How to Grow Mizuna
Mizuna At a Glance
Difficulty
Easy
Category
Vegetable
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Frost Tolerance
Frost Hardy
Cold Hardiness
Survives to -9°C
Plant Family
Brassicaceae
Growing Season
Cool Season
Plant Lifecycle
Annual
How to Start It
★ Recommended for beginners
Mizuna handles frost, so start sowing about 3 weeks before your last spring frost, and sow again every few weeks until late summer. Sow the seeds thinly 0.5 cm deep and cover lightly, and they sprout fast, in 4 to 8 days. For baby leaves, sow thickly and leave them be. For full plants, thin them (pull the extras) to 15 cm apart.
Mizuna is a mild, feathery Japanese mustard green for salads and stir fries, ready in about 40 days. It grows back after cutting, so one sowing gives several harvests, but long hot days make it bolt (rush to flower), so spring and fall are its best seasons.
When To Start
Mizuna likes cool weather. Sow it in early spring, as soon as the ground can be worked.
We do not have exact sowing dates for this one yet.
When should you plant Mizuna?
Your planting dates depend on your local climate. Sign up and add your location to unlock personalized dates.
Your Mizuna Planting Window
Start planting
May 15, 2026
Last chance
Sep 10, 2026
Your Mizuna Calendar
Set your location to turn these into exact dates and reminders.
Sow mizuna outdoors, then again every few weeks
3 weeks before your last frost
Start cutting mizuna leaves, they grow back
About 25 days after you plant it
Did you water your mizuna seedlings today? Keep the top of the soil damp until they are up and growing.
About 1 days after you plant it
Time to thin the mizuna seedlings: snip the extras at soil level so each one has room to grow.
About 18 days after you plant it
Your mizuna is up and growing! You can already snip a few baby leaves for a salad.
About 21 days after you plant it
Harvest time! Cut leaves a few centimetres above the base and they will grow back.
About 35 days after you plant it
Picking time may be here: check your mizuna.
About 40 days after you plant it
The Journey Ahead
Mizuna's Lifecycle
Seedling
Mature Plant
Seed Production
Step 2
Planting & Sprouting
Expect sprouts in 4–8 days
Growing Tips
- 1Grow mizuna in full sun in spring and fall, and in part shade in summer to slow bolting.
- 2Mix compost into the soil before sowing for fast, tender leaves.
- 3Water often enough to keep the soil damp, since dry soil makes the leaves tough and hot.
- 4Water with compost tea after each big cut to help it regrow.
- 5Cover the bed with row cover right after sowing to keep off flea beetles (tiny black jumping bugs that chew holes in the leaves).
- 6In fall, cover the plants with row cover or a cold frame (a box with a clear lid) and they keep growing well into the cold.
Seedling Phase
Step 3
Growth & Maturity
~40
Days to Maturity
30 cm
Mature Height
25 cm
Mature Width
Pests to Watch For
Diseases to Watch For
Mature Plant
Step 4
Harvesting
Harvest Window
60 days
When to Pick
Cut leaves from ~3 weeks (baby) onward; regrows several times
How to Harvest
- 1Start cutting baby leaves about 3 weeks after sowing.
- 2Snip the outer leaves, or cut the whole plant about 3 cm above the soil and let it grow back.
- 3You can cut the same plants several times before they bolt.
- 4Once plants start to send up flower stalks, pull them and sow a fresh patch.
- 5Rinse the leaves, spin them dry, and keep them in a bag in the fridge for up to a week.
Step 5
Saving Seeds
How to Save Seeds
Mizuna crosses with turnip, napa cabbage, bok choy and rapini, since they are all the same kind of plant, so let only one of them flower within about 800 m. A single plant cannot pollinate itself well, so let at least 6 plants bolt and flower together. Spring sowings bolt in summer, and the yellow flowers turn into thin pods. Once most pods are dry and brown, cut the stalks into a paper bag, let them finish drying, then crush the pods and pick out the seeds. Store them labelled in a cool, dark, dry spot for about 4 years.
Seed Production
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