BOK CHOY

[applestar]

You said after last frost, so this was last year? Starting from seeds sown direct outside is probably too late by then unless you live where summer temps are cool — 70’s to low 80’s at most..

Bok Choy/Chinese Cabbage is a cool weather crop, and needs to grow in cooler temps. Plus if they experience fluctuations from exposure to low 40’s 50’s then 75-80°F +, they bolt. Best as Winter crop where winters are mild. Fall crop timed to mature before temps fall below mid-20’s, or Spring is OK if you have long period of cool spring weather before the summer heat. Mostly get a jump on the season by starting seeds earlier in protected location — or buy started plants — to be planted out.

I’ve started seeds and am growing seedlings inside right now — it’s probably a bit early actually — they grow best around 60°F-75°F, and 55°F or lower can trigger bolting when temps go up. I do intend to use some kind of protection when I first plant out — low tunnel at least but am hoping to build a high tunnel — probably mid-March at earliest.

I uppotted the Red Dragon Chinese cabbage and Green Goliath broccoli to 72-cell tray:

This morning, I uppotted the largest of the mixed Asian greens — Bau Sin Kai Tsai, Kyoto No.3, etc. in the 200-cell [...]
Then I consolidated the Asian greens to make an empty row by popping a few in the emptied lettuce cells, then thinned the spinach from the square pot and popped them in the 200-cell.

...variety also makes a difference. Some are less prone to bolt — mostly hybrids. Some mature and form heads faster — usually smaller size, and some are looseleaf and don’t form heads so they can be harvested leaf by leaf as they grow. Also some are more cold hardy — in Japan, the farmers gather and tie the outer leave around each head and keep them in the field for harvesting later as long as temps don’t fall below about 27° F.

[pepperhead212]

Like applestar noted, planting bok choy seeds after the possibility of frost is gone is probably too late. Here, that would be around May 1st, when tomatoes go out, but I start bok choy, and other cold weather crop seeds indoors, around 3-10 to 3-15, depending on how cold it is that year, then plant outside around 4-5 to 4-10. This year, I already have some started, due to how warm it's been, and I might plant a few favorites later on. The best variety of all of the bok choys I have grown is Win-Win - a variety I have only seen at Johnny's. I have had those go well into July, before bolting, while most bolt much earlier, as well as smaller. And a similar green I've had trouble with bolting very early is Napa. These seem triggered by sudden temperature drops overnight, even though it may not go below freezing, and this often happens when they are very small. I haven't had this happen with bok choy, but maybe that's what happened with your variety. I'm taking a chance this season with a purple napa variety - I'm hoping the covered bed will prevent the sudden temp changes, and I won't get the bolting.

Something good about bok choy, and many other brassicas, is that they are still edible, if picked very soon after they begin to bolt, and you'll even find flowering bok choy in Asian markets. Unlike lettuce, in which the entire plant gets bitter, once the flowering starts, these are still good, as long as you get them soon after the bolting starts.

[digitS']

I think you have had real good advice, GUMBEE.

The problem likely was stress and the stress was probably temperature related. I am blessed (cursed ) with typical Pacific NW springs even though I'm hundreds of miles from the Pacific and beyond high mountains. The cool, overcast weather lingers for the entire spring season, most always. That means the bok choy and other Asian greens are happy here during that season. I can set out transplants and sow seed a couple of time during the spring. There are also bok choy plants under a temporary hoop house of plastic film.

Stir-fries are really how I have increased my garden vegetable use. I'm not much of a salad eater. For variation, I enjoy having a number of greens to stir-fry.

The dry summer weather comes and the brassica choices wind down quickly. It is always disappointing to me not to have the annuals for a couple of months. There will be bok choy, mustard, komatsuna, gai lan, and choy sum. Those last two are sort of "designed" to be eaten as they bolt. Bok choy will do just fine during the fall but it's kind of a one-shot deal.

Bok choy fits in so well and, yes, they can be eaten as they bolt. I think that I really like them best just before the flowers begin to open. However, that is a fairly rapid change - you have to pay attention at that stage. Oh, and I have little interest in the larger varieties. The dwarf Shanghai types are the ones for me .

Steve

[imafan26]

Asian vegetables are more heat tolerant than lettuce. I do grow them in Hawaii between November and May. The temperatures will be at least 60-80 degrees. January-February lows can be in the low 50's. However, this has been a warm winter. Except for the passing cold fronts, the night temps have stayed in the 60's. Bok choy can be anywhere from 45-70 days depending on the type. Gai lan, choi sum are mean to be eaten when they start to flower. Komatsuna can be harvested for leaves for quite some time. Gai Choy, bok choy, pak choi are usually harvested before flowering usually around 40 days. In cooler weather, it will keep longer.

I agree that you probably planted the seeds too late. Bolting is usually because of higher temperatures. It is hard for me to imagine your temps being higher than mine.