Pak Choi, Chinese Cabbage (aka Chinese Greens), Mizuna & Mibuna are all fundamentally grown in the same way and they have different culinary uses according to the maturity of the plant when picked. They can be grown as a baby leaf salad when the leaves are young while semi-mature plants can be used in salads, stir-fries & other Oriental dishes as well as being used as a cooked vegetable like spinach or cabbage when fully matured. Mizuna and Mibuna are popular in Japanese cookery and have a peppery flavour. They make a good cut and come again salad crop but can also be used as a cooked ‘green’ when mature.
Soil & Growing Position
Asian greens prefer a sunny spot in fertile, well-drained soil. If you are growing it for baby leaf, it will only take around one month from sowing to harvest and reaches full maturity in just over two. It makes an ideal crop for containers or raised beds.
Sowing from Seed
Sow seed thinly from April up to July at a half inch depth, in rows a foot apart. For larger heads, grow further apart at 15”. If you only intend to grow baby leaf then it can be planted closer together and if you wish to make earlier or later sowings for this purpose then do cover with cloches or growing tunnels.
Growing on & Young Plants
Seedlings should be thinned to 3-4” for baby leaf , 8” for larger plants and up to 12” for mature heads. Keep the thinnings for use in the kitchen.
Crop Care
Just like spinach, these veg can run to seed during dry conditions so water well during dry spells to prevent this.
Harvesting
Harvest from very small, as ‘microleaves’ for use in sandwiches and salads, to slightly larger as baby leaf salad, to larger leaves for stir fries, as and when required.
Mature Chinese Cabbage heads can be stored in a frost-free shed after cutting or in the fridge. Just as you would with spring cabbage, cut a cross into the stump left after cutting off the heads in order to encourage the growth of either smaller heads or cut and come again leaves.
