Pak Choi Red Inferno is a variety of Pak Choi with dark red leaves and a green underside. It's also an easy to grow and fast growing variety of Chinese cabbage. It forms loose spoon-shaped, dark red leaves with lighter red veins and contrasting light green stems. The leaf is about 25 cm long. When the weather gets colder, the red colour of the leaves deepens.
Pak Choi Red Inferno has a slightly different flavour than the regular green Pak Choi. The taste is slightly sharper and more mustard-like. The leaves are just as crunchy. Use in Chinese dishes and stir-fries. This cabbage can also be eaten as a normal vegetable after a short cooking or steaming. You can harvest the very young leaves as a delicious and vitamin-rich variation on lettuce. This cabbage can withstand the cold and lower temperatures and continues to grow for a longer period of time. After sowing, it can be harvested after about 45 days. Hardy annual. Height: 30 - 60 cm.
Outdoor sowing: early March - October
Germination: 7 - 14 days
Germination temp.: 10 - 22 °C
Sowing depth: ½ cm
Planting distance: 30 - 45 cm
Planting position: sunny
Days till harvest: 45
This fairly hardy vegetable can be sown from early March on, when the soil can be worked. Sow in rows approx. 60 - 76 cm apart. Sow thin and shallow and cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil (½ cm). Keep moist and weedfree. The seeds germinate in 7 - 14 days, depending on soil conditions, temperature and the weather. Water enough during dry spells. Don't let the roots lay bare, because this can cause early bolting. Sow small amounts of seeds every 2 - 3 weeks to prolong the harvest.
Add extra lime to the soil because these cabbage variety is prone to clubroot and extra lime will improve the pH in the soil and can prevent this disease. Because pak choi is a very fast growing vegetable it needs loose soil with a very good drainage. Clay soil isn't well suited for growing this type of cabbage. Give regularly water round the base of the plant, not on the leaves. Don't let the soil dry out. Protect the seedlings against snails and slugs. Give a liquid feed, about 3 - 4 weeks before the leaves start to form.