Pak Choi is up!

[happyhippy]

Hi all,went out in the veggie garden today and to my surprise the pak choi seeds I planted just over a week ago are up!!! My purple sprouting broc is nearly ready to eat so can't wait for that!

[Dave]

Hurray!!!

[Millymollymandy]

Ooooh I have some purple pak choi so will bung some seeds in soon then.

We now have 4 out of the 5 beds dug and ready to rock and roll (the last one is a mess of PSB, purple curly kale and some lettuce sown last autumn which is just coming to life - but the weeds in there are horrendous. ) Never mind I don't need this bed until June.

[PossibleBoris]

My Pak Choi went in last weekend - one lot in the patch, another lot in the propagator. The latter shot up in a few days and will have to be shifted asap! Such a delicious veg, lightly steamed and drizzled with soy sauce.

[niknik]

never got around to trying it cooked! I just eat "au maturel" in salads!

[PossibleBoris]

I highly recommend it - I lightly steam it for 2 minutes in a bamboo steamer. It's still crunchy, but warmed through and is a great way to eat the larger leaves.

Be warned, if you oversteam it - it's dreadful!

[Millymollymandy]

Mine has just come up too - but I am worried that it might be attacked by flea beetle. Looks horribly like little brassica seedlings......

[Odsox]

I understood that Pak Choi should be sown after mid-summer or it runs straight to seed, or have they produced non-bolting varieties now ?
Can't say that I'm a great lover of any Chinese cabbagey type vegetables, they all seem watery and tasteless.
But then, I know I'm weird.

[happyhippy]

Just re read the back of the packet,and it definately says plant outside March to June?As for the taste,I cook alot of stir fries mainly because we work alot and its quick and healthy so I am growing it for that reason.

[gregorach]

Just re read the back of the packet,and it definately says plant outside March to June?

I've always found the damn stuff bolts like crazy at the best of times, but especially if you plant it before mid-summer. Only way I've had any success with it at all is to plant it late and use it as an autumn / winter green. Unless I'm getting it confused with a different oriental leaf...

It's also my experience that a lot of what's written on the backs of seed packets is, errr... somewhat "questionable", if not outright lies and misinformation. A cynical person might even come to suspect that they want you to waste your seed...

MMM: Yes, I'm afraid they are susceptible to flea beetle. Same goes for all the other "oriental" leaves I've tried.

[happyhippy]

It might also depend where in the UK you are when you sew it! I planted some the year before in March and it was fine.So far this crop is looking pretty good too!

[Millymollymandy]

Just re read the back of the packet,and it definately says plant outside March to June?

I've always found the damn stuff bolts like crazy at the best of times, but especially if you plant it before mid-summer. Only way I've had any success with it at all is to plant it late and use it as an autumn / winter green. Unless I'm getting it confused with a different oriental leaf...

It's also my experience that a lot of what's written on the backs of seed packets is, errr... somewhat "questionable", if not outright lies and misinformation. A cynical person might even come to suspect that they want you to waste your seed...

MMM: Yes, I'm afraid they are susceptible to flea beetle. Same goes for all the other "oriental" leaves I've tried.

Cheers for both those bits of advice - someone on another forum told me they should be sown late summer (and that flea beetles liked them) but of course I was following the advice of the seed packet which says they can be sown all through the season (like lettuce). Will let the flea beetles have a munch then try again later on from mid August, which is when I am able to plant out my kale and PSB and sow radish and rocket!

[cocobelle]

I ate pak choi just recently. Unfortunately though I didn't grow it myself. I made a soy, ginger and honey dressing to go with it. It was really good

[happyhippy]

cocobelle that sounds really nice!I am about to pick some of my Pak Choi tomorrow!

[MKG]

I've always had the Pak Choi bolting problem before - that or the dreaded flea beetle. This year, I sowed it in a trough-style planter in a shady corner and put one of those one-year-and-it's-fallen-to-bits minigreenhouse cum cloche things over it with the zipped panels open and rolled up. Very little sun, then, and it got watered when I remembered.

I now have a dozen large and perfect Pak Choi plants ready for eating. I only did it because the planter was spare.

Mike