key growing information

Growing Bok Choy (Pak Choi) From Seed

How to grow pac choi (bok choy): sowing season, bolting risk from cold, transplants, direct sowing, flea beetle protection, harvest and seeding rates.

By Hensley’s Seed Co. September 3, 2026

Pac Choi (Bok Choy) - Key Growing Information

A head of 'Asian Delight' pac choi, grown to full-size, with broad, light-green petioles and dark-green, oval leaves.

CULTURE:

Sow from early spring to midsummer. Pac choi is well suited to fall crops in the South, and to fall sowing in mild climates or under high tunnels and other protection where it's colder. Seedlings may bolt early if temperatures fall below 50°F (10°C), especially several nights in a row; older plants usually aren't triggered to bolt by cold.

DAYS TO MATURITY:

Counted from emergence of direct-sown seed.TRANSPLANTING: Start seed in 128- or 72-cell trays 2–4 weeks before planting out, and transplant before seedlings get rootbound or stressed, which can cause early bolting.

DIRECT SEEDING:

Plant ¼" deep at 15 seeds per foot in rows 12–18" apart, thinning as given in our Pac Choi Comparison Chart. For baby leaf, 'Rosie' is the only pac choi we recommend; see the Baby-Leaf Brassica Greens culture.

AVG. DIRECT SEEDING RATE:

For bunching at the spacing above: about 830' per oz. or 13,000' per lb.

INSECT PESTS:

Keep flea beetles off with floating row covers put on the day you sow.

HARVEST:

Pick before the plants flower.

SEEDS/OZ. (AVG.):

10,300.

PACKET:

250 seeds per packet: about 16' of full-size plants or 4' of baby leaf.