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7 Edible and Pest-Repelling Bok Choy Companion Plants

November 9, 2023

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With over 10 years of lawn and landscaping experience under his belt, Larry is a mean, green, gardening machine! Larry aims to share his vast knowledge in the field of gardening and create a one-stop shop for all gardening information and needs.

7 Edible Bok Choy Companion Plants

Bok choy companion plants enrich the flavor of bok choy, help in pest control, and thrive in the same conditions as bok choy. Our companion planting guide serves as a bok choy companion planting chart; it is all you need to have happy and healthy bok choys.

1. Carrots

Native to Europe and southwestern Asia, carrots are biennial vegetables that are a member of the Apiaceae family. Their leaves have a flavor similar to parsley.

The upper surface of the leaf segments is a medium green color, while the lower surface has a light green, hairy surface. Carrot plants do not flower; but if they do, it is a clear indication that they are no longer edible.

Carrots are good companions because they attract pollinators, like hoverflies.

– Growing Season

The best season to plant carrots is early spring. They bloom in spring in the second growing season. The plants have a fast growth rate leading to harvesting within 90 to 100 days.

– Specific Needs

The easiest and most common way to propagate carrots is through seeds. They can also be propagated through carrot tops. Green leaves need to be cut off along with the carrot tops for this propagation method.

The plants prefer to grow in full to partial sun and loose, well-drained soil with a slightly acidic pH. They require watering of up to 1 inch per week, and adding mulch to your plant will help retain water and keep the soil cool.

To prevent the carrot roots from deforming, it is essential to keep the area weed-free. Add fertilizer with low nitrogen and potassium content to aid crop growth in the growing season.

2. Spinach

Spinach is an annual, leafy vegetable, a member of the Amaranthaceae family, and is native to North America, Central America, South America, and Asia. Its leaves are edible, glossy, ovate, and smooth, but they can alaso be crumpled. The seeds are straw-colored, and their size is similar to a radish seed.

Spinach also has pest-deterring properties, because of that, planting bok choys as spinach companion plants would be wise.

– Growing Season

Spinach loves to grow in cool seasons and bloom in summer. Plant spinach in early spring or late winter and again in early fall or summer. The plant has a fast growth rate and grows spinach leaves within 45 days of planting.

– Specific Needs

Usually, spinach is grown from seeds, but you can also grow them from stems that still have roots attached to them. The latter method saves germination time, giving you a quicker harvest.

Spinach loves to grow in full to partial sun and loamy, moist, but well-drained soil, irrespective of the pH level. Water the plants about 1 to 1.5 half inches weekly to keep the soil moist.

Regular watering is going to stop the plants from bolting. Pruning the plant throughout the growing season will give you a healthy harvest. Pull the whole plant off if it seems damaged or diseased.

3. Mint

Mint is a hardy, herbaceous perennial that belongs to the Lamiaceae family and is native to North America, Africa, and Australia. Mint plants have upright and branched stems and oblong or ovate leaves that have an opposite arrangement on the stems. The leaves are often covered with very small hairs.

The strong flavor of mint attracts beneficial insects like bees and hoverflies, which the bok choy will greatly benefit from, making it a good choy companion.

– Growing Season

The plant produces new foliage all year round if its stems do not die due to frost. The best season to plant mint is spring.

It has a slow growth rate and spreads to an area of 2 feet in six months. The plant can be as tall as 18 inches and wide as 2 feet.

– Specific Needs

The simplest way to propagate mint is through cuttings which are best done between spring and early summer when the plant is already grown and has not bloomed yet.

Mint grows in full to partial sun and loamy, moist, well-drained soil with an acidic to neutral pH. Keep your soil moist in dry spells through regular watering. If you see your mint wilting, it clearly indicates that the plant requires more water.

Add fertilizer to your plant only if you have nutrient-deficient soil. To save yourself from having to prune the plant all the time, grow your mint in a closed, limited space, like a pot.

4. Celeriac

Celeriac is another name for celery that is cultivated for its roots rather than its stalks. The plant is a brown-root vegetable that has a knob-like appearance.

It is a cool-season biennial but is grown as an annual, belongs to the family of Umbellifers, and is a native of the Mediterranean. Celeriac helps keep the cabbage worms away, making pak choi good celeriac companion plants.

– Growing Season

Celeriac has a long growing season and the best season to grow it in is spring, undercover in March, right after the fall frost has passed. It does well in poor summers. It has a slow growth rate and takes three to four months to harvest.

– Specific Needs

Celeriac plants are best propagated through celeriac tops. All you need to do is cut its top off and place it in a jar, having water filled halfway, near a windowsill indoors in sunlight. You wfeetill soon see roots forming and green stalks appearing.

Celeriac prefers to grow in the sun but can also tolerate partial shade. The soil must be moist, well-drained, have an acidic pH, and be rich in organic matter. You will also need to water the plant enough to dampen the soil. Add fertilizer twice or three times a month to ensure a smooth growth process.

5. Garlic

Garlic is a perennial but grown as an annual plant. It belongs to the Amaryllidaceae family and is native to Asia. The leaves are called garlic scapes and curly tendrils, and the garlic flowers are the seeds that emerge on the above-ground stems. Pak chois make excellent garlic companion plants as the strong scent of garlic deters pests like flea beetles from the pak choi.

– Growing Season

The best season for growing garlic is fall to spring. The plants quickly develop roots when planted in fall so that by the time winter sets in, they are fully mature.

Garlic has a slow growth rate and takes nine months to be ready for harvesting. The maximum height and width the plant can reach are 1.5 feet and 1 foot, respectively.

– Specific Needs

There is no plant easier to propagate than garlic. Put aside some good-quality bulbs to be planted in the ground or containers next season. The bulbs need to be stored at room temperature with high humidity.

Garlic loves to grow in full sun and moist, well-drained soil with slightly acidic soil. It does not require watering but will surely appreciate an inch of watering per week. Add fertilizer in the growing season to boost the plant’s growth.

6. Butternut Squash

Native to Central America and South America, Butternut Squash is an annual that belongs to the Cucurbits family. The plant has heart-shaped leaves with silver veins and fuzzy hairs sprouting at the bottom surface. Its leaves and flowers are both edible.

Pak chois make good butternut squash companion plants as butternut squash has well-repelling properties, saving your pak chois from falling prey to weeds.

– Growing Season

Butternut squash is grown in summer and spring and blooms in summer. It has a fast growth rate leading to a harvest of 110 days.

The plant does not acquire much height and is only 18 inches tall, but it can be as wide as 15 feet.

– Specific Needs

The easiest, quickest, and most common way to propagate butternut squash is through seeds. The plant grows in full sun and rich, well-drained soil with an acidic to neutral pH.

Water the plants about an inch per week to prevent seedlings from completely drying; however, water them daily during dry spells. Add organic compost for better growth in the middle of the growing season. Make sure to trim the leaf nodes as the plant is growing.

7. Swiss Chard

Native to the Mediterranean, this is a biennial vegetable that belongs to the Amaranthaceae family. Its leaves are edible, oval, and somewhat heart-shaped, with prominent veins in the middle part of the stems. The flowers are a beautiful yellow but are not edible. Pak chois make good swiss chard companion plants as swiss chards are quite ornamental.

– Growing Season

The best season to plant swiss chard is spring, two to four weeks before the end of fall frost. It blooms in summer and has a fast growth rate that leads to a quick harvest within three months of sowing the plant.

– Specific Needs

The easiest way to propagate swiss chard is through seeds. Sow the seeds about an inch deep into the soil with a 6-inch spacing in between, and continue sowing them at a 10-day interval for a month.

Swiss chard grows in full to partial sun and is rich, moist, and well-drained with a slightly acidic pH. Water the plants enough to keep the soil moist, and add a mulch layer to lock in the moisture. Regular composting is enough to keep your plants thriving, but if you have poor soil, add organic vegetable fertilizer.

Where there are companion plants that your bok choys truly need, there are also bok choy bad companion plants. After going through our planting guide, it might seem that all edible plants can be planted as companion plants for bok choy. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Please note that tomatoes, broccoli, and other Brassica family members, like Brussels sprouts, will cause bok choy to bolt and eventually die. Peppers, being from the nightshade family, have the same impact on pak choi.

Conclusion

Bok choys are full sun lovers and appreciate the company of companion plants has the same growth needs.

The crop rotation plants listed above have pest-deterring properties. Whichever plant you decide on having as a companion plant, always remember the following points from the article above:

Use swiss chards for ornamental purposes with the added benefit of it being edible.
Garlic has a strong scent that repels harmful insects.
To attract pollinators, plant mint next to your bok choys.

After learning more about these plants you will now be able to choose the best companions for your bok choy to thrive and be as flavourful as possible.