Crops › Pak Choi
How to grow Pak Choi
in the UK
Sow April to August, plant out September, harvest May to October. About 45 days from seed to plate.
Pak choi, or bok choy as some call it, is a cracking little brassica that grows super-fast. It's proper easy, honestly, and gives you lovely crisp leaves and stems for all your stir-fries or just steamed up with a bit of butter. It's one of them that you can get a few rounds of on your plot through the summer.
Sowing
You can sow pak choi direct outside from April right through to August, or start them off in modules on the windowsill or in the greenhouse. If you're sowing direct, make a shallow drill about 1.5 cm deep and pop your seeds in about 15-20 cm apart, then cover them over. If you're doing modules, put a couple of seeds in each cell, then thin out the weakest seedling once they've germinated. It's a quick grower, so don't be afraid to sow a few batches for a continuous supply. Sowing later in the season, like July or August, can help avoid it bolting in the longer, hotter days of mid-summer.
Growing on
If you've started your pak choi in modules, you'll want to plant them out when they've got two or three proper leaves. Give them about 15-20 cm between each plant, like I say, and water them in well. Give them a few days outside to get used to the weather before planting them in their final spot, that's what we call hardening off. Some varieties are ace for containers too, if you're a bit short on space.
Looking after it
The main thing with pak choi is to keep it watered consistently, especially when it's dry. If it gets stressed, it's more likely to bolt, which means it goes to seed quicker than you'd want. A bit of mulch around the base can help keep the moisture in and keep down the weeds, you know.
What goes wrong
Now, being a brassica, pak choi can attract a few unwelcome visitors. Flea beetle can be a nuisance, making tiny holes in the leaves; a fine mesh cover is your best bet for them. Slugs love it too, so keep an eye out and do your usual slug patrol. And watch for cabbage white butterflies, they'll lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves, and those caterpillars can munch through a plant in no time.
Harvest
Pak choi is ready for picking really quickly, usually about 30 to 45 days after you sow it. You can either cut the whole head off at the base with a sharp knife, or if you fancy a 'cut-and-come-again' approach, just snip off the outer leaves and let the middle carry on growing. It’s best eaten fresh, straight from the plot, but you can pop it in the fridge for up to five days if you need to.
I always try to get a few sowings in, because it's so quick off the mark, you know. Keeps the stir-fries going all summer, a cracking turnover.
Dates for your plot
Type the first half of your postcode and the plant-out advice shifts to your area's typical frost dates.
Varieties, and whether the club would grow them again
| Variety | Club verdict |
|---|---|
| Joi Choi F1 A proper reliable one, this. It stands up well to bolting in warmer weather and gives you lovely thick white stems. | No club votes yet |
| Mei Qing Choi F1 If you're after something quick for baby leaves, this is your one. It's a pale green variety that grows up fast. | No club votes yet |
| Canton White This is a classic, the kind you often see in the shops, with its crisp white stems. A good dependable maincrop for the plot. | No club votes yet |
| Red Choi Cracking for a bit of colour in the veg patch and on the plate, with its lovely purple-red leaves. Tastes just as good as it looks, honestly. | No club votes yet |
| Shanghai Green A compact little number, this one, with bright green stems and a really mild flavour. Great if space is a bit tight on your plot. | No club votes yet |
| Choko F1 This is a dwarf variety, spot on for folks with less space or just a few pots. You can get a decent harvest even from a container. | No club votes yet |
| Golden Yellow A bit special, this, with its unusual yellow-green inner leaves. It’s got a really mild and sweet taste, proper gourmet stuff. | No club votes yet |
| Tatsoi Not strictly a pak choi, but often grouped with it, this forms a lovely flat rosette. It's proper cold hardy, so you can sow it late. | No club votes yet |
| Sumo F1 If you're looking for big, proper heads of pak choi, Sumo's a good bet. It's bred to be slow to bolt, which is always a bonus. | No club votes yet |
| Ivory F1 This one's a real beauty, with its pure white stems and lovely crisp texture. It's got a mild flavour, ideal for a posh stir-fry, like. | No club votes yet |
Votes are members rating varieties in their Seed Tin, one vote per gardener. Tap a variety for the full page and where to buy.
Buy Pak Choi seeds
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Cook the harvest
A creamy, gently spiced red lentil dal enriched with coconut milk and loaded with wilted pak choi stirred through right at the end so it stays bright and a little bit toothsome. The crispy fried shallots on top are not optional — they give the whole thing crunch and a savoury depth that makes this feel like far more than a midweek supper. One pot, ready in under 30 minutes, and completely vegan.
30 min · easyHalved pak choi heads go straight onto a screaming-hot griddle until the cut faces blister and the outer leaves char at the edges — that caramelisation is everything here. A nutty white miso and sesame dressing brings deep savoury warmth, and a scatter of toasted sesame seeds finishes the job. This is the side dish that makes people forget there is anything else on the table.
20 min · easySalmon fillets and halved pak choi heads roast together on one tray in a zingy lime, fish sauce and chilli dressing that does double duty as a marinade and a dressing for serving. The pak choi softens at the base while the leaf tips catch and crisp slightly at the edges, and the whole tray smells extraordinary. One pan, barely any washing up, and ready in well under forty minutes.
30 min · easyA proper, high-heat wok stir-fry where pak choi and thinly sliced beef sirloin cook together in minutes, coated in a glossy, savoury oyster sauce with plenty of garlic. The pak choi gives sweetness and texture against the umami-rich beef — both are essential, neither is an afterthought. This is exactly the kind of weeknight dinner that proves fast cooking and great flavour are not mutually exclusive.
25 min · easyWatch for, and grow alongside
Companions: garlic, onions, mint
Questions people ask
When do you sow Pak Choi in the UK?
Sow Pak Choi from April to August. Plant out September, after the last frost.
How long does Pak Choi take from sowing to harvest?
Roughly 45 days, with the harvest May to October.
Which Pak Choi varieties do gardeners grow again?
Club members rate every variety they grow. This page shows the grow-again votes for Joi Choi F1, Mei Qing Choi F1, Canton White, Red Choi and more.
Track your Pak Choi from packet to plate
Sowing reminders and harvest forecasts for your own frost dates, the Seed Tin, Scan Centre for any label or packet, and the Potty Mouth Garden Club. Free to start.
Allotment keeper in the North East of England, the voice behind the Tony C Smith YouTube channel, and the gardener who built GrowMore CookMore. Club numbers on this page update as members log their plots. Last updated 3 September 2026.