Bok Choy Growing Guide: Planting, Care & Harvest

Brassica rapa var. chinensis

Growing calendar

Typical timing for central Japan (Kanto region). Shift it for your own climate, and record your actual dates.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Sow / plantHarvest

Guides

Common problems

Start from what you can see on the plant.

Wilting Yellow leaves Leaves dying White powder Leaf spots Pests Fruit problems

Pests and diseases (26)

Problems recorded for this plant, most serious first.

Fusarium Yellows

Disease

Yellowing starts on the lower leaves, the petioles twist and the plant leans to one side. Vascular tissue browns, growth stops, and heading vegetables may die without ever forming a head.

White patches appear scattered on the upper leaf surface at first, then the whole leaf is coated in a white powder. Leaves later yellow, brown and die back, and reduced photosynthesis cuts growth and yield.

Sclerotinia Rot

Disease

The crown, stem or head rots in a water-soaked way and is covered in white cottony mycelium. Black sclerotia later form inside and on the surface, and the plant wilts and dies.

Black Rot

Disease

V-shaped yellowing spreads inward from the leaf margins and the veins darken into a black network. As it advances the whole plant wilts and dies.

Diamondback Moth

Pest

Larvae graze the leaf tissue from below, leaving the upper skin as white window-like patches. As they grow they chew many small holes and also attack the growing point.

White Rust

Disease

Creamy white slightly raised irregular pustules form on the leaf underside and burst through the skin releasing white powder. The upper surface turns pale yellow and heavy infection ruins appearance and market value.

Anthracnose

Disease

Light brown to dark brown round lesions with sharp margins form on leaves and fruit, slightly sunken in the center. In wet weather salmon-pink slimy spore masses ooze out on the lesions.

Bacterial Soft Rot

Disease

The crown or the head becomes water-soaked and soft, then collapses into a slimy mush. The rotting tissue gives off a distinctive foul odor.

Onion Thrips

Pest

Fine white stippled scars run in vertical lines along the leaf surface, and the whole leaf eventually turns whitish. Growth stops and both yield and quality suffer.

Root-knot Nematode

Pest

The plant wilts in the daytime and does not recover with feeding or watering. Pull it up and the roots carry beaded chains of galls of varying size with few fine roots.

Clubroot

Disease

Leaves wilt during the day and recover morning and evening, and growth is markedly poor. Pull the plant and the roots carry many spindle-shaped or irregular galls.

Verticillium Wilt

Disease

Only one side of the lower leaves yellows and wilts, and the symptom moves up the plant. Stem vascular tissue turns pale brown and the plant dies without ever growing well.

Downy Mildew

Disease

Pale yellow to yellow-brown angular lesions form on the upper leaf surface with a gray-purple mold in the matching spot underneath. Lesions merge, the leaves die back and the plant declines early.

Ring Rot

Disease

The bark of branches and trunk becomes rough and warty, serving as the inoculum source. Fruit develops round brown lesions that soften and rot in concentric rings.

Necrotic MosaicPythium RotMosaic DiseaseBottom RotWhite Leaf SpotFusarium Wilt and Damping-offBacterial RotLeaf RotYellowsAlternaria Sooty SpotAlternaria Black SpotBacterial Leaf Spot

Written byYasuGrowing vegetables and fruit in Chiba, Japan, and building Gadenin. Corrections are welcome. 15 years of growing.