Asian greens are gaining popularity in the US, and for good reason. They’re tasty! However, finding them in good condition at the grocery store can be problematic or expensive. But, they are surprisingly easy to grow at home, and a small plot can keep a household overflowing with fresh Asian greens throughout most of the year. They can even be grown in containers on a small balcony to provide fresh greens from small spaces.

What are Asian Greens?

Asian greens are a group of mostly leafy vegetables that grow well in cool weather. They are a great source of vitamins and minerals and are delicious and easy to prepare. Most Asian greens are quick-to-mature crops that can be ready in a few weeks after planting. 

Quite a few vegetables fall into this category, and most are eaten raw, sautéed, or stir-fried. They’re also quite attractive and make a dual-use planter on the patio or deck, providing a green and verdant crop and a delicious meal. 

Below are a few popular and easy-to-grow Asian greens. Set aside a corner of the garden and try these this fall or next spring.

Bok Choi (Pac Choi)

A crispy and tasty staple in stir-fries, soups, and salads, bok choi is available in many varieties, including some that are fairly heat tolerant. It grows well planted in the ground, in containers, or even in hydroponic systems. Most bok choi is ready for harvest as baby greens in about three weeks and as a full-sized crop in about 6-7 weeks. 

Chinese Cabbage (Napa cabbage)

These head-forming vegetables look a bit like a large head of lettuce but have a sweet, tangy flavor. Chinese cabbages are harvested at full size and require about 50-60 days to mature, so succession-plant them for a sustained supply. The large leaves are great for making wraps.

Choi Sum (Tsoi-sim)

These tender greens look a bit like miniature bok choi and have a flavor reminiscent of asparagus. They’re a quick crop, ready in only 45 days. Try Choi Sum in stir fry, soup, or sautéed as a bed of greens for seafood.

Japanese mustard spinach (Komatsuna)

Like traditional mustard greens grown in the South, Komatsuna has a bright, spicy, mustardy flavor. It’s more heat-tolerant than other Asian greens and is ready for its first harvest a month after planting. Steam the leaves and serve with soy sauce, or braise older leaves. 

Planting Asian Greens

Like many other greens, the leafy vegetables grouped as Asian greens don’t require a spot in full sun; they’ll do quite well with partial sun if that’s what you have. 

Prepare the soil in outdoor beds by removing weeds, working in some finished compost, and smoothing the surface. Most Asian greens are planted between ¼ and ½ inches deep but refer to the seed packet to double-check. They can be planted quite close together, and when thinned later, the young plants are used as baby greens, perfect for fresh eating. 

Direct sowing seeds straight into the soil is the easiest method and works well for most Asian greens. They can also be started indoors and transplanted or even grown in containers. If planting and growing in containers, use a well-draining potting soil mix. Lightly firm the soil in the containers and pre-moisten it before planting seeds. 

After sowing seeds, water them thoroughly, then sit back and watch. Although the cooler temperatures of spring and fall may delay germination for a day or two, the seeds will soon pop up and start doing their thing. 

Succession planting Asian greens is the perfect way to keep yourself in harvest season. Do be careful, as it’s easy to drown yourself in greens. If you plan to succession plant, most varieties do well planted every week to ten days. Set an alarm on your phone or calendar, and plant a few new seeds every Monday. A 4x4 foot raised bed can easily support 4-5 rows of greens in rotation throughout the spring and fall. Small beds also make constructing cold frames or low tunnels easy to extend the growing season in spring and autumn.

Growing and Caring for Asian Greens

These plants are rapid growers and will do best when the soil is kept slightly moist and cool. Water when the top inch starts to feel dry, and mulch to keep the soil surface cool and moist. A layer of mulch will also keep weeds in check. 

Greens planted in beds amended with compost won’t need any additional fertilizer. If you planted Asian greens in pots using a potting mix that contains fertilizer, you won’t need to add any more. Otherwise, provide a weekly fertilizer dose when watering for containerized Asian greens. 

While pests can be a problem in any vegetable garden, most Asian greens are grown and harvested in the shoulder months of spring and fall, when pest pressure is lower. If flea beetles or other insects are a problem, use a row cover to prevent the bugs from accessing (and chewing on) your greens. Since they don’t need to be pollinated, the row cover can stay on as long as the pests are present.

Some of these plants are biennials and can be prone to bolting.  Periods of cold weather followed by warm weather can falsely signal to the plant that it’s gone through a winter, and it’s time to flower. Bolting can also be triggered by stress from lack of moisture or sustained hot weather. Keep the soil moisture even and lightly damp, and plant later spring crops where they’ll receive afternoon shade, and you’ll prevent most bolting issues.

When (and How) to Harvest Asian Greens

Many selections in the Asian greens category can be harvested as both baby greens and full-sized mature vegetables. Bok choi and baby bok choi are the same vegetable, harvested at different maturities. Between thinning and succession plantings, a small patch can easily provide both.

Leafy greens may be ready for harvest from young plants as early as three weeks after planting. Crunchier plants like pak choi are often harvested at the baby stage when they start to look like mature vegetables, only smaller. Leave a few to grow to full size, which takes another 2-3 weeks. 

Snip off the entire plant at the base or cut stems and leaves for leafy greens. Shake off the bugs, and into the kitchen they go. While they will keep for several days in the refrigerator, they’re at peak flavor when used immediately. 

***Green Thumb Tip: when thinning Asian greens, use scissors to snip them off at the base, avoiding damage to their still growing neighbors. Don’t pull them out. 

Tips for Growing Asian Greens Out of Season

Asian greens, like many of our favorite greens, do best in cooler weather. They can be directly sown in spring about two weeks ahead of your last frosts, and many are frost tolerant once past the seedling stage in autumn. 

To extend the growing season, try using a simple cold frame or low tunnel over the bed. A few PVC hoops and some greenhouse plastic, available at many home improvement stores, can provide weeks of extra growing season for cold-tolerant crops. If you garden in an area where freezing temperatures are infrequent, you may be able to grow Asian greens all winter long. 

Shade from the intense afternoon sun helps these plants grow well in hotter weather. A few hours of sunshine in the morning is all they need to grow well in warm weather. Mulch the soil to keep it cool and damp, and harvest them as baby greens before they can bolt. For fall planting, the first round of Asian greens can be started indoors and planted outside at the beginning of autumn when temperatures have begun to moderate.