Bok Choy, and other Asian greens

[pepperhead212]

I didn't want to hijack the chard thread any more, so I started another.

I have grown many varieties of Bok Choy, a.k.a. Pak Choy. And green stemmed bok choy is often called Choy Sum. Of all the varieties of bok choy that I have grown, Win-Win hybrid is the most resistant to bolting in hot weather, lasting well into July, in many cases. I have tried several that said they were heat resistant, but they weren't nearly as good. This year I have a new one I haven't tried before - Choy Sum Summer Boy. We'll see if it likes the summer.

I start all of my greens in small pots in flats - 72/flat. I only grow them for about 3 weeks from planting - they don't get too large, maybe 2 sets of true leaves, and they are ready to place in the ground. This way, I plant them 8" apart - along both sides of a line of T-tape - then cover with Agribon light, to keep cabbage butterflies out, as well as rabbits - the worst pest here. They can be harvested some after about 30 days. And bok choy, as well as most other Asian greens, are cut and come again varieties, which means the stalks around the perimeter can be cut away, and it just keeps growing, similar to harvesting parsley.

If you want a sample of those bok choy seeds brownrexx, PM me your address. I always have excess of those seeds, as there are several hundred in each packet - far more than I use in the several years, before they begin showing their age.

[hairymooseknuckles]

I ordered some too pepperhead212

I can't remember what I ordered though. Hang loose, I'll be right chewbacca.

[hairymooseknuckles]

Ok, here's what I got.

Yu Choy Sum with red stems
And
Baby Pak Choi with white stems

[brownrexx]

Today I started hardening off the seedlings from the Bok choy seeds that I received from pepperhead212 .

Such beautiful, bright green, little plants. Win-Win F1 and Choy Sum Summer boy.

Hopefully they will get planted under a row cover in the garden this weekend along with the cabbage and cauliflower seedlings that I purchased yesterday.

20180412_112131 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Lookin' good brownrexx! This is about when mine usually go in for the spring planting. Had to skip mine this spring, but Ill get the fall crop in, I'm sure. I usually start those at the end of August, and they go in around mid-September - a little late, compared to the usual brassicas, but Asian greens and kohlrabi are much faster, and that's mostly what I grow.

[brownrexx]

I got the Bok Choy and cabbage seedlings planted today under cover to protect them from the cabbage moths.

20180413_165252 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

What is that fabric you use for the covering brownrexx? You can see through it much more than the thinnest Agribon, which is what I use. And what widths is it available in?

[brownrexx]

I thought that you might like my fabric pepperhead212 , I like it because it lets in a lot more light and water than my Agribon and I can see what is going on under it better too. I don't remember the width because I bought it a few years ago to try covering my potatoes. It might be 56" but I don't remember. It worked until the potato plants got bigger but then the plants caused the fabric to have gaps at the bottom and the Colorado Potato Beetles crawled right under it.

There is a fabric called tulle which is a tighter weave but both can be found in the department of fabric stores in the section where they sell bridal veil materials or you can search for it online too. The mesh I use comes in all colors but I bought green.

Here is a close up to show you the size. Small insects can go through it but not butterflies and moths.

20180413_165222 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

That would work for my brassicas, brownrexx, but not the pepper maggot or ALM flies. And the width I use for the peppers is 120" - even 96" wasn't enough.

I had never thought of using that mesh I get at a fabric store for covering, though it may cost more /ft than those 250 ft rolls of agribon I get! I use the coarse mesh to line those cups in my hydroponics, when I pack them with coir.

[brownrexx]

pepperhead212, there is a finer mesh called tulle which may be wider and it would work for smaller insects like the ALM. It is that white stuff used for bridal veils. I like it because it is more durable that the agribon and I think that you can still see through it but I don't use as much as you do so cost is not a big factor.

[pepperhead212]

I'll have to check that out, brownrexx. Maybe there are some online sources for the wider tulle. I won't be sewing up narrow pieces, to make 30'+ pieces! LOL
Update: just checked out eBay and Amazon, and found a 50 yd bolt of 108" (which would be wide enough for me, as 96" was barely not enough) for $28 on eBay - cheaper/ft by a little, than my Agribon. Jo Ann fabrics had it on Amazon ($14 more), but maybe they sell it locally, so I could buy enough to cover one EB, to compare with the Agribon.

[brownrexx]

I planted my little Bok Choy seedlings in the garden on a really warm day 6 days ago. These are the seedlings that I grew from the seeds that pepperhead212 , sent me. the day after I planted them it got cold and miserable again and we even had some snow flurries. Last night we had a freeze warning. I checked on my poor little plants and it looks like they are all bright green, standing tall and maybe even growing a little. Those are some resilient little plants! I was pleasantly surprised.

[pepperhead212]

Most of the Asian greens I have grown are resistant down to the mid to low 20s. I usually plant them on 4-15,and have never had one killed by cold. Good luck with yours, brownrexx!

I got a sample of the 108" wide tulle @jo Ann's, just to see how it works for me. Way more /ft than buying it by the bolt, but I wanted to test it out first. And I got a 40% off deal they had on all netting!

[brownrexx]

pepperhead212, I bought my mesh fabric and tulle at JoAnn's too. I hope that you like it. I think that it lets in more light than the Agribon and it's more durable and tear resistant. I like the mesh over my cabbage plants because I can see them through it.

[brownrexx]

pepperhead212, my bok choy seedlings are looking great and I think that it's time to give it a try eating them. They have partial shade and they really seem to like it. The leaves look full and beautiful but so far I don't see them forming heads. Will they do they as they get older?

I am planning to just harvest some separate leaves and try some simple things first like stir frying in some oil. I'll take a pic when I remove the netting to pick some leaves. It is raining every day right now.

[pepperhead212]

brownrexx This is about when I usually start harvesting, around 30 days after transplanting. I just cut 2 or 3 stalks off of each plant, as this doesn't slow them up much. It's still a bit early for the heads, but eventually they will form, and it will be hard to cut them fast enough - like those greens of hairymooseknuckles! And I usually have 4 each of the ones he has, plus 8 of these, and some other oddball Asian greens. Eventually, in later June usually, they will start bolting, but they will still be good then - this is sold in markets as choy sum, or flowering boc choy. This is when I cut the whole plant. The flavor will be a little stronger, but delicious.

[brownrexx]

May 17, 2018 16:50:55 GMT -5 pepperhead212 said:

It's still a bit early for the heads, but eventually they will form,

Good to know, thanks, I thought that they seemed to be laying kind of flat even though the leaves look really green and healthy.

[paquebot]

My favorite is Toy Choi. Just over 30 days and only about 5" tall. Can be crowded down to 4" in the rows. Slow to bolt and can be planted spring or fall.

Martin



The truth is more important than the facts.

[hairymooseknuckles]

May 17, 2018 21:05:17 GMT -5 paquebot said:

My favorite is Toy Choi. Just over 30 days and only about 5" tall. Can be crowded down to 4" in the rows. Slow to bolt and can be planted spring or fall.

Martin



The truth is more important than the facts.

Good to know, Buddy.

[brownrexx]

pepperhead212 ,I was checking the garden when I saw that my smallest Summer boy bok choy had bolted! I was not expecting this. I checked the other plants and do not see any evidence of bolting in either the Summer Boy or Win Win. I did pick another Summer Boy so that I can cook it before it gets the idea to bolt too. I think that the holes in the leaves are from slugs because I did see a few.

20180613_171630 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

20180613_171918 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Looks great, brownrexx, but here it is bolting before summer! lol And it's the smallest, on top of it, so you just never know. As I noted, the Win Win always lasted longest, even next to some varieties that were supposed to be growable all summer. Fortunately, it is still good after bolting, unlike lettuce.

I'll be interested in finding out how the flavor compares to Win Win.

You might be getting more bolting soon - I just saw high temps coming in this direction. Up to 95° on Monday! I know it's a little cooler there, but I'm sure it will still be up there.

[brownrexx]

pepperhead212, summer Boy bok choy #2 just bolted today but the win-win is still looking good.

[pepperhead212]

Well, you have some Yu Choy now, brownrexx. This is a Chinese term for flowering green bok choy.

[brownrexx]

pepperhead212, how is your bok choy doing this year? I was just in the garden and one of my win win had bolted and 3 of the plants stems have turned purple. The others are pure white. Have you ever seen this before?

I am surprised about the bolting because it has not even been very hot. I grew another variety that someone gave me from Renee's and it was just called White Stem. All of those plants bolted about 2 weeks ago.

[pepperhead212]

My bok choy didn't grow very well, @brownrexx. I just uncovered it yesterday, and only one of the other variety had bolted, but all had some holes in them, as if slugs had eaten on them, yet not one of my other greens was touched by them! Really strange. I shoild have added some N to the row; even though I hadn't gotten the soil test results, the one thing they always need is N. I was not myself then, as that was around the time my sister passed, and I hadn't uncovered them, until now. I added some fish fertilizer, and some kelp, before re-covering them. Usually, they are so large when I uncover at this time that I don't re-cover them, as I won't even notice a few nibbles by the rabbits, but not this time!

[brownrexx]

pepperhead212, what do you think about my purple stems? Have you ever seen this before? I think it's kind of weird.

[pepperhead212]

I've seen some get sort of purplish, but never noticed any difference in taste brownrexx. It's probably a genetic thing, as there are purple bok choy varieties, and this is probably how they developed them - saving seeds when they saw some starting to get purple, and keeping it up, until the whole plant was purple!

[brownrexx]

pepperhead212, The purple ones are actually Summer Boy not Win-Win but only 3 plants out of about 8 are purple and those 3 are all together.

[hairymooseknuckles]

pepperhead212,brownrexx,

One question. I got a little carried away sprinkling seeds. Shhhhh, don't laugh. These are Semposai. Can I seperate them like I do tomatoes? I know tomatoes are pretty tough cause I always plant several per disk and then seperate them into cups later, but I never tried doing that with greens.

[pepperhead212]

You could probably separate a lot of those, hairymooseknuckles. Just loosen up the soil well, as the roots are probably well in there by now.