Tatsoi is a very cold-hardy green (down to 10°F, –12°C), one of the ones we grow in our hoophouse to feed us after the winter solstice, when the crops have started to be fewer in number and each is less abundant in production rate. We have also grown this one outdoors in the fall for early winter eating, but no longer do this as the rate of growth inside the hoophouse is much better. In the fall tatsoi will not bolt, but in late winter/early spring it will.
I have been writing about a particular Asian green once a month since last May. To find the other articles, click the category “Asian Greens”.
Like Asian greens in general, tatsoi is a great crop for filling out winter CSA bags or market booths, and ultimately, dinner tables. Because the Asian greens are so varied in color, texture, shape and spiciness, you can add a lot of diversity to your crops by growing a selection that is easy to grow and can all be treated the same way. They are as easy to grow as kale. They germinate at a wide range of temperatures and make fast growth (much faster than lettuce in cold weather!)
Botanically, tatsoi is Brassica rapa var. narinosa, cousin of other turnip family greens such as Chinese cabbage, Tokyo Bekana, pak choy, mizuna and komatsuna. It is a more distant cousin of the Brassica oleracea greens such as Vates kale, Chinese kale and kai-lan, and of crops in the Chinese Mustard family, Brassica juncea (the frilly mustards like Ruby Streaks and Golden Frills).
Tatsoi is a relatively small plant with shiny, dark green spoon-shaped leaves and green-white stems. If given plenty of space it grows as a flat rosette, but if crowded it takes on a flowerpot shape. For sale, the whole plants are cut and the leaves banded together, so crowding them does not at all make them less marketable. It has a pleasant mild flavor.
Photo Bridget Aleshire
Growing Tatsoi
We direct sow and then thin into salad mixes, leaving some to mature at 10″ (25 cm) across for cooking greens. You can also transplant at 3-4 weeks of age in the fall, at 6″ (15 cm) apart. Although we transplant most of our brassicas, to allow the beds more time without this crop family (which we grow lots of), we direct sow this one, which will have many plants in a small space.
Tatsoi has similar care requirements to other brassicas. Very fertile soils grow the best Asian greens, so turn in leguminous cover crops or compost to provide adequate nutrition. Asian greens are shallow rooted – Pay extra attention to providing enough water to prevent bitter flavors and excess pungency. Expect to provide 1” (2.5 cm) of water per week in cooler weather, 2” (5 cm) during very hot weather.
Do close monitoring for pests, which can build up large populations during late summer. We do nothing special for our tatsoi, but if you have a lot of brassica flea beetles or uncontrolled caterpillars, cover the sowings or new transplants with insect netting such as ProtekNet.
If you are growing tatsoi outdoors in late fall, you could use rowcover to keep your plants alive longer into the winter.
For our hoophouse, we make a first sowing of tatsoi in the very first bed we prepare for winter crops, on 9/6. We make a second sowing in mid-November. The first sowing will feed us for two months, November and December. The second sowing will feed us for a much shorter period of time: the second half of February, first week of March. It would bolt if we tried to keep it any longer.
It is entirely possible to make sowings between 9/6 and 11/15, and get harvests that last longer than our 11/15 sowing. The only reason we don’t is that we have so many other crops we love.
Kitazawa Seeds have a Red Violet tatsoi/pak choy hybrid, with an upright habit. They classify tatsoi as a type of pak choy/bok choy/pak choi, so if you are perusing their interesting site, this is how to find tatsoi.
Photo Pam Dawling
Harvesting Tatsoi
Tatsoi takes 21 days to be big enough for baby salads; 45 days for cooking size.
To harvest, initially we thin the rows to 1″ (2.5 cm), using baby plants in salad mix. Our first sowing provides thinnings from 10/8, one month after sowing. Next we thin to 3″ (7.5 cm), using these also for salad. Our next thinning, to 6″ (15 cm) gives us small plants for cooking. After this, we harvest individual leaves for salad or cooking. The second sowing provides thinnings 12/27-1/21 approximately.
Once we get close to the time the plants would bolt, we pull up whole plants and use them for cooking. We pull the most crowded plants first, giving the others time to grow bigger – they can grow as big as 12″ (30 cm) across. Overcrowding can lead to early bolting.
Overview of Winter Hoophouse Greens
In the big scheme of things, we harvest Tokyo Bekana and Maruba Santoh for heads in December, along with our first tatsoi; our first Yukina Savoy, our Chinese cabbage and Pak Choy in January, our second tatsoi and Yukina Savoy in February and early March.
Non-heading leafy greens such as Senposai, spinach and chard feed us all winter until mid-March when we need the hoophouse space for spring crops. (Read more about Yukina Savoy here in March.)
After Tatsoi
We clear our first tatsoi by 1/14, and use the space to sow our fifth spinach on 1/15. This planting of spinach is to be used as bare root transplants outdoors in March. Our second tatsoi is cleared 3/12 to prepare the space for early summer crops like tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash and cucumbers.
Photo Wren Vile