the seedlings are working to shoot . Alayer of mulchspread over the surface of the soil where bok choy is growing can help the soil to keep back moisture and also assert a cooler temperature . You may also care to arrange up floating run-in covers to help stave off some of the worm that incline to raven on bok choy plant so that you could reap leaves that are n’t full of holes and vile markings where insects have munched .

Succession planting bok choy seeds every few workweek will permit gardeners to have a longer harvesting period , during which they ’ll enjoy a continuous flow of bok choy from the garden . You ’ll require to stop planting once hot weather condition arrives , but midsummer is a expert time to start fresh industrial plant to transplant into the garden in the fall .

Bok choy plants ask lots and draw of water , especially if they ’re plant in the fall . A period of drought when the plants are allow to dry out out can cause them to go to seed , so make indisputable to give your plants plenty of body of water on a regular basis , and never let the undercoat where they ’re growing dry out between watering .

Garden Pests and Diseases of Bok Choy

Although it ’s a fellow member of the Brassica family , bok choy does not usually contend with the diseases that can plague other Brassicas . However , it does run to face infestation from a miscellanea of insect pests . Using floating course covers or otherwise protecting the crop can help oneself forbid gardener from facing these infestations . The pests and disease number below are I that incline to bear on bok choy craw in various regions .

Alternaria blight / Alternaria leaf berth : The hallmark of Alternaria are brown spots on foliage between half an inch to three twenty-five percent of an inch wide , which turn ignominious in people of colour as the fungus behind Alternaria begin to bring forth spores . Spots run together and merge as the disease progresses , discoloring total leaves to yellow and brownish or causing a scorched appearing . The disease strikes most often in June and July when temperatures are warm , in areas where dew forms in the morning , the humidness tends to be high , and the tune remains moribund without a breeze . The name “ Alternaria leaf patch ” and “ Alternaria blight ” are actually used to draw an entire group of fungous diseases triggered by several types of closely related fungus .

Alternaria tends to be a trouble in overcrowded garden because it spread via jazz , water splashing , or is transmitted by horticulture tools and equipment or the nurseryman ’s hands and clothing . The fungi that cause Alternaria can outlive over the wintertime on debris from septic plants , if it is left in the garden until the next time of year . blank this debris along with any fallen leaves out of the garden frequently to foreclose the disease , and also refrain from water plant from above and splashing the foliage . you’re able to also foreclose Alternaria by jell plants up with tidy sum of infinite between them for air and sun to circulate . Quarantine and desroy any infected plants ; they should not be eaten , fed to animals , or used in compost . Learn more about how to name , prevent , and handle Alternaria in our articleDealing With Alternaria Blight .

Aphids ( cabbage aphid , green peach aphid , potato aphid , turnip aphid ): Although there are many different varieties of aphid that can change in sizing and color , all of them are midget , and all can be found on the underside of the leave of infested industrial plant . Aphids suck the wet from the leafage of plant they are afflicting , so the flora show symptoms of distorted , dried-up , or misshapen leaves . you’re able to treat to get disembarrass of aphid with a homemade spray using one cubic decimeter of lovesome urine , four or five drops of dish goop , and a tablespoonful of neem oil . find out more in our clause How to Spot andGet Rid of Aphids with Organic Methods .

Bacterial sonant buncombe : The name “ bacterial soft guff ” is used to concern to an entire group of disease , which fuse result in more crop loss across the orb than any other flora disease . Bacterial soft rot effect in damage to the lush parts of crop in nearly every plant family , such as bulbs , fruits , stems , and Tuber . The woody contribution of industrial plant are not unremarkably affect . The disease can spread to all kinds of cruciferous vegetables as well as carrots , cucumbers , melons , tater , Cucurbita pepo , squeeze , and Lycopersicon esculentum . The worst damage happens when temperatures are between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit , especially when oxygen is scarce and the weather is sloshed . legal injury can be most severe when plants are in pauperism of calcium . Signs first show up as water supply - rob area that become sunken and gentle as they enlarge . Underneath these spots on the surface , interior tissues also become discolor ( swan in hue anywhere from emollient to black ) and mushy in texture .

Soft bunk are infamous for causing a inviolable unpleasant odor as they break down affected works tissue . Several unlike bacteria cause bacterial voiced rot , and they can enter industrial plant through punctures or wounds that ensue from harm from gardening tools , insects , severe weather , or innate openings in the plants . The bacteria can then travel from plant to found via means such as louse , contaminated gardening tools , or the movement of infected plant debris , water supply , or grunge . There is no treatment for bacterial soft rot ; impacted industrial plant must be get rid of and discarded . They must not be buried or used in compost .

Cabbage inchworm / Medicago sativa inchworm : wampum loopers face like green caterpillars with a distinctive “ curl ” gait exchangeable to that of the inchworm . They transmute into brownish greyish moths with ashen spots that , like the caterpillars , will eat holes in works foliage . you could manage them by using floating row back , pluck off larvae manually and douse them in unctuous water supply to stamp out them , come up egg from the undersides of leaves and toss away them , or deploy parasitic wasp to prey on them .

The natural pest controlbotanical Bt ( bacillus thuringiensis)is also an effective treatment against wampum loopers . ascertain more in our articleHow to Control Cabbage Loopers .

Damping off : Damping off is a disease that strikes when plant are at the seedling phase , make the tiny plants to shrink forth and become flat or fail to germinate at all . The term describes a group of fungous diseases transmitted through the land that are most prevailing with seeded player started indoors . However , plant life that are growing in the outdoor garden can also be affect if the soil they ’re produce in have too inhuman and wet . you could prevent damping off by using sterile potting soil and gardening tools and by not overwatering your seedling and verify they get fair to middling light and air travel circulation . Learn more in our article How to Prevent Damping Off [ https://www.gardeningchannel.com/how-to-prevent-damping-off/ ] .

Downy mildew : Downy mildew is a fungous blight that normally strikes when the weather condition is cold and wet . Affected plants will show bleary spore on the undersides of leave in specter of gray , purple , or Brown University . They may also expose stunted growth , contract other diseases , or drop their flowers and yield . The spore behind downy mildew travelling and diffuse via wind , insects , or plash pee . you could foreclose downy mildew by keep open moisture managed and pull in sure it does n’t get excessive in the garden , and you could treat it with an organic fungicide . Learn more in our articleIdentify , Prevent and Treat Garden job : Downy Mildew Fungal Disease .

Leafminers : Gardeners may see leafminers at any part of their life cycle : as ball , the larvae that tunnel through plant leafage , or as the moths , beetles , and flies that the larvae eventually spring up into . Plants that have been champ on by leafminer larvae will have wriggly line of reasoning in the foliage , and the larva may be seeable at the end of the melodic phrase as a sinister spot . It ’s crucial to catch a leafminer trouble before it gets too severe , or you’re able to lose entire harvests . you’re able to crusade leafminers with epenthetic white Anglo-Saxon Protestant that prey on the larva . Learn more in our articleHow to Fight Leafminer Insects .

How to Harvest Bok Choy

When you ’re growing bok choy to its standard size of it , expect a maturation full stop of between 40 and 60 days , depend on the variety you ’re mature . child bok choy unremarkably takes about three weeks ( 21 days ) to mature so that it ’s quick to be harvested . You should reap bok choy when it has between 10 and 15 leaves . If you wait too belatedly and the bok choy grows more than 15 leaves before you glean the plant , the taste of the leafage will twist sulphurous .

you’re able to treat bok choy as a “ cut and come again ” crop by cutting the plants off at about an inch above the ground . They will put out new leave of absence from the inch of leaf you leave behind , and although the 2nd round of leaves will never give the same size as they did originally , their sense of taste wo n’t suffer at all .

How to Store Bok Choy

When you ’ve just harvested a bok choy plant from the garden , you may keep it at room temperature for the first solar day or two . However , if you wo n’t be using it within two day , it ’s expert to lay in the bok choy in the refrigerator , where it will last for five days or longer .

If you need to store bok choy for longer than five days , your best option is to freeze it . After thoroughly washing the foliage , pale them in stewing H2O for two minutes . Remove the leaves with a slotted spoon , and transfer them into an ice water bath , let them soak for at least two minutes more . Then move the leaf to a cullender or onto paper towels or dish aerial towels to dry .

Once the leaves have dried , separate them into the portion amount you will utilise when fake . ( Use whatever amount makes sense for your family , whether it ’s one cupful or two or three cup per fate . ) compact each dower into a Deepfreeze safe credit card slide fastener bag ( removing as much air as you’re able to ) or into a formative intellectual nourishment store container that ’s made to be frozen , then place them in the deepest part of your deep freezer . The bok choy will stay good for five to six months in food reposition container or for 10 to 12 months in freezer safe slide fastener base .

As you could tell apart , there ’s a understanding that bok choy has been cultivated for centuries . It ’s a versatile crop that can be grown at several unlike prison term of year , as baby bok choy or standard sized bok choy , with red leaf or green , with blank or green radical — the options and adjustment are almost interminable , especially when you start learning about the various varieties of hybrid and heirloom bok choy that are available . When you set about develop your own bok choy , you ’ll see why this rewarding harvest has such a farsighted history , too . So why not implant some bok choy of your own in your garden ?