CABBAGE-MIZUNA (XIU CAI or KYONA)
CABBAGE-MIZUNA (XIU CAI or KYONA)
A$3.50
Availability: 52 in stock
Brassica rapa
CABBAGE-MIZUNA (XIU CAI or KYONA) is a Japanese green leafy vegetable that has spiky leaves, also called Xiu Cai or Kyona. Here’s an Oriental mustard green that is multi-faceted. Add it to your stir-fries, soups & sandwiches. It has a mild, tender, slightly peppery taste. It grows to around 27 cm tall but you can harvest at 7.5-9 cm for salads, or larger (20-27) for braising. Slender, white stalks bear feathery, serrated leaves. Mizuna grows in most soils & requires little encouragement to thrive. Best sown in late summer, it can also be sown in spring or even autumn if given some winter protection. The main issue with it is that if the weather gets too hot & dry, it bolts like a startled horse. So, it’s best sown to mature in the cooler parts of the year either side of summer. Prefers a well-drained, fertile soil, but grows pretty much anywhere.
| Germination Time (Days) | 5 – 10 |
| Maturity Time (Days) | 60 – 120 |
| Sowing Depth (mm) | 2 – 6 |
| Plant Spacing (cm) | 2.5 |
| Row Spacing (cm) | 59 – 60 |
| pH | 6 – 7.5 |
| Soil Temperature (°C) | – |
| Hardy / Frost Tender | Hardy |
| Sow Direct / Raise Seedlings | Sow Direct |
| Seed Preparation | – |
Scoville Heat Units (SHU)
Plant Height
30 - 45 cm (12 - 18 inches)
Season of Interest
Spring, Autumn
Temperature Range
10 - 25 °C
Determine / Indeterminate
Annual / Perennial / Biennial
Annual
Frost Hardy / Tender
Frost Tender
Full Sun / Part Sun / Shade
Full sun or part shade.
Sow Direct / Raise Seedlings
Raise Seedlings
Soil
Well-drained, fertile soil
pH
6.0 - 7.5
Soil Temperature
10 - 22 °C (50 - 72 °F)
Seed Preparation
No special preparation required
Sowing Depth
0.5 - 1 cm (0.2 - 0.4 inches)
Plant Spacing
20 cm (8 inches)
Row spacing
30 cm (12 inches)
Watering
Regular watering to keep soil moist
Germination Time (Days)
5 - 10 days
Harvest Time (Days)
30 - 50 days
Good Companion Plants
Carrots, Radishes, Onions
Bad Companion Plants
Strawberries, Tomatoes
Pests
Flea beetles, Aphids, Cabbage worms
Diseases
Downy mildew, Clubroot
More About Us
When I started this journey in 2009, I found nothing existed commercially, that was reasonably priced and easy to use. There was a homemade system which I also found was not that user-friendly.
Then a friend of mine told me about a homemade method she used. However, when I tried her method, I found this also didn’t suit my needs, as it too had flaws that I considered where important. It did not keep vermin out, did not have a lockable lid and (to me) looked unsightly in the garden
