A fast-maturing Asian green that delivers crisp white stalks and tender dark leaves in as little as 45 days from sowing.
Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis · also called pak choi, Chinese white cabbage
Windows are counted from the average date of your last spring frost.
Bok choy matures quickly enough for multiple harvests per season and tolerates light frost, making it one of the most productive cool-season crops per square foot. Both the stalks and leaves are edible, reducing waste.
A little history. Bok choy belongs to the turnip subspecies of Brassica rapa and was selected in China for its non-heading, spoon-shaped leaf stalks. Unlike heading cabbages, it forms a loose rosette and does not require a cold period to develop its edible structure.
Sow seeds ¼ inch (6 mm) deep, and aim for 6 inches (15 cm) between plants once thinned. Keep the top half-inch of soil consistently moist until sprouts appear; do not let the seedbed crust over or dry out between waterings. Seedlings emerge in 4–7 days.
Water deeply every 2–3 days in warm weather; every 4–5 days in cool, overcast conditions. Water when the top inch of soil feels dry to the touch. Aim for about 1 inch per week including rain.
Side-dress (scatter fertilizer along the row and water in) once at 3 weeks after germination; repeat at 5 weeks if growth looks slow. What to use: balanced 5–5-5 organic granular or a nitrogen-forward compost tea to support leafy growth.
Pinch off any emerging flower stalks immediately to redirect energy back into leaf and stalk production; once bolting is advanced, harvest the whole plant rather than trying to reverse it.
It's ready when harvest when the plant is 6–10 inches tall, stalks are firm and white, and leaves are deep green and fully open but before any flower stalk emerges from the center. Cut the whole plant at soil level with a sharp knife, or remove outer leaves individually starting from the base, leaving the central growing point intact for continued production.
Unwashed, loosely wrapped in a damp paper towel inside a plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper drawer; use within 5–7 days for best texture.
Sow a new row every 2–3 weeks from early spring through 6 weeks before first fall frost to maintain a continuous harvest and avoid a single glut.
Carrot
Carrots pull water and nutrients from deeper soil while bok choy feeds in the top few inches, so the two can share a bed without fighting. Give each its own row so harvesting carrots does not lift shallow bok choy roots.
Celery
Both want steady moisture, rich soil, and cool weather, so one watering schedule suits them equally. Celery's upright stalks take little sideways room, leaving the bok choy rosette open to light.
Onion
The strong smell of onion foliage can make it harder for cabbage worm moths and aphids to locate bok choy by scent, though the effect is most noticeable under light pest pressure rather than a heavy infestation.
Nasturtium
Aphids often settle on nasturtium stems before moving to nearby greens, concentrating the problem where you can see it. Check the nasturtiums weekly and cut off and bin colonized shoots, or the trap becomes a nursery.
Dill
Dill's flat flower heads feed hoverflies, lacewings, and tiny parasitic wasps that hunt aphids and cabbage worms. Let a few plants flower at the bed edge rather than crowding the bok choy row.
Strawberry
Old companion charts have long kept strawberries away from cabbage-family crops, but no mechanism has ever been demonstrated. If you separate them, do it for the practical reason: strawberry runners sprawl over a bok choy row and block airflow.
Tomato
A tomato is a heavy feeder that shades and out-roots a fast, shallow-rooted green, and bok choy grown in that shade during summer heat bolts (shifts from leaf growth to flowering) quickly. Keep bok choy in its own cool-season bed.
Give the cabbage family 4 years away from this spot before any of its relatives return.
The tomato family, the pea and bean family or the carrot family thrive in this ground next season.
Bok choy is a heavy feeder that leaves soil drawn down on nitrogen and little residue behind. Keep all cabbage-family crops out of this bed for 4 years to limit clubroot and black rot. Follow with legumes such as peas or beans, then nightshades or carrot-family roots.
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