Christian1971
Cool Member
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu Dec 25, 2014 5:25 pm
Location: West Central Minnesota

Chinese Cabbage

I ordered several packets of different chinese cabbage. I made the mistake of first ordering from evergreenseeds. Apparently they are not the most reliable source for timely shipping and germination rates of seeds. I hope I am wrong. :oops: Because I felt I should have done my homework, I then purchased from a reliable source. The name eludes me at the moment. Anybody have experience growing chinese cabbage?

Christian1971
Cool Member
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu Dec 25, 2014 5:25 pm
Location: West Central Minnesota

I will ammend my evergreeseeds comment if the experience is a positive one. I was probably unfair considering I had just made the online purchase.

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I grow lots of Chinese cabbage. I usually get my seeds from Kitazawa, they are cheaper for the seed weights and Kitazawa sells seeds that actually do well in Hawaii. I also get some seeds locally from Fukuda seeds, Aloha Aina and the University of Hawaii seed program.

Asian seeds are becoming more available and I have gotten them from Renee's garden and Johnny seeds. But I get more choices of varieties at Kitazawa.

Pak Choi- White stem cabbage also called Pe chai good for soup and stir fries
Bok choy- mostly green stem they come in standard and dwarf sizes. I prefer the baby boks for steaming or stir fries.
Won Bok- Napa cabbage. There are two types. One is the barrel type and the other the Michili type which is taller and more pointed. The barrel type is supposed to be sweeter, but since it takes up the flavor of the sauce, I don't really notice and the Michili has less issues with black rot and white rust
Kai Choy or Gai Choy, Mizuna, tatsoi - Mustard cabbages mostly for soups, they can be pickled or stir fried.

They are cool season vegetables. They will not take freezing but will grow from about 40-75 degrees.
I amend my soil with compost and my soil tests at a pH of 7.4 and I only need nitrogen so I don't add anything else. You add whatever you need based on your soil test. Cabbages actually don't mind a slightly alkaline soil.

I start my cabbages in community pots and transplant them out. They will grow direct seeded, but then I will have to thin them out and I am not good at doing that. Most of the cabbages will need about a foot. The Won Bok spreads out more like head cabbage so it needs twice that and it takes the longest since it does not form a head until the very end. Mizuna can be cut and come again. It grows in a clump and all of the leaves can be sheared off and put in salad or soup. It is less bitter when the leaves are young.

My main problems are heart rot and black rot (especially on head cabbage and the Won bok), and white rust. Hirayama Kai Choy offered by the University of Hawaii is resistant to white rust. Heart rot and black rot are caused by soil borne fungi. Solarizing and tilling often helps but when the disease is bad, there is nothing else to do but change the locatiion, the fungi can persist in the soil for years. The mustard cabbage does not form a tight head so the rots are less of a problem. If you have cabbage butterflies they will attack them so grow them under netting and make sure there is a good seal at the ground level otherwise Bt and hand picking are other options.

Plant in succession, otherwise learn to make kim chee. The cabbages will all be ready at the same time and it is hard to eat or give enough of them away.

I grow :
Tatsoi (small mustard green, looks a little like spinach has a milder bite than the other mustard)
Mizuna - cut and come again. It is traditionally eaten on New Year (at midnite) in ozoni, mochi soup. It is a mild mustard, when young it is good in salads, it can also be stir fried and also for soup
Kai choi- mustard cabbage, pungent, it can be pickled but usually it is made into pork and cabbage soup.
Pak choi (pe chai)- white stem cabbage is preferred by Filipino cooks. They add it to fish stews, It is good for stir fries, and soups. I like the Joy choi hybrid it can be eaten small or it will mature to 18 inches. It is bolt resistant so it can handle more heat which is something that I need. Dwarf pak choi is a white stem baby bok.
Mei Quing Choi, and Shanghai- green stem bok choy. Mei Quing Choi and petite star are dwarf cabbages. Petite star usually only grows about 5 inches. Shanghai can be picked young for baby bok and it has thick petioles it gets about 10-12 inches if allowed past the baby bok stage.
Yu choi sum- flowering brassica. The flowers and flowering stalk are what is eaten and it is mild and used a lot for stir fries. You want to harvest when the flowers are mostly buds.
Kin Tsai- Chinese celery or leaf celery. It has a stronger celery flavor than celery but is easier for me to grow in my hot climate. I could not get stalk celery to grow here. It cannot be eaten as celery sticks and because it has a stronger more bitter flavor than celery, it is good for soups, stews and I do put it in potato salad but I would use 1/4 the amount. The seeds of kin tsai are usually sold as celery seed on the spice rack. It is a biennial for me so it lasts a long time and I can go out and cut a couple of leaves whenever I need it. It is better than the limp celery stalks I have in my veggie bin.
Kailaan or Gailaan- Chinese broccoli. It has a mild flavor and is used in soups or stir fries.
There are red varieties too, but I have not tried them.

https://www.kitazawaseed.com/seeds_mustard.html



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