Brassica rapa chinensis
| Brassica rapa | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 7 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Life Cycle: | Biennial |
| Height: | 3' |
| Blooms: | Late Spring-Late Summer |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Brassica rapa chinensis (common name: pak choi)
Propagation: Seed - sow in situ May to August. Spring sown crops are prone to run quickly to seed if there is a spell of cold weather[1]. Some varieties can also be sown in a cold greenhouse in autumn or early spring to provide leaves overwinter and in late spring.
Cultivation: Succeeds in full sun in a well-drained fertile preferably alkaline soil[2]. Prefers a pH of 5.5 to 7[2]. Tolerates a pH in the range 4.3 to 7.5. Prefers a cool moist reasonably fertile soil[3]. The plant is shallow rooted and intolerant of drought, it needs to be grown in a moist fertile soil for the best quality leaves[1].
Plants are not tremendously cold-hardy, though they will withstand light frosts[4].
Pak choi is widely cultivated, especially in China, for its edible leaves which are produced mainly in the summer and autumn. A fast-growing plant, there are many named varieties and some can be ready in as little as five weeks from sowing the seed[5][1][6]. Forms with green stems tend to stand up better to adverse conditions than white-stemmed forms[1].
Range: A cultivar of garden origin.
Habitat: Not known in the wild.
Edibility: Leaves - raw or cooked[7][3][8][9]. They can be eaten at any stage from seedling to mature plant[1]. Well-flavoured, they are sweet with a hint of mustard[1].The leaves are also dried for winter use[1]. The leaves have pronounced stems and these can also be eaten, they tend to have a mild, almost bland flavour[1]. A nutritional analysis is available[10].
Immature flowering stems - cooked like broccoli[1]. A sweet flavour[1].
An edible oil is obtained from the seed.
Medicinal: The leaf is antiarthritic, antiscorbutic and resolvent[10].
Pollinators: Bees, self
Habit: Biennial
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: B. chinensis. B. napus chinensis. (L.)Schulz. B. parachinensis.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Larkcom, Joy. Oriental Vegetables. John Murray, 1991.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Larkcom, Joy. Salads all the Year Round. Hamlyn, 1980.
- ↑ Rice, Graham. Growing from Seed Volume 1. Thompson and Morgan, 1987.
- ↑ RHS. The Garden Volume 112. Royal Horticultural Society, 1987.
- ↑ Phillips, Roger and Martyn Rix. Vegetables. Macmillan Reference Books, 1995.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Oriental Herbs and Vegetables, Vol 39 No. 2. Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1986.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Duke, James and Edward Ayensu. Medicinal Plants of China. Reference Publications, 1985.