There are different types of Pak Choi that are also suitable for the German garden or balcony. We present the best varieties in our overview.
Pak Choi (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis) is a vegetable widely used in Asian cuisine, it is used in soups and fried in a variety of dishes. But there are also varieties for cultivation in the home garden for our latitudes. You can buy bok choy at most garden centers. Rarer varieties can be found at speci alty nurseries like Deaflora. There is also a possibility for balcony or terrace owners to plant pak choi, the so-called mini pak choi. The Pak Choi varieties differ in taste, size, color and harvest time. We have listed the best varieties for hobby gardeners for you below:
- 'Joi Choi F1' is a fast-growing, bolt-resistant Pak Choi variety. It is extremely robust with white leaf stems and dark green leaves, needs a little more space than other varieties.
- 'Sagami' has large, dark green leaves on thick white veins. The famous variety is very productive and tastes delicately spicy and sweet.
- 'Tatsoi' is a very compact variety with deep green leaves and white petioles. The whole plant can be harvested or individual leaves can be harvested from the outside inwards.
- 'Misome' is an extremely compact variety with light green leaf stems. It is very common in Germany.
- 'Taisai' is a vigorous growing variety with fleshy, white petioles. Good tasting bok choy with high yields, ready to harvest in 50 to 65 days.
- 'Red Choi F1' forms dark red leaves on light green stems and is therefore a real eye-catcher. Medium-sized plant, the young leaves can be harvested as a babyleaf salad or as a whole plant.
- 'Arax' is a seed resistant Pak Choi variety that produces green and burgundy colored leaves on lime green stems. The taste of this Pak Choi is mildly spicy and slightly sweet.
- 'Extra Dwarf' can be harvested as Baby Pak Choi after 50 days. The tender, juicy oneswhite petioles with dark green leaves grow to a height of about 15 centimeters. Heat tolerant variety for summer growing.
- 'Mei Qing Choi' grows very compactly with light green petioles. The variety grows in a vase shape and is ideal for growing mini pak choi in tubs on the balcony or terrace.
Pak Choi is sown directly into the bed from July or grown on the windowsill in April and planted out until the end of July. You can find out what you should consider when growing pak choi in our special article.