[jimbo1878]

When should I harvest pak choi? I have a small bed with pak choi in and I'm not sure when to harvest. I've heard that these bolt very easily and at the moment they are about 4" tall with broad green leaves and nice white stems. Can I wait until they are fully mature or should I harvest before they bolt?

Thanks

Jimbo

[Elcie]

You are right they do bolt very quickly, I speak from experience!  If they look edible then I would start to harvest.  Depending on how many you have there is only so much PakChoi you can eat and the time to bolt is quite quick so if you start harvesting now it will give you some time to get through them.

[jimbo1878]

I think I have about 12 plants so not too many. Only planted them to see if they would grow and then found out about the bolting!!

[compostqueen]

They prefer cooler conditions and it's a game trying to plant them at the optimum time. I planted mine during a cooler spell and then we had a heatwave so now mine are bolting too and they're only immature plants. Oh well, I shall have another go    I had a marvellous crop of Riko a few weeks back. Don't give up on them

[jimbo1878]

So is it too late to sow some more from seed if these lot bolt?

[compostqueen]

Be guided by the sowing times on the seed packet for your particular variety.  You can use pak choi for baby leaf production for salad (or stir fry) and it's very crunchy so you don't have to wait for the bases to form into "spoons".  If yours has bolted best eat it now

[jimbo1878]

It hasn't bolted yet. so will probably leave it fo a while. Am I looking out for a flower when it bolts?  this is my first growing season and still unsure on alot of things.

[JB1970]

I planted 7 out just to see if they'd be successful and I was very happy with the results, however, they did bolt and i only got to sample half my crop. You live and learn though - will definitely grow them next year but will take them earlier.

[jimbo1878]

I read somewhere that you can still use them once they bolt. Is this correct? I know they won't keep as long but would hate to waste them.

[sunshineband]

Taste a bit to see -- sometimes they are very bitter once they have bolted, but it is easy to tell 

[jimbo1878]

I'll try some tonight. I'm finding it really dificult to know when things are ready to harvest. What type of size is a mature pak choi?

[sunshineband]

Some are about 4in across at the base, others just a couple of inches.

Depends how much growing they get in before they bolt   

[compostqueen]

I ate some leaves last night. They were lovely. I put them in salmon parcels with ginger, soy, chilli etc etc. Delish!  The plants were still immature but starting to go to seed so I picked individual leaves off them rather than harvesting the whole plants, which had not yet formed the  characteristic "spoon" shaped bases

Some pak choi are little and some are big, in common with many veggies. Check your packet 

[jimbo1878]

I took some leaves last night for a stir fry. They were lovely. It's just a shame that they are likely to bolt at any time 

[compostqueen]

They might not all bolt and probably not all at the same time so you could well get some more yet.