How to grow Bok Choy

Brassica rapa · Pak Choi

A fast-growing Asian cabbage with crisp white or green stalks and dark green leaves. It likes cool weather, grows best at 15–20 °C and can be picked as baby leaves or as full heads.

Quick facts

Type	Vegetable
Family	Brassicaceae
Light	Partial shade
Soil pH	6–7
Frost	does not tolerate frost
Soil for sowing	from 10 °C
Germination	7 days
Seedlings ready	28 days
Sowing to harvest	45 days
Where it grows	Greenhouse, Open ground, At home

When to plant

Sow for seedlings about 5 weeks before planting out.

Plant out in open ground about a week after your last spring frost, once the soil is warm.

In an unheated greenhouse everything moves about three weeks earlier.

The first harvest comes about 45 days after the shoots appear.

Frost dates · When to plant

Care

Greenhouse

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 1 days	—	—
Seedlings	every 2 days	—	—
Growth	every 2 days	15…20 °C	nitrogen, at the start of the stage
Harvest	every 2 days	—	—

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 1 days	—	—
Seedlings	every 2 days	—	—
Growth	every 3 days	15…20 °C	nitrogen, at the start of the stage
Harvest	every 3 days	—	—

At home

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 1 days	—	—
Seedlings	every 2 days	—	—
Growth	every 2 days	15…20 °C	nitrogen, at the start of the stage
Harvest	every 2 days	—	—

Growing notes

Light

Full sun or partial shade; 2–6 hours of direct sun is enough, though growth is slower.

Soil

Fertile, moisture-retentive, well-drained soil rich in organic matter, pH 6–7.

Care

Plant out only after the last frost — a week of nights below 10 °C or a frost can make young plants bolt. Space plants about 20 cm apart. Keep the water supply steady to prevent tip-burn. Give half the nitrogen before sowing and half at planting out. Cut baby leaves from about 30 days, or whole heads at 45–75 days, before they flower.

Pests and diseases of Bok Choy

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.