Gadenin日本語Get the appBaby or full size is a decision you make with the knife
There is no separate baby crop in any meaningful sense. A bok choy plant cut at three to four weeks and four inches (10 cm) tall is a baby head, and the same plant left to seven or nine weeks is a full head with a heavy white rib. What decides which you get is the spacing and the day you cut.
That gives you a useful way to run the bed. Sow at the close spacing, then cut every other plant as baby heads at three to four weeks. The ones left standing are now at full spacing with no transplant check at all, and go on to make full heads. Two harvests from one sowing, and no thinning wasted.
| Cut at | Height | What you get | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three to four weeks | 4 to 6 in (10 to 15 cm) | Whole small head, tender rib | Halved and grilled, or steamed whole |
| Five to six weeks | 7 to 9 in (18 to 23 cm) | Firm head with a distinct rib | Stir fry, rib and leaf cooked separately |
| Seven to nine weeks | 10 to 14 in (25 to 35 cm) | Heavy head, thick white rib | Braising, soup, pickling |
| Any time | Outer leaves only | Leaves for repeat picking | Salad and quick cooking |
How to tell a head is ready
Judge by the rib rather than by height. Squeeze the base of an outer leaf between finger and thumb. When it is thick, firm and squeaks slightly, the plant has filled. A rib that flexes easily is still a week away, whatever the top growth looks like.
The other signal is the shape of the rosette. A plant still opening outward is bulking. When the inner leaves stop leaning out and begin standing upright and cupping together, growth is finishing and the plant is at its peak. Leave it much beyond that and it starts a flower stem instead of filling further.
Feel down into the center of the rosette with a finger. A hard rounded lump at the base of the inner leaves is the flower bud already forming. Cut that plant today, because it will not improve.
How to cut
How you cut decides whether you get one harvest or several, and whether the head keeps for a week in the fridge or goes limp by the next day.
- Cut in the morning Cut early, while the plant is full of water from the night. A head cut in afternoon heat goes limp within hours and never crisps up properly again, even in the fridge.
- Whole head, just below the crown For a whole head, slide the knife into the soil and cut across the stem about half an inch (1 cm) below where the leaves join. Cut any higher and the head falls apart in your hand.
- Or leave the stump in Cut about an inch (2.5 cm) above soil level and leave the stump in the ground. In mild weather it pushes a flush of small leaves from the cut face within two weeks, which is worth having in autumn.
- Or pick outer leaves only Snap outer leaves downward and outward at the very base so no stub is left to rot. Take no more than a third of the plant at once and it will keep producing for several weeks.
- Wash the base last Grit collects between the ribs at the base. Split the head lengthways and rinse it under running water rather than soaking it, which makes the leaf go soft.
If it has already started to flower
A flower stem does not make the plant useless. A bok choy flower shoot is the same thing as choy sum: the stem, buds and top leaves are sweet and tender as long as you catch them before the yellow flowers open. Snap the stem at the point where it breaks cleanly and cook it like sprouting broccoli.
The lower leaves on a bolted plant are the part that goes tough and peppery, so strip those and compost them. Once the flowers are open the stems turn fibrous and the crop is over. Pull it and get something else in, because a bolting brassica left standing feeds aphids for the rest of the season.
Storage
Whole heads keep for a week to ten days in the fridge if you stop them drying out. Do not wash before storing. Wrap the head loosely in damp paper inside a perforated bag so it stays humid but not wet. Sealed in a bag with no air movement, the outer leaves go slimy within three days.
Bok choy does not freeze well raw, because the ribs collapse to water. Blanch chopped ribs for ninety seconds and leaves for thirty, cool them in ice water, drain hard and freeze in portions. It comes back as a cooked vegetable rather than a crisp one, so freeze the surplus from a big autumn cut and eat the rest fresh.
Cut heads keep far better than plants pulled with the root attached, which is the opposite of some leaf crops. Leave the root in the soil and lift it separately when you clear the bed.