When to Plant Pak Choy (Bok Choy) in Canberra, Cold / Highland Guide
Sow February to April and September to October. Right now in October you can sow.
Grow Pak Choy in your space
Also called bok choy, pak choi, buk choy.
- Planting window
- A quick cool-season green for late summer to autumn sowing, with a spring sowing possible. Spring crops bolt fast as days lengthen, so...
- Days to harvest
- 35 days
- Sunlight
- Full sun in cool weather. Part shade essential in warm zones to prevent bolting.
- Water needs
- Consistent moisture critical. Water deeply every 2-3 days. Drought stress triggers...
- Spacing
- 25cm apart, 35cm between rows
- Soil pH
- 6.0-7.5
Published · Last reviewed · By GardenBuddy.au
Growing advice is reviewed by hand. Planting dates, current conditions and prices on this page update daily.
This Pak Choy (Bok Choy) guide is written for the Cold / Highland zone, which takes in Canberra, Cooma and Bright. Somewhere else? Your postcode picks the right one.
Not your zone? Cairns Brisbane Sydney Melbourne Alice Springs Perth
Also handy: will it frost this week? and what grows in shade.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Pak choy (also spelled bok choy, pak choi) is a fast-growing, non-heading Chinese cabbage with thick, crisp stems and dark green leaves. It matures in 5-7 weeks, making it one of the quickest brassica crops. Available in standard white-stemmed, green-stemmed (Shanghai), baby, and purple varieties. Essential in Asian cooking and increasingly popular in Australian home gardens.
See what grows now in your own postcode
Planting Calendar for Cold / Highland
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | S/D | S/T/D | S/T/D | - | - | - | - | S/T/D | T/D | - | - |
S = Seed Tray T = Transplant D = Direct Sow
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Current Growing Conditions
Soil temperature: 13.6°C (optimal range: 10–25°C) ✓ Ready to plant
Modelled from Open-Meteo forecast (Canberra), not a live sensor.
What this month normally looks like
In October the Cold / Highland zone normally runs 20°C by day and 7°C overnight, with about 58 mm of rain over 7 or 8 wet days. The coldest October night on record across the zone was -6.4°C, so a late frost is not out of the question. Averages 1991 to 2026, 15 postcodes, SILO.
How to Grow Pak Choy (Bok Choy) in Cold / Highland Australia
When to Plant
A quick cool-season green for late summer to autumn sowing, with a spring sowing possible. Spring crops bolt fast as days lengthen, so harvest young.
- Soil
- Rich, well-drained soil with plenty of compost and aged manure. Needs moisture-retentive but not waterlogged soil.
- pH Range
- 6.0-7.5
- Sunlight
- Full sun in cool weather. Part shade essential in warm zones to prevent bolting.
- Spacing
- 25cm apart, 35cm between rows
- Watering
- Consistent moisture critical. Water deeply every 2-3 days. Drought stress triggers bolting. Drip irrigation ideal. Morning watering preferred.
Companion plants: Celery, Onion, Chamomile, Dill, Marigold
Avoid planting near: Other brassicas if disease present, Strawberry
Grow before, grow after
Pak Choy belongs with the brassicas, the leafy greens and brassicas turn of a four turn bed rotation.
- Grow before it
- Legumes (Beans - Dwarf, Peas, Broad Beans)
- Grow after it
- Fruiting crops (Tomato, Capsicum, Zucchini)
Give the bed 3 turns before brassicas go back in. The cabbage family is hungry for nitrogen and shares club root and other soil diseases.
Cold / Highland Growing Tips for Pak Choy (Bok Choy)
Recommended Varieties
- Baby Bok Choy
- Shanghai Green
Key Challenges
- Frost damage
- Short season
- Slow growth in cool conditions
Pro Tips
- Fast maturity (5-6 weeks) makes this viable even in short seasons
- Grow in cold frame for extended season
- Choose baby varieties for quickest harvest
Harvesting Pak Choy (Bok Choy)
When ready: Baby bok choy: 15-20cm tall (4-5 weeks). Full size: 25-35cm with thick, firm stems (6-8 weeks). Stems should snap crisply when bent.
How to harvest: Cut entire plant at soil level with sharp knife. Or harvest outer leaves/stems individually for cut-and-come-again. Harvest in cool of morning.
Where to next
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Open the planting dashboard Join GardenBuddy.auCommon Questions About Pak Choy (Bok Choy)
When do you plant pak choy in Australia?
It depends on your climate zone, not the calendar month alone. Planting months by zone:
- Tropical (Cairns): Apr to Aug
- Subtropical (Brisbane): Feb to Aug
- Warm Temperate (Sydney): Feb to Oct
- Cool Temperate (Melbourne): Feb to May, Aug to Oct
- Cold / Highland (Canberra): Feb to Apr, Sep to Oct
- Arid / Semi-Arid (Alice Springs): Mar to Sep
- Mediterranean (Perth): Feb to Sep
Does pak choy grow all year round in Canberra?
No. In the Cold / Highland zone the planting months are Feb to Apr, Sep to Oct. Outside that window it either bolts, sulks or gets cut down by the weather.
What else is pak choy called?
Pak choy is the usual Australian name. Overseas seed packets and recipes call it bok choy, pak choi, buk choy. Same plant, same growing advice.
Which zone am I in?
Type your postcode into the box under the heading and the page tells you, and links this crop in your own zone if it differs. Or look it up on the grow zone map. This page is the Cold / Highland zone, Canberra is its reference city.