I'm growing Pak Choy under LED lights and the plants are already beginning to flower at 3 to 4 weeks old. The lights are on for 18 hours per day. Is the light cycle too long? Or is there some other factor that is triggering the plants to flower? Any help or Ideas will be greatly appreciated.
What is the ambient temperature? This vegetable does well in a cool environment (around 10-15°C/50-60°F). More heat would cause premature bolting.
Thank you JungleK that was extremely interesting reading and I learned a lot to help solving my problems with this Bok choy. In addition this also solved bolting issues I have experienced in the past with other crops outside.
The ambient temperature is 80 degrees Fahrenheit. On top of that I have been keeping this seed stock in the freezer in order to keep it viable longer which I wasn't aware aids in the vernalization process in some plants including Bok Choy. Just learned that from Junglekeeper's article above. I can reduce the temperature under the lights now probably down to 70 degrees and see if that helps. Thank you for the help :)
I have grown Bok Choy only couple of years. For me it works well, if I sow it as soon as ground is above 5°C and the spring is not very short. All my attempts to grow second crop in summer have resulted with massive bolting. Third crop in the early fall has been again successful, although the harvest is smaller than in the spring (plants remain smaller). When spring becomes unusually warm, then some plants will bolt. But when the seeds are sown during the warm season, when temperatures constantly above 10°C with dayly highs above 20°C, then the bolting is total. In my case this summer bolting may come from drought. I'm not always very careful with watering, because I have some summer trips to take and can't guarantee optimal watering when I'm away.
My experiences with growing Bok Choy outside in NJ has been similar to what you describe. On top of that I have sandy soil that doesn't hold moister very long and I also have times where I'm unable to water. However in this case I am fortunate enough to be employed at a company that builds specialty shipping containers and one of the containers we made is a proto type marijuana grow container. Currently we do not have a buyer for this cutting edge grow box and the owner has let us employees start our vegetable and flowers in there in preparation for the growing season. As for the Bok Choy I am attempting to grow it inside the whole time until harvest. I am attempting this because of problems I experience with bolting in the garden. Thank you Sulev for your response.
