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Description
Brassica rapa chinensis. Pronounced "may-ching-choi." This hybrid Shanghai pac choi is tender, sweet, and crunchy. Short, compact plants are slow to bolt, but also cold-tolerant, for surprisingly long harvest periods. Mei Qing Choi pac choi seeds grow uniformly, with pale green petioles, and lovely, rounded, flat leaves. Perfect for early spring to late fall, and will overwinter with some protection. The secret to success with pac choi is to monitor your crop closely, because the plants can "bolt." This means that at a certain point in its growth season, the plant will send up a flower stock in order for pollination and seed production. This process is incredibly fast with pac choi plants, and can take only two days. Once the flowering process begins, the leaves lose much of their appealing taste and texture. It's best to sow numerous short rows of pac choi at two week intervals, so the whole crop does not mature all at once.
| Latin Name |
Brassica rapa chinensis |
| Difficulty |
Easy |
| Exposure |
Full sun to partial shade |
| Matures | 40 days |
| Starting |
Sow 3-4 seeds 5mm-1cm (¼-½”) deep in each spot you want a plant to grow. Thin to the strongest plant at a spacing of 15-20cm (6-6″) between plants in rows 30-45cm (12-18″) apart. |
| Growing |
Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8. 1 cup of complete organic fertilizer will provide sufficient nutrition to 3m (10′) of row. Choi Sum is harvested just before it flowers, so keep a close watch on each row. Pac Choi can be harvested at any stage, but if you want full-sized plants, watch for signs of bolting. Flower buds will appear at the centre of each plant, and a stem will form quickly as the plant turns from urn-shaped into a tall cone. Harvest as quickly as possible once flower buds are visible. Keep plants well-watered throughout their growth. |
| Germination Rate | 70% |
| Seed Life | 3 years |
Tender, sweet, and crunchy
Uniform growth
Slow to bolt and cold-tolerant
Hybrid seeds
