Brassica rapa is a species within the Brassicaceae (mustard and cabbage) family of flowering plants. The species consists of a few wild cultivars along with a good number of important cruciferous vegetables such as napa cabbage, turnip, bok choy, bomdong, broccoli rabe, cime di rapa, and other commercial crops including oleifera (aka field mustard, turnip rate, bird rape, and keblock).
Why not add this easy to grow, delicious vegetable to your cool-weather garden this season? Popular in stir-fries, with delicate leaves and crisp white stems, bok choy is a versatile ingredient in the kitchen – and packs quite the nutritional punch. Learn how to plant and grow bok choy in your garden. Read more now.
Disease can strike bok choy quickly and without warning, severely reducing its ability to produce delicious leafy goodness. But for the gardener with the proper know-how, the most common ailments don’t stand a chance. In our guide to bok choy diseases, we’ll cover how to detect, prevent, and manage the key offenders.
Many different types of pests can wreak havoc on a patch of bok choy in the garden. Need help? This guide covers how to identify, deter, and control several of the most frequent offenders. Once you’ve read and applied the tips and techniques in this guide, these pests won’t stand a chance at harming your pak choi.
While mustard greens grow quickly and are easy to care for in the home garden, they’re also susceptible to a number of pests and brassica diseases caused by pathogens like fungi and water molds. Our guide explains how to prevent the most common ailments, like downy mildew, and ways to cope with insect pests. Read more.
Some plants in the brassica group are a bit of a challenge to grow (hello, brussels sprouts). But napa cabbage is fairly easy. It’s also versatile in the kitchen thanks to its mild flavor and tender leaves. Whether this is your first try or you want to take your harvest to the next level, this guide will help you out.
Are you wondering when it’s the right time to plant bok choy? These cool-weather crops will bolt easily if temperatures become too hot, and a heavy freeze may kill the plants. Learn the optimal time to sow bok choy seeds or set out transplants for spring and fall harvests in your climate. Read more now.
If you love bok choy but don’t have space in the garden, try growing it in containers instead. These tasty Asian greens are easy to grow in pots on the patio or even an apartment balcony. Learn everything you need to succeed with container-grown bok choy, from sowing to harvest, in this guide. Read more now.
Harvest the tastiest mustard greens by picking early and often. These fast-growing Asian and Southern greens may be best at microgreen, baby leaf, or full size, depending on the variety. Just don’t let them get too large and bitter. Here’s how to pick broadleaf, tatsoi, and mizuna types at their peak.
If you’re wondering if there’s any difference between bok choy and baby bok choy, we can assure you that there is, indeed, a difference. But it’s not as major as you might think. In this guide, find out what sets baby bok choy apart from its full-size counterpart and explore our favorite baby varieties. Read more now.
Have you ever grown bok choy only to see it bolt in cold or hot weather, or for reasons you didn’t understand? In this guide, we’ll dig into the top reasons why bok choy goes to seed, and we’ll give you tips for how to prevent it. Plus, if it does happen, we’ll show you what to do with bolted bok choy. Read more now.
Do mustard greens make good vegetable garden neighbors? If you’re growing corn or dill, sure! But choose mustard green companion plants carefully – these quick-growing veggies don’t always play nice with others. Learn about the top companions, plus a few tips on what to keep away in this guide. Read more now.
If you’re growing bok choy in your garden, you might be feeling a bit confused about when you should pick the tasty green leaves with their succulent white or green stems. How big should they be? Can you harvest bok choy early? Discover when and how to harvest bok choy for the best results in our guide. Read more now.
Bok choy, or pak choi, is a Chinese cabbage with green or white stalks and green leaves that is a staple of Asian-style cooking. Choose from dwarf and full-size varieties, and harvest young for tender microgreens. Read on to learn how far apart to space seeds and nursery seedlings, and bring in your best harvest yet.
The roots get most of the attention, but let’s take some time to talk turnip tops. These easy-to-grow greens are perfect for cool weather gardening, so you can have your veggies even when the traditional growing season is ending. They’re versatile in the kitchen, too. Eat them braised, raw in salads, or cooked in soup.
Broccoli rabe is a cool season veggie that will spice up your spring or fall harvest with its compelling flavor profile. It’s easy to sow directly from seed and is a fast grower, so when planning a diverse assortment of leafy greens for your homestead or garden, don’t forget tasty rapini. Keep reading to learn more.
Healthy harvests of the Asian green mizuna are just weeks away when you follow these gardening tips. This mild mustard green is great for impatient gardeners and those with short growing seasons. You’ll enjoy the baby leaves 21 days from sowing, and full-size greens three weeks later. Quick and tasty, that’s mizuna.
Cabbage loopers may look like harmless inchworms but their voracious munching can damage many crops in your garden including kale, turnips, cabbage, and broccoli. There are a number of methods that you can use to manage these caterpillars. Learn how to identify and control cabbage loopers in this guide.
Did you know that you can regrow bok choy from kitchen scraps? With just a bowl full of water, a leftover stalk, and a few days to spare, you can easily regrow this plant from leavings that you might have thrown away otherwise. Read more to learn a quick and easy technique for growing bok choy from a stalk.
You fertilized, watered, and fussed over your turnips for weeks, and it’s time to pull them from the ground. But instead of perfectly-shaped roots, you find cracked, split, or rotten ones instead. What went wrong? What could you have done differently? Read on to learn what causes these issues and how to prevent them.
Turn up your diet quality with turnip greens! This leafy vegetable packs in a powerful nutritional punch. Turnips are best known for their roots, but don’t forget to keep the tops too! Adding the homegrown greens to salads or sauteing them with aromatics offers many robust health benefits. Read on to learn more.
Cabbage maggots are tiny insects in the soil, and often by the time the plants show symptoms, it is too late to save them. Knowing what to look for lets you monitor for them and identify their presence in time to implement control measures. Read on to learn how to identify and control these pernicious pests.
Is there a difference between broccolini and broccoli rabe? Or are they the same? These two veggies look a lot alike and have similar names. But they are different – in their origins, how they grow in the garden, and how you’ll want to use them in the kitchen! To learn what distinguishes these two veggies, keep reading.
Think it might be time to harvest your turnip crop, but you’re not quite sure of how to proceed? Luckily, harvesting turnips is easy with a little gardening know-how. Read more now to learn how and when to harvest homegrown turnip roots and greens, plus the best storage practices and some bonus recipe ideas.
Turnip mosaic virus affects cabbage and a broad range of cole crops along with many other types of plants. Weeds serve as reservoirs for the disease, which is spread by aphids. Read on to learn how to control this potentially devastating disease.
White spot fungi are selective in the crucifers they infect and cause disease on the leaves of turnip, rutabaga, canola, mustard, radish, and horseradish. The fungi overwinter on volunteer plants and cruciferous weeds. Read on to learn how to control white spot fungus on crucifers.
Looking for a versatile, nutritious, and easy to grow cole crop to plant in your garden this season? There is a reason that the turnip has been a staple of the human diet for centuries! Learn more about how to grow and care for this historic crop right here on Gardener’s Path.
Cabbage butterflies live throughout the US and southern Canada. While you can handpick the cabbage worms if there are just a few, large numbers can kill your cabbage plants and many other cole crops and crucifers. Read on to learn how to control these voracious caterpillars.
Turnip and rutabaga plants can be severely infested by several types of insects. While row covers can prevent some of these infestations, wireworms are soil-borne threats that can cause the end of the season’s crop in an infested field. Read on to learn how to manage cabbage aphids, root maggots, flea beetles, sawflies, and more.
Can’t understand why your turnip crop keeps bolting? Bolting is caused by stress on plants and can be easily addressed with a few simple tricks. Learn what factors can cause bolting in turnips and explore some ways that you can prevent your turnip crop from bolting. Read more now.
Fungi, bacteria, and water molds cause multiple types of diseases on the leaves or roots of turnips and rutabagas. In addition, turnip mosaic virus is a debilitating disease. You can prevent many diseases by using clean or heat-treated seeds. Read on to find out what symptoms to look for on your crops.
Bacterial leaf spot on turnip can be caused by two different types of bacteria. This disease spreads easily and can be very difficult to control. Preventing the pathogens from becoming established is the best way to protect your turnip crop. Read on to learn how to protect your plants from these bacteria.
Cool, wet conditions favor downy mildew infection on turnips. Not only can the pathogen destroy the leaves, but it can also spread into the root and cause the turnips to crack. Fall crops are particularly susceptible to this fungus-like organism. Read on to learn how to prevent and control this disease.
Species of the fungus Alternaria can infect your turnips, causing leaf spots and spreading to the seed pods. There are a number of methods to prevent this disease, and both microbial and synthetic fungicides that will control it. To learn how to prevent and control this disease, read more now on Gardener’s Path.
Black rot of turnips caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris is a devastating bacterial disease that is easily spread. Since it is very difficult to control, preventing it from becoming established is your best bet. Read on to learn how to keep your turnips from becoming infected with black rot.
White rust infects cruciferous plants, including turnips, around the world. It produces white pustules on the leaves and can distort the flower heads. However, this organism does not kill the plants. Read on to learn how to prevent white rust using cultural control methods.