SAFLAX - Organic - Chinese mustard cabbage - Pak Choi - 300 seeds - Brassica rapa supsp. chinensis
Lightly harsh Asian touch for fruity summer salads
Useful information: Pak Choi is closely related to the Chinese cabbage. It grows loose heads with light, thick leave veins. Its spoon-like leaves are of dark green colour, reminding of Swiss chard. Pak Choi has a slightly mustard-like and aromatic taste. You can harvest the leaves already about 6 to 8 weeks after seeding. Since it contains a lot of moisture, Pak Choi should be used preferably fresh. Harvest the pressure-sensitive leaves with care. Raw and chopped, Pak Choi goes well in salads. When cooked, it provides also a good base for Asian dishes. Even its stalk is edible which makes it well suited for salads with sweet and fresh ingredients like apples and grated carrots. Adding nuts, sunflower or pumpkin seeds would provide the final touch. If you prefer to cook or steam the Pak Choi, you may do so only briefly to preserve a firm bite. Cooked in a pan or wok it only takes about 3 to 5 minutes preparation time. Pak Choi can be nicely combined with various mixed vegetables, as well as with mushrooms.
Natural location: Pak Choi is native to the Asiatic climate zone, particularly to China, Taiwan and Japan.
Successful cultivation: You can start cultivation from January until March in a wind-sheltered cold frame with a fleece cover for frosty nights, or in pot on your windowsill. Plant three seeds per planting hole about 1 cm deep into coconut substrate or organic vegetable substrate. After germination, you can prick the seedlings out leaving only the strongest one. It will take about four to six weeks after seeding until the seedlings have properly developed. A temperature between 15° and 20° Celsius would be ideal for germination. Starting from the end of May, when there are no frosty nights ahead anymore, and as soon as the seedlings have developed a proper rooting, they can be planted out in the open. Provide some underlining/padding with compost and place the seedlings deep enough into the soil so that the roots are covered with about 1 cm of earth. Leave about 40 to 50 cm space between the plants.
The best location: The plant has high nutrient demand and grows best at a sunny place of the vegetable patch and in well-grounded, nutritious soil with a good water storage capacity.
Optimal care: The plant requires watering and nutrition regularly. Water generously, especially on hot days, but avoid water-logging. Weeding and loosening the surrounding soil from time to time will be rewarded by the plant producing a better harvest and flavour. After planting out, you may regularly provide your Broccoli with organic vegetable fertilizer until about two to three weeks before harvesting.
In the winter: The plant should be re-seeded every year.