Bok Choy / Pak Choy - Brassica rapa

[Tucson Grower]

Well, a few month ago I planted Bok Choy, two varieties, one a large white and the other a dwarf/baby variety. They grew just fine, then I went to harvest them and discovered they were infested with some butterfly/moth larva which had destroyed their crowns - they were basically ruined for eating, but did the compost good. I'm now growing a second crop, in this cooler weather, and farther spacing. Though they're growing well, they're growing much slower. Time to harvest looks like it will take an extra month, from 2 to 3 from sowing to harvest. I'm just hoping the lepidopterans won't still be active in the cold.

[Tucson Grower]

Sure enough, a little later and a bit colder has nearly eliminated any pests. I'm now growing some in three 15-gallon pots, 3 in each of two pots, and 2 plants, thinned from the other two pots, in the third pot. Oddly enough the two by themselves are much smaller than the plants in the other two pots.

Anyway, it is my first time eating, home grown, fresh Bok Choy. It's delicious, much better than store bought. To stretch out my harvest, and because I can only eat, so much at one time - I'm harvesting by carefully bracing the plant with my left hand and gently pulling largest outer leaves from the crown (they detach almost cleanly) of the mother plant. I figure I can continue harvesting this way, until the plants begin blooming - then I can let them go to seed.

[chrysanthemum]

I’ve done that “cut and come again” method with Napa cabbage before (I’ve never grown bok choy), and it works well. I still have wire baskets over my Napa, but it’s getting hit by flea beetles. I probably need tulle over the wire baskets.

It’s definitely my experience when I plant in shorter daylight hours in order to have the cooler temperatures that days to maturity are much longer, sometimes even twice as long as what would be in the summer months in a more moderate climate.

I suspect that your two smaller plants that were thinned from the other two pots sustained some root damage during their thinning and are still recovering from that. I replant twinnings, too, and observe that they are often stunted, sometimes so much so that it isn’t really worth the space where I replanted them. Baby bok choy is delicious, though.

[Tucson Grower]

chrysanthemum; What's really helped me with flea beetles is yellow plastic Dixie cups, coated with "Tanglefoot" - or generic equivalent and then stuck on the end of heavy wires near the endangered plants. It has worked well for me and my flea beetles are quite thick. Sometimes I do need to add or refresh some of these traps, but they seem quite effective. Much better than using pesticides.

[Tucson Grower]

And I just planted a batch of purple leaved Bok Choy. I'm looking foreward to them.

[chrysanthemum]

Good for you! That sounds like a really fun crop.

I need to do some rearranging inside before I can start anything, but I’m trying to figure out just what I want to start. I lost all my brassicas (three types of kale, broccoli, cauliflower, as well as recently started cabbage, kohlrabi, and daikon radishes) during the before-Christmas freezes. Part of me is tempted not to try again right now because there’s still a good chance of hard freezes in February and March. The problem is is that if I wait to start them the heat comes on too fast just as it does for you. I just need to reconcile myself to the fact that planting a crop does not guarantee harvesting a crop, especially in a hard year, which this past one certainly was.

Your posts where you mention planting, though, are making me think harder about it.

[Tucson Grower]

I just planted out, 3 of 4 purple bok choy seedlings and they sure are destinctive. Purple, through and through, with only slight traces of green. I placed them together in a 15 galllon pot, just like their green counterparts, and right next to them. I can't wait to see the contrast.

[Tucson Grower]

Update; I planted out 3 purple pok choy seedlings into one 15 gallon pot. This morning a feral cat had used 2 of the seedlings to bury its business. One survives. That is the first time a cat has used one of my pots for its business. I noticed that another cat potty site was in one of my newly prepared peanut plots. A few years ago I used a catch-them-alive trap to migrate some to our local animal shelter. I suppose I'll need to do so more thoroughly, this time. At least after animal control rounded up the feral dogs in my area, there has not been a repeat of that problem. I hope the tree roots don't go after my peanuts. They're the farthest from any trees, they can get, unless I start removing some trees. I sure hope I don't need to do that. My luck, I could remove all trees from my property, then discover that even my neighbors trees are too close.

[heavyhitterokra]

Tucson,
Welcome to the club!

That feral cat problem reminds me of one we used to have here.  To combat that problem, I placed chicken wire in my pots and dusted them over with topsoil, so they wouldn't be so ugly.  Then, I cut up a steel coat hanger into 3" or 4" inch pieces at 45° angles, so they would be nice and sharp.  I pushed the coat hanger pieces down into the soil surrounding each plant, with about an inch exposed.  That way when the cats came back to do their business, it wouldn't be such a pleasant experience.  (Just be very careful to remember where you place your booby traps).  It's no fun finding a piece of coat hanger later while pulling weeds. As me how I know.

Our beagle pup just finished destroying my wife's pet house plant. I don't know what kind of plant it is? It looks like a cross between yucca and some other, wider-leafed succulent. It has pointed, green leaves with a yellow stripe.

Whatever it is, it looks pretty tough. I think it will be okay once she gets it re-potted, but the wife sure was not happy about the dog using her favorite plant to do his puppy business. (The business of chewing up everything in the house).

[amyinowasso]

I used to have a large raised planter in the front yard. It's where I planted purslane and moss roses. I started finding cat business in it. Somewhere I found this idea. You set a mousetrap and turn it upside down in the planter. Yeah, it's tricky but you CAN do it. 4 or 5 in the big planter and anywhere the cat went he was likely to set one off. They spring up and scare you and probably set the others off which spring up too. I set those every day for a few days, but the cat quit coming.

[Tucson Grower]

heavyhitterokra, Could it have possibly been a Dracena fragrans?

[heavyhitterokra]

That looks a lot like it!

It's getting kind of peaked-looking. I think it will live, but becoming a puppy chew toy was definitely not good for it.

[Tucson Grower]

It might also be Chlorophytum comosum, if it had smaller plantlets on the ends of strawberry-like runners.

[amyinowasso]

I was afraid it might be mother in laws tongue, which would make the dog sick.
www.houseplantsexpert.com/mother-in-laws-tongue.html

[Tucson Grower]

This morning, I placed a piece of bird netting over the young plants. Hopefully that will slow down the cat(s).