Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
• good head development and resistance to bolting
• resistance to myriad fungal diseases
• ability to overwinter well
• further details at cabbage
DISEASES AND PESTS
Chinese cabbage is susceptible to everything that besets regular cabbage (see
Brassica oleracea
for the full suite), but those same diseases and pests seem to cause even more dam-
age to its tender leaves.
CULTIVATION HISTORY
This is an important vegetable in China, with both heading varieties and vari-
eties that form a rosette of leaves. Chinese cabbage is used in salads, sautéed, or fermented like
sauerkraut to preserve for the winter. In temperate Europe, it is grown for harvest in late autumn and
winter for winter salads, as it withstands colder temperatures and stores well, longer than lettuce.
BOK CHOY, PAK CHOI
Brassica rapa
ssp.
chinensis
Like Swiss chard, bok choy (UK: pak choi) develops wide ribs and long leaf stalks; unlike Swiss
chard, it has the mild, spicy flavor characteristic of brassicas. It grows quickly and, whereas most vari-
eties are better adapted to growing in autumn, some varieties tolerate the heat and humidity of summer.
If plants bolt before they produce ripe leaves, no worries: flower stalks can be steamed and eaten as
well. Young plants can overwinter outdoors in mild-winter areas and leaves can be harvested all winter
long.
Propagating bok choy is much easier than propagating Chinese cabbage. Bok choy is grown bienni-
ally for seed. Since it grows so quickly, there is plenty of time to select plants to grow for seed from
late summer seedings. Where possible, overwinter outdoors with frost protection or overwinter young
plants indoors in pots. Bok choy can also be grown as an annual for seed by seeding as early as pos-
sible, though selection opportunities are starkly reduced. Bok choy has been grown in China since the
5th century; it is unclear when it first arrived in Europe.
Brassica rapa ssp. chinensis in the field
COURTESY ISTOCKPHOTO/YANGYIN
