The hardworking Chinese have given the world many plants with unique characteristics. One such plant is the early bok choy cabbage. This plant has excellent nutritional characteristics. It is not difficult to grow bak choy, and one can assure good and large yields with little investment.
Useful properties of bak choy cabbage
At present, bak choy cabbage is common in China and Japan. It is appreciated for its low-calorie, rich in micronutrients, fiber. This product is ideal for those who want to lose weight. Its use helps to cleanse the body of slagging and decay products, eliminates the development of constipation, reduces the amount of harmful cholesterol.
Of particular value are the leaves, which contain ascorbic acid in huge quantities. If bak choy is used systematically, blood vessels will become elastic and strong. Vitamin C is used by the body in the synthesis of collagen, a sufficient amount of which is a prerequisite for skin elasticity and youthfulness.
Vitamin K, which is also found in cabbage, plays an indispensable role in blood clotting. This plant is rich in vitamin A, which is essential for the regeneration of skin cells. It is also involved in the formation of the enzyme responsible for the refraction of light in the visual organ.
The amino acid lysine, which it contains, makes this cabbage an irreplaceable plant. Vitamins PP, as well as vitamin B are present in it in high concentrations.
Other important substances include the following:
- iron
- magnesium
- potassium
- phosphorus
- citric acid
Pak choy has two varieties:
- a plant that is entirely light green in color
- a plant with white petioles and dark green leaves
Peculiarities of growing bok choy
Pak-choy is a relative of white cabbage, which has long taken a leading place in crop production in Ukraine and Europe. But pak-choy has several fundamentally new growing characteristics.
It can be grown by the seedling method. Sprouts are formed about 3-4 weeks. Since cabbage is very early maturing, in Asia it is grown several times during the season. In Ukraine, it can be sown in late June - early July. This is much better than early spring. Sow in furrows, depth - 3-4 cm.
To the soil pak-choy is not demanding. The soil can be not fertilized or slightly fertilized. After the cabbage is planted, the harvest can be taken in a month. Pak-choy is confused by many with a special kind of greens. After all, it does not produce traditional sprouts. But it is still a cabbage, although more in appearance and resembles a salad.
Harvesting
The harvest can be collected very quickly. Already in 25-30 days the cabbage is ready. To accelerate the germination of seeds, the soil in seedling boxes is prepared very soft, loose consistency. If the climate is warm, you can start sowing the plant from the end of March. It is better to do it in several stages, so that you always have a fresh crop. The interval between sowing can be made 10 days. When 4-5 leaves appear, the plant is transferred to the ridge. This usually happens 20-25 days after sowing.
Sometimes bok choy cabbage does not take root after transplanting. Therefore, it is better to sow it in the ground. The distance between the seeds sown should be 30 cm. The rows should be made even, neat. To ensure that the surface does not dry out and the seeds are not lost, the soil is covered with a film. A maximum of 10 days - and you can see sprouts of cabbage!
Preparing the soil for bok choy cabbage
Decided to grow bak choy cabbage? You will have to think about the quality of the soil in advance, since autumn. It should not only be recultivated, but also fertilized. Organic fertilizer is best. You need 1 bucket to fertilize 1 m² Ideal for this is superphosphate (a tablespoon). If the soil is acidic, lime can also be added. When spring arrives, loosen the soil.
Just before planting, the soil is recultivated. When digging the layers should not be overturned, per 1 m² it is better to introduce urea - one teaspoon is enough. If the fertilization with organics has not been carried out since autumn, you can correct the situation in spring - with the help of ordinary humus.
Yield of bok choy cabbage
Cabbage is resistant to growing conditions, diseases. It gives a good volume of harvest containing a lot of vitamins.
To get a good harvest, you need to know some features of the plant. First, if the day adds up, the cabbage can go into arrow. Therefore, planted in May cabbage grows very quickly, then gives a stem and begins to bloom. And if you plant it in July, the harvest will be maximum. If the climate is warm, you can plant it in August and September. You can plant more and more rows little by little throughout the season.
The main thing is to try to choose a place for bak choy. An important condition - in the previous year other varieties of cabbage were not grown in this area. This is easy to explain - they have pests in common. During the growing season, it is not recommended to treat it. In general, the plant is unpretentious, can withstand a cool climate.
Pest control on cabbage bok choy is similar to the elimination of pests on any other type of cabbage. The most common are cabbage fleas. They swarm the cabbage leaves of the young plant and cause it irreparable harm. If no action is taken, the plant will die completely.
If there are many of these pests on the site, they will eat the plant before it emerges from the ground. After all, fleas overwinter in the upper layers of soil. To prevent lesions from fleas, you can use watering and loosening the soil. But this does not always yield results. Therefore, after watering, ashes should be applied to the moistened leaves, which fleas strongly dislike. You should also spray ash on the soil immediately after sowing.
