If Chinese cabbage is sown too early, it tends to produce flowers instead of leaves. This is usually not desired. Below you will find out how to prevent your Chinese cabbage from flowering and what you can use the flowers for.
What to do when Chinese cabbage blooms?
Chinese cabbage blooms if it is sown too early and the day length is long. The leaves lose their taste, but are still edible. To prevent this, sow Chinese cabbage in July or later. If it still blooms, you can collect the seeds and use them for the next sowing.
When does Chinese cabbage tend to bloom?
The growth of Chinese cabbage depends heavily on the length of the day. With a day length of 12 hours it tends to produce flowers. In the second half of the year, when the days become shorter again, it produces more leaves. Therefore, the correct sowing date is essential for growing Chinese cabbage.
July is in most cases a good month to grow Chinese cabbage. However, the cultivation date can vary depending on the variety. The Richi F 1 variety is grown from April onwards. Don't wait too long to harvest in the second half of the year! Plants are always eager to reproduce and your Chinese cabbage will try to bloom despite fewer hours of sunshine.
Can you still eat Chinese cabbage when it blooms?
When Chinese cabbage blooms, it uses all of its energy to flower. This results in the leaves losing their taste. However, they do not become poisonous or inedible. If your Chinese cabbage is blooming, you can still try to harvest the leaves. But taste them before processing to make sure they don't taste bitter.
The flower of the Chinese cabbage
Chinese cabbage blooms, as I said, especially if it was sown too early in the summer. The flower is small and lemon yellow with usually four petals. It looks quite pretty and adds a nice touch of color to the bed.
Using the flowers of Chinese cabbage
If you give your Chinese cabbage the opportunity to bloom, it will produce seeds after flowering that you can use for propagation. To do this, collect the ripe, black seeds and store them in one place dry, cool place. Next year you can grow your Chinese cabbage offspring from it.
