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Vegetable Gardening

Baby bok choy

13 years ago

So I planted baby bok choy from seed and now have about 40 plants. But I'm not sure when they are "done". They don't have as firm of a head as the pictures show, but they are about 1 1/2 feet tall. The stems look kind of like a loose bunch of celery. Any ideas when these should be picked? Can they get too big? I am going to try some today but I'm not sure if I am picking too early or too late.

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Comments (4)

digit
13 years ago
I don't think that you can really be "too early" with them, Karen.

Too late and the leaves become a little coarse. If you wait especially late, they will send up a flower stalk. Don't necessarily give up on them at that point, however.

If you leave behind the, by now, coarse lower leaves - the flower stalk should be tender and sweet, right up until the time that the flowers begin to open. Of course, it is nice if the stalks are, at least, pencil-size.

Think of them as Broccoli Raab when they approach the flowering stage.

digitSteve
mauirose
13 years ago
1 1/2 feet tall sounds like regular bok choy or maybe even komatsuna if the stalks are as loose as you describe. Baby boks usually grow into the 6 to 8 inch range for me. i wonder if you got mislabeled seeds?
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karen_pgh
Original Author
13 years ago
I googled konatsuna and that looks like what I have! The seeds say Baby Choi , but the picture on the package looks nothing like what is growing.

I picked a bunch, and the stems are about 10-12 inches long and thin before it begins to leaf. Kind of shaped like a wooden spoon.

There's no sign of any flowering yet, but also no appearance of a head forming.

I'm going to saute it tonight and hope I like it!

Thanks for your responses.
namfon
13 years ago
Karen,

If you still have 40 plants you could harvest some this weekend and see how you like it and then see how it looks and tastes over the next couple weeks also.

Nam

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