General
Asian greens aren't actually salad plants — they belong to the brassica family, more specifically to the leaf mustard group. That explains their more or less piquant, mustardy flavour. Pak choi, which you'll often find sold as a stir-fry vegetable, belongs to the same family and works just as well as a baby-leaf addition to your salad bowl.
Peter Turner Photography/Shutterstock.com
Facts and figures
Times
OutdoorsDirect sowing from Early March to Late September. After a growing period of 40 days, harvest can begin around Late March and continues until Late October.
GreenhouseDirect sowing from Early January to Late December. After a growing period of 40 days, harvest can begin around Early January and continues until Late December.
Sowing and planting
You can grow them in rows as indicated. The spacing given is fairly generous, allowing you to grow larger plants. For baby-leaf salad, you can reduce the spacing. Or broadcast sow them in a weed-free bed.
In a greenhouse, you can grow them all year round.
Neighbourhood
Crop rotation
If you only ever grow Asian greens in small strips alongside other crops, you can largely ignore crop rotation. But if you dedicate a whole bed to them, stick to the usual 3-year break before growing them or other brassicas in the same spot again.
Harvest and processing
You can pick the leaves young as baby-leaf or let them grow bigger for stir-fry dishes. Even when the plants flower, the leaves stay tasty. Just avoid the tough flower stalks.