Planting guide

When to plant bok choy

Mild, crunchy Asian greens that are ready in about six weeks. In Melbourne it goes in Mar–Jun.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 4–8 wks
Spacing: 20 cm
Depth: 1 cm
Sun: Half a day (3–6 hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means bok choy can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Melbourne	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Perth	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Adelaide	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Gold Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Newcastle	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Canberra	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Central Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Geelong	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Wollongong	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Hobart	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Townsville	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Mandurah	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bendigo	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Launceston	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Mackay	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Blue Mountains	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Bunbury	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mildura	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Wellington	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Christchurch	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
London	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
New York City	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Chicago	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Austin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Toronto	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Johannesburg	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Singapore	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Berlin	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant bok choy

Sow seed 1 cm deep or plant seedlings.
Water often; stress makes it bolt.
Protect from slugs and caterpillars.
Cut whole heads or pick outer leaves.

Bok Choy varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Green Bok Choy Classicfast · 5–7 wksThe classic green pak choi
Shanghai Green Classicmild · fast · 5–7 wksTender, mild bok choy with pale-green stems
Joi Choi Classicslow-bolting · 6–8 wksVigorous, bolt-tolerant white-stemmed pak choi
Extra Dwarf Classicdwarf · pot-friendly · fast · 4–6 wksBaby-size heads for pots
Purple Early Adventurouscolourful · 5–7 wksPurple-tinged pak choi that is as pretty as it is tasty
Choy Sum Classicfast · 4–6 wksFlowering shoots with a mild mustardy flavour

Where to buy seeds

Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on The Diggers Club Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Onion, Dill, Lettuce

Bok Choy by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Lettuce · Spinach · Silverbeet · Kale · Rocket · Celery

Not sure bok choy is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now