How To Grow Pak Choi

Nutritional Content

Pak Choi contains Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, and other minerals required for the healthy growth of a person.

 Food Preparation

Pak Choi can be eaten raw or cooked. 

Varieties

Varieties include Gracious, Butterstick, Single Spoon Stick, Double Spoon Blade, as well as other Tropical varieties.

Seedlings can be purchased from the garden shop or can be produced by sowing seeds. 

Sowing Seeds 

Seeds can be sown using a seedbox, Plastic tray or Styrofoam seedling tray.

Before sowing your seeds, you will need to prepare your seedbox or seedling tray.

 Seedbox Preparation

1. Fill your seedbox or seedling tray with a sterilized potting mix.
2. Using a piece of board or your hand, gently flatten the potting mix to a depth of approximately 1cm from the top edge of the seedbox.
3. Moisten the potting mix thoroughly.

You are now ready to sow your seeds!

Seedling Tray Preparation

Sowing seeds in a Styrofoam seedling tray

1. Fill a bucket with your potting mix.
2. Moisten the potting mix in the bucket by adding water and allowing the potting soil to absorb the water.
3. Take the moistened potting mix and fill it into the holes in the seedling tray.
4. Remove the excess potting soil by scraping it off with your hand or a piece of wood.

 

Your seedling tray is now ready for sowing seeds!

Seedlings in a small Seedbox

Thinning Out

Thinning out helps to give seedlings more light and room for root development, and prevents the incidence of disease. 
Seedlings are thinned out when they have 2 or 3 leaves.

Thinning out Seedlings

Systems of Farming for Cultivating Pak choi

Pak Choi plants are shallow-rooted and can be cultivated using traditional farming systems or other farming methods such as the Grow Box system, Hydroponic system or even aquaponic system. 

Two basic systems, the traditional system and grow box system will be discussed below.

Soil Preparation for Traditional Farming System

·    Turn over the soil using a garden fork.

·    Prepare soil to a fine tilth by breaking up large clumps.

·    Organic matter or compost can be added to enrich the soil.

·    Make holes for seedlings 20-30 cm within rows and 30-40 cm between rows. Larger spacing can be used for larger varieties. Too large a spacing, however, tends to produce ugly plants/heads.

Soil tillage and bed formation for traditional farming method

Soil-less growing medium preparation for grow box system

The growing medium that will be used in your grow box must be properly prepared before filling into your grow box:

https://thegrowbox.blogspot.com/search/label/Growing%20Medium%20for%20the%20grow%20box

Growing medium preparation for grow box system

Transplanting Seedlings

Seedlings are transplanted when they are at the 3-4 leaf stage. 
They should be spaced 20-30 cm within rows and 30-40 cm between rows. For the grow box system, the smaller distance can be used since you will be attempting to get maximum crop production in a small space.

Watering

Water daily in the absence of rainfall. 
Do not allow the soil to splash onto the leaves of plants during watering.

Watering pak choi plants in beds where traditional farming is practised

Watering pak choi plants in the grow box system

Fertilizing

 Apply a complete fertilizer (e.g. Nutrex) after seeds have germinated (3gm/litre of water), and again one week after transplanting. One litre of solution per 10 plants. Two weeks later, apply 5gm of dry, complete fertilizer to each plant and continue treatment every fifteen days until the crop is harvested.

Pest and Disease Control

Caterpillars are the primary pest that attacks Pak Choi plants. Other pests may include Aphids, Plant Lice, and Bachacs.

Pak Choi is susceptible to Web Blight which is identified by the webbing together of leaves, eventually causing the plant to die. It is spread when infected soil comes into contact with plant leaves.

Pests and diseases left unchecked, reduce the plant's ability to be a good producer of food. They can be controlled by the use of cultural practices, biological agents, chemicals or a combination of these, otherwise called Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

Harvesting

Harvest by removing the entire head from the soil and trimming it off.

Harvesting pak choi grown in the traditional method of farming

Harvesting pak choi from a grow box