Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Asian greens are sow easy to grow
It used to be that autumn could be a season of slim pickings in the vege garden but that has vastly changed with the addition and increasing popularity of Asian greens.
And just like many other gardeners, I am confused over their names. Pak choi or bok choy, NZ Gardener deputy editor Mei Leng Wong recently asked. Luckily for us, she had the answers in a comprehensive guide.
I have grown some of these and try to add a new variety to the vege bed each season – most of them hailing from the brassica family – including bok choy, pak choi, kailaan, non-heading tat-soi cabbage, choy sum (flowering pak choi) cutand-come-again choho, as well as large, head-forming Chinese cabbages.
And what I have learnt is that Asian greens are hardy, disease resistant and most are very tolerant to the cold so are perfect for growing at this time of the year. You can sow seeds from February-October in most parts of the country and plant seedlings from March until November.
They can grow in pots, enjoy full sun and are a great starter plant for beginners. So just how easy are they?
Well, this is what I know. You need to sow the seeds directly into well-turned soil in a sunny spot in your garden. Brassica seeds are very small, so don’t sow them too deeply. They only need to be lightly covered with soil to stop them blowing and washing away. Germination takes anywhere from five days to a fortnight depending on the species, and thinning will be required once they are grown (you can use the young seedlings in most dishes).
I water seedlings with a fine spray in the morning. And we all know that you have to protect sweet seedlings from slugs, snails, birds and caterpillars until they’re big enough to hold their own. Snails in particular can mow down an entire bed of seedlings overnight, so you need to be vigilant.
Once the weather gets really cold, the snails will go into hibernation and the caterpillars will disappear.
For thinning, my 60-year-old neighbour who grew up tending vege fields in his native Laos, says large cabbages should be pricked out to 50cm apart, tat soi needs 20cm of leg-room, bok choy can be 15cm apart and space leafy choho seedlings at 5cm intervals. Of course, he knows these greens by a different name.
If you’re a salad fan, Kings Seeds has an “Oriental mesclun” blend that’s great for growing in winter. It has nine species and matures 60 days from sowing but it can be picked from long before that.
WAIT BEFORE REMOVING CROPS
Unless they’re diseased, don’t be hasty casting out your old crops. Most solanaceous food plants (like tomatoes and capsicums) are perennials in their native lands and while it’s true that tomatoes have trouble seeing out a single season, capsicums and chillies can survive for a couple of years in warmer districts, and often produce better and earlier crops in their second year.
In warmer parts, it’s not unusual to be picking chillies in the depths of winter. Container-grown capsicums often last for a year or two, especially if moved into a glasshouse over winter.