Hon Tsai Tai – Asian Green Seed

Purple flower stems and buds.
A Chinese specialty also known as Kailaan. The young plants produce quantities of long, pencil-thin, red-purple, budded flower stems. Pleasing, mild mustard taste for use raw in salads or lightly cooked in stir-fries or soups. For multiple harvesting of tender stems and leaves. Can be spring sown, but yields best when sown June through October for harvest from midsummer through winter (in mild areas). Hand harvest 8–10" long shoots by snapping them. Shoots that do not easily snap are overmature. Avg. 11,700 seeds/oz. Packet: 250 seeds.

CULTURE: Sow from early spring through midsummer. In the south, greens are well adapted to fall plantings. For full-sized bunching, sow 15 seeds/ft., 1/4" deep in 2" wide bands in rows 18" apart. Most varieties do not require thinning. See individual product descriptions for varieties that do. Harvest before flowering. For baby leaf, sow a 2" to 4" wide band at 60 seeds/ft. Clip young leaves when 3-6" tall.
PESTS: Flea beetles are best controlled by covering with floating row covers from day of sowing.
AVG. DIRECT SEEDING RATE: For bunching: 1 oz./830′, 1 lb./13,000′ at above spacing. For baby leaf: 1 oz./210′, 1 lb./3,300′ at above spacing.
SEED SPECS: SEEDS/OZ.: Avg. 12,650.
PACKET: 250 seeds unless otherwise noted, sows 16′ full-size, 4′ baby leaf.