Pak Choi is up!

[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

[Millymollymandy]

Mine are in semi shade, maybe that is why they have done well. But then early sowings of things like lettuce do fine, it's the summer ones that bolt due to heat. Mine are purple and look very pretty.

[PossibleBoris]

My pak choi have sprung into life in the last few weeks, and I've had a few of the baby leaves as salad - delicious. Can't wait until they're fully grown and I can get them in the bamboo steamer.

[dave45]

Try stir-frying them in oil with (lots of) garlic and ginger.. then add/stir in oyster sauce and serve immediately.... the green bits wilt but the stalks are nice and crunchy. The ones I didn't pick the other day are starting to bolt...

btw let a few go to seed - they make cute little pods, which rattle when they dry out... dead easy to save the seeds for next year.

[PossibleBoris]

Just to confirm the above - I have around 10 or 11 Pak Choi's up at the moment - of which 4 have immediately bolted, 5 are healthy and a couple are about to bolt. It looks like I might have to make a late July-August sowing

[Millymollymandy]

Mine were looking lovely then all of a sudden during the wet gloomy weather I noticed they'd all gone to seed!

Pulled them up this morning and found it was all dry under the tree in the shade there, despite 70mm ish of rain this month!!!! Never mind, they were more pretty than tasty and I have tons of other veg anyway that I can't keep up with (like 6 diff kinds of lettuce).

[grahamhobbs]

I only bother growing pak choi in autumn/winter because of tendency to bolt in warm weather and the purple pak choi is definitely "more pretty than tasty" compared with the normal White stalked varieties.

[wabbit955]

mine all went to seed
but stir fry the seed tops there great
put more in now seam to be doing better this time

[dave45]

btw our chickens love pak choi, bolted or not.... sorry to say they have ended up with most of mine !

[Millymollymandy]

Thanks Graham, never really eaten it before anyway. The young leaves are better in a salad I reckon than bothering about it stir fried. Chickens weren't that impressed either!

But I do like a bit of pretty in the potager so will keep on sowing a few of them as it seems such an 'easy' veg.

[PossibleBoris]

To those stating that they aren't that tasty - try them lightly steamed when the leaves are large. If you don't like them then, fair enough!