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Vegetable (Cool Season) - Cabbage Family
Also known as Chinese mustard, Indian mustard
Brassica juncea
Brassicaceae Family
This cool-season green adds a peppery zing to salads, and makes an
attractive addition to ornamental plantings. When plants bolt, harvest
flowers and seedpods for salads, too.
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Site Characteristics
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Sunlight:
Benefits from some shading during warm weather.
Soil conditions:
- requires well-drained soil
Prefers well-drained, fertile soil high in organic matter, pH 6.0 to
7.5. Can tolerate slightly alkaline soil. Needs plentiful, consistent
moisture.
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Plant Traits
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Lifecycle:
annual
Ease-of-care:
easy
Height:
0.5 to 2 feet
Spread:
1 to 2 feet
Bloom time:
- early summer
- mid-summer
- late summer
Flower color:
yellow
Foliage color:
- medium green
- dark green
- red
- purple
Some varieties have contrasting white or purples stems and veins, or have crinkled or savoyed leaves.
Foliage texture:
medium
Shape:
cushion, mound or clump
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Special Considerations
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Tolerates:
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frost - Tolerates light frost.
Special uses:
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Growing Information
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How to plant:
Propagate by
seed
Germination temperature: 45 F to 85 F
- Will germinate at soil temperatures as low as 40 F.
Days to emergence: 4 to 7
Seed can be saved 4 years.
Maintenance and care:
From early spring to late summer, sow seeds ¼ to ½ inch deep, 1 inch
apart in rows 6 to 8 inches apart. Thin to 6-inch spacings for smaller
varieties, or up to 18 inches for large ones. Plant
every 2 weeks for continuous harvest. Some plantings may bolt quickly
in response to increasing temperatures and day length. High
temperatures and lack of moisture increase peppery taste. Use floating row covers to help protect from early insect infestations. To help reduce disease, do not plant mustards or other cole crops in the same location more than once every three or four years.
Pests:
Flea beetles
White flies
AphidsMustards
generally suffer less insect damage than other cole crops. Use floating
row covers to prevent early season infestations.
Diseases:
Not as susceptible to diseases that often plague other cole crops.
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Varieties
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Browse mustard varieties at our Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners website.There
are many varieties to choose from, though most seed catalogs only offer
a few. Look for different days to maturity, size of plants, and form
and color of leaves. Some cultivated mustards are species other than B. juncea, including B. nigra and Sinapsis alba. Some varieties recommended for New York include: Green Wave
Red Giant
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