Growing Mustard greens, also gai choy

Brassica sp. : Brassicaceae / the mustard or cabbage family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
P P P P P P P P P P P P

(Best months for growing Mustard greens in New Zealand - cool/mountain regions)

  • P = Sow seed
  • Easy to grow. Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 50°F and 95°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 14 - 24 inches apart
  • Harvest in 5-8 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Dwarf (bush) beans, beets, celery, cucumber, onions, marigold, nasturtium, rhubarb, aromatic herbs (sage, dill, camomile)
  • Avoid growing close to: Climbing (pole) beans, tomato, peppers (chilli, capsicum), eggplant (aubergine), strawberry

Your comments and tips

20 May 10, frank (Australia - temperate climate)
Can get a wide variety of mustard green seeds form seed clubs, ie diggers and greenseeds. Google for catalouge. Purple king is my faverout
23 Nov 09, Erna Stein (Australia - temperate climate)
I have been growing mustard greens as a salad vegetable for a couple of years and simply love them. I have been starting them off from seedlings from the nursery however this year I've had trouble finding healthy seedlings and would prefer the convenience of growing them from seed. However I haven't had any luck in finding seeds. Can anyone tell me where I may be able to purchase them from?
07 Jun 10, woody (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Try "the lost seed' on the net, I use their seeds and have had geat success in Tassie
26 Sep 09, Melanie O'Connell (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
I share a garden bed with my neighbours from Burma who speak very little English. We have been growing mustard greens and they are now about 1m tall and covered in yellow flowers. At what point (and how?) do I start collecting seeds? Thanks very much.
31 Aug 09, Allen Shiley (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
As a boy growing up the South of the USA we often ate mustard greens. Though they tend to be boiled with bacon or ham and stewed for at least 24 hours. Sometimes my grandmother would add a little sugar if the were bitter. We ate them much as you would boiled spinach.
02 Jul 09, Trevor Heywood (Australia - temperate climate)
This Autumn and Winter I scattered mustard seeds around the place - a biodynamic book said to do that. When I'm weeding I see a nice mustard green I just eat it on the spot. Leave some patches to grow bigger and eat them chopped up in your dal/lentils - stem & all. Keep sowing them all the year.
16 May 09, trish mann (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I've been growing mustard greens as a salad vegetable for a few years and find they come up in surprising places. Very hardy to grow summer or winter- great crunchy stem with slightly hot mustard flavour. The initial seeds came from a punnet of salad greens which I let go to seed.
Showing 51 - 57 of 57 comments

I have been growing mustard greens as a salad vegetable for a couple of years and simply love them. I have been starting them off from seedlings from the nursery however this year I've had trouble finding healthy seedlings and would prefer the convenience of growing them from seed. However I haven't had any luck in finding seeds. Can anyone tell me where I may be able to purchase them from?

- Erna Stein

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