CHINESE CONTAINER GARDENS - Growing Chinese Vegetables in Your Own Backyard - page 194

Or grow mizuna indoors all winter. While it grows well in full winter sun, it doesn't
require it and will thrive under lights or in a partly sunny window. In the summer, it
may (again like lettuce) do better in partial shade, although it will only wilt, not bolt, if
it gets too hot. Grow this exactly like Chinese mustard.
Flowering Kale, page 78
Brassica oleracea Acephala Group
If ever there was a natural for container gardening, it is flowering kale. The plant is
compact, easy to grow, beautifully colorful, and deliciously edible. As if all that weren't
enough, it even comes in miniature varieties to accommodate any container situation.
I like flowering kale best when grown alone, one to a container. Nevertheless, it
is an excellent bedding plant and combines well with other vegetables or flowers. A
4-inch pot will hold one miniature variety, an 8-inch pot will hold one regular-sized
plant.
You can grow flowering kale outdoors in the sun or indoors under lights. The mini-
ature size is particularly attractive for indoors. The only difficulty with growing it in-
doors is that it needs cold weather to develop color. Until its foliage is “turned” by cold,
it looks like a particularly lovely dark green cabbage with purple veins. If you grow it
indoors, you may have to put it outdoors until the temperature has done its job.
Plant in midsummer for a fall crop. Start seeds in small flats for transplanting, or
sow directly in the container where they are to grow. Cabbages grow on “stalks” that
must be covered with soil, or else the weight of the head might break them. If you plant
seeds directly into their permanent containers, leave space in the pot so you can add
soil; it should come right up to the bottom of the mature cabbage head. Taking this into
account, sow seeds ½ inch deep. Fertilize after a month.
The cabbages make the best eating when young, before they turn color. The colors
are so beautiful that you may want to let them mature. As a compromise, eat the thin-
nings and leave one or more to develop color.