Growing Pak Choi

Pak Choi Harvest

Pak Choi Harvest

Pak Choi is a striking crisp Chinese vegetable with a bright white vein running through green leaves and down into the stalk. It is a fast growing crop and can be used in salads, stirfries or can be steamed. Pak Choi doesn’t require a lot of water as its roots are fairly shallow. Pak Choi belongs to the cabbage family.

Sow Seeds: July to September
Harvest: September to December

Where do I Sow? Raised Beds or Pots/Containers.

Varieties to Choose from:

iGrowVeg has grown the following varieties, click on the links for more information:-

Other Suggested Varieties:

  • Canton Dwarf by The Organic Gardening Catalogue – Baby Pak Choi with bolt resistance.
  • China Choi by The Organic Gardening Catalogue – good frost resistance.
Pak Choi

Pak Choi

How To Sow Pak Choi Seeds

You will need:

  • A Raised Bed or Pot/Container,
  • Pak Choi Seeds,
  • A Trowel or garden cane,
  • Multi-purpose or potting compost,
  • Watering can,
  • Plant Labels.

Instructions:

  1. Refer to your own seed packet or take these instructions as a guide only.
  2. Fill up the pot/container with multi-purpose compost. Add some multi-purpose compost to your raised bed and rake level.
  3. Use a trowel or garden cane to mark a straight line (a row or trench) into the soil approx 1 inch deep.
  4. Water the row lightly.
  5. Open the seed packet and sow the seeds thinly if possible (but you can thin later) in the bottom of the 1 inch deep trench.
  6. Cover the seed with a sprinkling of compost.
  7. Water the compost well.
  8. Label the row at both ends.
  9. The seeds should not need watering again until they appear above the soil as seedlings. If sowing in pots, check the soil regularly as pots dry out quicker than raised beds.

How long will it take for seedlings to appear?

1 to 3 weeks depending on weather conditions.

Thinning the Seedlings
When the seedlings have been growing for about a 6 – 8 weeks, they may be growing too close together, therefore you will need to thin (pull out) a few of the seedlings to leave gaps for the seedlings to grow into bigger plants. You can thin as many times as you like, over the course of the plant growing.

If you feel a plant will need more room to grow, before you pull out the plant next to it, double check you do actually want to remove it. Sometimes crops can grow close together, you will just get a reduced size plant as it is competing with others in close proximately.

When the seedlings are young it is worth not thinning too harshly, leave most in place to help for those seedlings you may loose to pest or disease attacks. Then thin the weak seedlings to remove them from your plot to leave the strong growing plants.

Growing Tips

  • Pick off any brown or yellow leaves as they appear at the bottom of the plant as these may give shelter and food to slugs and snails.

Pests and Diseases of Pak Choi

Click on the links below for more details on symptoms, prevention and treatments.

  1. Greenfly,
  2. Slugs and Snails,
  3. Caterpillars,
  4. Root Fly,
  5. Flea Beetle.

Recommended Winter Vegetables to grow with Pak Choi are:-

Other Links you may also find useful:

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