Product Details

Brassica rapa var. rosularis. Tah Tsai pac choi seeds are a beautiful, easy-to-grow delight, the small, glossy, spoon-shaped, dark-green leaves with white stems grow in a perfect flat rosette. It adds rich colour, mild flavour, and nutrition to salads and stir-fries. Size depends on spacing so thin to 15-30cm (6-12") apart. It can be sown spring through fall. This plant is sometimes listed as tatsoi. Tah Tsai pac choi seeds are suitable for growing in containers, or growing for baby greens, or even microgreens. Grown as a baby leaf vegetable, this plant produces succulent, tasty leaves that enliven salad mixes.

• Matures in 40-50 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)
• Mild flavour
• Dark-green leaves with white stems
• Sometimes listed as tatsai
• Open-pollinated seeds

All About Tah Tsai

Latin

Brassica rapa chinensis

Family

Brassicaceae

Difficulty

Easy

We Recommend

Mei Qing Choi (MU553). For growers particularly, this hybrid variety is surprisingly uniform in timing and growth. The plants are beautiful and upright with crisp stems and very good flavour. It works well in the home garden, but sow short rows repeatedly, or you’ll be overwhelmed by it all coming at once. For Urban Gardeners: Toy Choi (MU522) works very well in containers and raised beds. It’s compact to the point of being cute, but tastes wonderful raw or cooked. Very nice, crunchy, succulent stems.

Season & Zone

• Season: Cool season
• Exposure: Full sun to partial shade

Timing

All are cool season plants that grow quickly and then bolt. Direct sow with frost protection (a cloche or heavy row cover) as early as late winter, or without protection from four weeks before the last frost date to eight weeks after. Sowing short rows every 2-3 weeks allows for a fairly constant harvest time. Sow again in late summer, and provide frost protection as the first frost date approaches.

Starting

Sow 3-4 seeds 5mm-1cm (¼-½”) deep in each spot you want a plant to grow. Thin to the strongest plant at a spacing of 15-20cm (6-6″) between plants in rows 30-45cm (12-18″) apart.

Days to Maturity

From direct sowing.

Growing

Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8. 1 cup of complete organic fertilizer will provide sufficient nutrition to 3m (10′) of row. Choi Sum is harvested just before it flowers, so keep a close watch on each row. Pac Choi can be harvested at any stage, but if you want full-sized plants, watch for signs of bolting. Flower buds will appear at the centre of each plant, and a stem will form quickly as the plant turns from urn-shaped into a tall cone. Harvest as quickly as possible once flower buds are visible. Keep plants well-watered throughout their growth.

Harvest

Use a sharp knife to cut the plants at ground level when they are ready to harvest. They will not grow back like some other crops, so plant several short rows every couple of weeks for a longer harvest.

Seed Info

In optimal conditions at least 70% of seeds will germinate. Usual seed life: 3 years. Per 100′ row: 260 seeds, per acre: 114M seeds.

Diseases & Pests

Slugs and woodlice (sow bugs) may nibble young seedlings. Keep the garden free from debris and excess water, where both of these pests like to go during the day. Protect plants from flea beetles and cabbage moths with lightweight row cover.