How to Grow Pak Choi
Pak Choi At a Glance
Difficulty
Easy
Category
Vegetable
Sun Exposure
Full Sun, Partial Sun
Frost Tolerance
Frost Hardy
Cold Hardiness
Survives to -7°C
Plant Family
Brassicaceae
Growing Season
Cool Season
Plant Lifecycle
Annual
How to Start It
★ Recommended for beginners
Pak choi handles frost and loves cool weather, so sow it about 4 weeks before your last spring frost, or 6 to 8 weeks before your first fall frost. Sow seeds 0.5 cm deep in small groups and cover them lightly. They sprout in 5 to 10 days: thin them (pull the extras so each has room) to 15 cm apart, and eat the thinnings.
Pak choi (also called bok choy) is one of the quickest greens you can grow, ready in about 45 days. Its one weakness is bolting (rushing to flower and turning bitter), which long hot days, cold snaps and dry soil can all set off. A late summer sowing that grows in the cool of fall bolts the least and tastes the sweetest.
When To Start
First chance to plant
30 Days Before Last Frost
Last chance to plant
30 Days Before First Frost
When should you plant Pak Choi?
Your planting dates depend on your local climate. Sign up and add your location to unlock personalized dates.
Your Pak Choi Planting Window
Start planting
May 15, 2026
Last chance
Sep 10, 2026
Your Pak Choi Calendar
Set your location to turn these into exact dates and reminders.
Sow pak choi outdoors now, it loves cool weather
30 days before your last frost· every year
Optional: sow pak choi again now for a sweet fall crop
7 weeks before your first frost· every year· optional
Cut pak choi heads before a flower stalk shows
2 weeks after your last frost· every year· optional
Did you water your pak choi 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 pak choi seedlings: snip the extras at soil level so each one has room to grow.
About 20 days after you plant it
Your pak choi is growing! Keep the soil evenly damp so the leaves stay tender.
About 25 days after you plant it
Almost harvest time! Cut the whole head, or pick a few outer leaves at a time.
About 40 days after you plant it
Picking time may be here: check your pak choi.
About 45 days after you plant it
The Journey Ahead
Pak Choi's Lifecycle
Seedling
Mature Plant
Seed Production
Step 1
Prepare Your Space
0.5 cm
Seeding Depth
15 cm
Plant Spacing
45 cm
Row Spacing
4
Plants / Sq Ft
Vertical Growing
Yes: Tower.
Method: Tower.
Succession Planting
Yes.
Good Companions
Bad Companions
Step 2
Planting & Sprouting
Expect sprouts in 5–10 days
Growing Tips
- 1Grow pak choi in full sun in spring and fall, or with some afternoon shade if your summer is hot.
- 2Mix plenty of compost into the soil, since fast, steady growth keeps it crisp and slow to bolt.
- 3Water about twice a week, more in warm spells, so the soil never dries out.
- 4Feed with compost tea or worm castings about 2 weeks after thinning.
- 5Cover the plants with row cover from the start to keep off flea beetles (tiny black jumping beetles that chew small holes) and cabbage caterpillars.
- 6Pick off slugs by hand in the evening, and spread a thin layer of mulch to keep the soil cool and damp.
Seedling Phase
Step 3
Growth & Maturity
~45
Days to Maturity
30 cm
Mature Height
20 cm
Mature Width
Pests to Watch For
Diseases to Watch For
Mature Plant
Step 4
Harvesting
Harvest Window
30 days
When to Pick
Harvest heads or individual leaves
How to Harvest
- 1Pak choi is ready in about 45 days, when the heads are full and firm, but baby heads 15 to 20 cm tall are tender and good too.
- 2Cut the whole head at the base with a sharp knife, just above the soil.
- 3If you leave a short stump, it often sprouts a second, smaller crop of leaves.
- 4For a longer harvest, pick a few outer leaves at a time and let the centre keep growing.
- 5Pick everything as soon as a flower stalk rises from the middle, and store it unwashed in a bag in the fridge for up to a week.
Step 5
Saving Seeds
How to Save Seeds
Pak choi crosses with turnips, Chinese cabbage, mizuna 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 flower together. Hybrid F1 seeds will not grow true, so save only from a variety that is not a hybrid. A spring sowing flowers the same summer: leave the plants until the thin pods turn tan and dry, then cut the stalks into a paper bag. Crush the pods to free the small round seeds, and store them labelled somewhere cool, dark and dry for about 4 years.
Seed Production
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