Home-grown kai-lan

Kai lan (Brassica oleracea var. alboglabra) is the Chinese name for a vegetable that is also known as Chinese broccoli or Chinese kale. It is a leaf vegetable featuring thick, flat, glossy blue-green leaves with thick stems, and flower heads similar to but much smaller than broccoli. This leafy vegetable is rich in vitamins and minerals. Chinese broccoli is best served when stir-fried with lots of garlic mixed in oyster sauce. It is generally more heat tolerant than other Chinese greens so it is still possible to grow this vegetable even in warm countries. From my experience, I find the home-grown kai-lan leaves delightfully more flavorful than the commercial ones.

Soak the seeds overnight to induce them to germinate faster.

Two weeks ago, I experimented on a few seeds which I had sprinkled over a potting mixture. In about 5 days, the seeds already started to germinate.  I was quite surprised that it germinated well despite the summer heat. 

An ideal container size should have a minimum of 6-inches in width, and at least 8- inches in depth. For faster growth and bigger leaves, it is better to plant them in deeper containers in order for them to develop a better root system.

Baby Kai-lan grown about 2cm

Harvesting the Baby Kai-lan (Gai-lan)

I will update the results with picture soon