[Jamie Butterworth]

Can anyone give me any advice or tips as ive never grown it before

[arugula]

Jamie, exactly what do you mean by Chinese Cabbage? I immediately thought you meant the veg Chinese leaves, which I don't tend to see much in the shops now... but if you google chinese cabbage you get images including Pak Choi which we have grown here. If you meant the latter, it germinates and grows very easily and it loves to bolt.

[gillie]

http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/item.php?id=1328A

Contrary to what the description says these big plants seem to have gone out of fashion.  They are quite distinct from Pak Choi.

I tried to grow them years ago, but they always bolted.  Usually it is recommended to sow them late for harvesting in the autumn.

[kevinp]

they can be grown early but as gille has said they will bolt, best growing late june - july for a mature crop. I love this veg and have it most days as a salad leaf, but it can be cooked in lots of different ways also.

A good book if you are interested in oriental vegs is Joy larkcoms 'oriental vegetables' you can get this through amazon or from real seeds with some different types of veg to go with the book.

[Jamie Butterworth]

Yep, thats the one gillie

Thanks for the advice, ill start it off later then, June time

Im growing it for my grandad as i asked him if there were any more unusual crops he would want me to grow and he asked for this, and looks nice

[Kristen]

The issue as I understand it is if they are grown with lengthening day length they bolt, as I guess in their native environment that signals the time to produce seeds.  Hence waiting until mid Summer before growing them.

I have quite a lot of trouble with whatever the bug is that drills holes in the leaf, and some of them fail to bulk up properly (which may be down to intermittent watering? They grow very fast, so are probably in need of a good supply of water. Perhaps I should put a drip irrigation supply in for the, this year?

[TheSpartacat]

I have quite a lot of trouble with whatever the bug is that drills holes in the leaf, and some of them fail to bulk up properly (which may be down to intermittent watering? They grow very fast, so are probably in need of a good supply of water. Perhaps I should put a drip irrigation supply in for the, this year?

I'm guessing you mean Leaf beetle?
Leaf beetles seem to adore all the oriental leaves- they made short work of my Komatsuna.
Intercrop with radish, Jamie- you'll distract the leaf beetles away from your orientals. It worked for me last year after the Komatsuna disaster. Leaf beetles LOVE radish and it doesnt really matter if your radish leaves get peppered with holes.

I sowed chinese cabbage Pe tsai in cell trays last year in June and July, and popped the strong ones into the soil as soon as they had a couple of true leaves.
The slugs were less interested in them than the lettuce and kale, but would still protect them.
They're a cool weather crop as everyone has mentioned, but you shouldnt have any probs with bolting if you sow them late (maybe pop them in after the spuds come out?)

You can also succession sow them- they do well under a bit of fleece well into November, going by mine last year. They actually hardied through the first frosts we got in Oct without any protection, but i may have been lucky!

[Jamie Butterworth]

Thanks for the advice spartacat