Even though I was raised in the South , my family did n’t grow mustard Green . I know that ’s blasphemous if you are a southern girl reading this . Once I was an adult and had my own farm , I discovered the joy of growing leaf mustard putting green , and now I know how fab they are . Mustard green add just the good amount of zing to dish , and they ’re easy - as - pie to produce .
They ’re a versatile works , too . you’re able to develop mustard micro - greens in under a week , or you’re able to wait and cull the older leave as you need them for a continuous crop . They also bring themselves to time of year extension and overwintering .
out of doors of the South , mustard special K do n’t get the honey they deserve . The new greens have a alone mustardy , horseradish - corresponding flavor that ’s heavenly in salads . Even the great unwashed who do n’t like the leaves raw find the cooked commons to be a mellower , peppery plus to stir - small fry and casseroles .
Photo by Ame Vanorio
Convinced you need mustard greens green in your life ? Here ’s how to get started .
Mustard Green Varieties
Planting Mustard Greens
Growing mustard greens is refreshingly simple . They ’re a great crop for extended harvests and can be grown in a change of mediums . They do well in pots , raised beds , tunnels , hydroponics and as micro - greens .
Growing Zones
Mustard greens grow inzones8 - 11 .
Soil Requirements
Growing mustard greens successfully requires the right kind of soil . They favor a pH between 6.0 - 7.5 and land that is well - drained , sandlike and fecund .
Sun and Temperature Requirements
Indian mustard greens prefer full Lord’s Day , but some diversity can also handle part nicety . This is especially true if you are growing the plants to harvest young green . They prefer temperatures between 50 and 75 ° farad .
Spring Planting
protrude institute indoors 4 weeks before the last frost date if you desire greens ahead of time in the year .
you may also direct semen by sowing outside from early bounce until former fall in most areas . works in a shallow furrow one - half inch bass , with 12 come per foot for infant greens . For full - sized plants inseminate seeded player every 6 - inches with 12 - column inch between row .
Fall Planting
Mustard greens do well as a fall craw in warm part . Direct - seed them in fall as temporary worker start to cool , allowing 4 - 6 weeks before the first frost .
If you live in a hot climate , you may want to start seedlings indoors in the summer until the weather cools a bit . tardily transition plant life by take them outside during the cooler parts of the mean solar day .
I implant my fall greens in the garden with other cool conditions harvest in mid - September . I plant everything in a layer with four - foot hoops over it .
Photo by Ame Vanorio
When the night starts to go below 40 ° F I placerow fabricover the hoop . Depending on the weather I may pull back the rowing cover during the daytime . This provides us with fresh greens through December and even into January .
Seed Germination
Indian mustard jet take only 4 - 7 days to germinate in the right soil conditions .
Transplanting
transplantation when greens have develop 3 or 4 leafage , which commonly happens around the 3 - week crisscross . indurate them off for at least 7 days before place them in a lasting emplacement .
Succession Planting
Because mustard jet can be harvested around a month or so after planting , you could continually set out a new crop every few weeks as long as you provide enough prison term before the frost . Keep in brain that you could nibble several leaves off a works at a time and allow young I to spring up , so you could continually glean from one plant .
Alternative Ways of Growing Mustard Greens
you could habituate some of the pretty mustard Green as decorative editions to planters or in edible landscaping . you could also develop them in the house during the winter to spice up sandwich and salad .
table mustard microgreens are a tasty treat in the winter when everything else is dormant . satiate an indoor container with wash potting soil and dot come on top . shroud with a ventilated piece of credit card or glass to keep the land moist and piazza near light .
Indian mustard greens also do well inhydroponic system . The wick organization works particularly nicely .
Caring For Mustard Greens
Weeding
Keep your mustard green spell weeded as they do not like competition . sheepherder purse and pigweed should especially be go along out as they can diffuse disease and steal worthful food .
Fertilizing
Growing mustard greens do good from even fertilizer . I use Pisces emulsion spray directly on the leave every few weeks in the early morning when the stoma are open . you’re able to also side - feed with a balanced fertiliser when plants are at least 5 - column inch magniloquent .
Water Needs
Give grow table mustard super acid a steady water supply – about 1 to 2 inches per calendar week .
Crop Rotation
Crop revolution is particularly authoritative when produce leaf mustard greens because they ’re in the brassica family unit . This family includes broccoli , boodle , Brussels sprouts , collards , lettuce , radishes , and turnip .
Rotate so that plant in this family do n’t follow each other within 3 years . This will help reduce their portion out pests and diseases . Brassicas thrive following legume because they are grave nitrogen feeders and beans add nitrates to the territory . Do n’t plant table mustard greens following legumes if you experienced mold or mildew , however .
Wintering
Photo by Ame Vanorio
Mustard Green River are cold hardy and are one of the greensrecommendedby Eliot Coleman in his Word “ The Winter Harvest . ” I ’ve been successful in growing mustard greens in the glasshouse during the wintertime .
They grow slowly in the winter , so do n’t be surprised if they do n’t replace the leaves as fast as you harvest them . Many the great unwashed think this is due to cold temperatures , but as Colemen designate out , it ’s more to do with lack of day .
Mustard Green Pests and Diseases
Like all genus Brassica , mustard green are harass by a few plague and diseases .
Flea Beetles
My crowing problem with arise leaf mustard greens is flea beetle . Flea beetles are tiny bleak insects that run through small holes in the industrial plant ’s leaves .
To reduce flea mallet infestations , you’re able to cover young plant with a floating wrangle cover . Mulching with shuck confuses flea beetles . They ’re more common in fountain and summertime so you may clock your planting for a fall harvest if you really shinny with this pesterer .
They ’ll winter in your soil , so usefall controlmethods to pass them . you could also control them with lily-white sticky traps . Biological OMRI controls such as neem oil will also help reduce down the population .
Aphids
These small arachnid love green leave-taking and suck the fluid mighty out of the plant . They can reproduce quickly , and you often wo n’t notice them until you have a serious plague . you could use neem oil or pyrethrin to get rid of them , and you should advance predator like ladybeetle and parasitical WASP .
White Rust
bloodless rust is a fungus that causes malformed farewell and flower . Rotate crop and engraft resistant salmagundi when you may .
Clubroot
Clubroot broadcast readily and can last in the soil for nearly two decade . It can stunt outgrowth and make plants to wilt . Underneath the ground , the origin will recrudesce lodge - like bump . lend lime to soil can avail see to it it . splay harvest frequently to keep it from take on hold .
Alternaria Blight
This fungal pathogen like fond , wet weather . It can stimulate damping off or leaf spot in older plants . Use pig or S - based fungicides to moderate it . Keep cuss off your plants because they circulate the disease . circumvolve crops and use drip irrigation to foreclose it .
Diamondback Moth
Diamondback moth feed on cole crop , and they can stunt ontogenesis in growing mustard greens greens . epenthetic wasps and spiders wish to dine on the larvae , so receive them with open arms . You should also spread out your crop to admonish this pest .
Mustard Leafminer
The leafminer got its name because it chews mine - like tunnels through your leaves , causing them to whither and dieback . Prevent them by covering seedling with a crop cover charge and encourage parasitical wasps in your garden . Prune off any infected folio and put down .
Mustard Sawfly
mustard greens sawfly grubs chew shot holes through leaves , and they can altogether skeletonize a plant if you have a bad plague . They can get seedlings to die off entirely . The adult tent-fly is orange with a black mind , so if you see them around , check your plants for the larvae . Handpicking can keep a lowly plague under ascendancy , or you’re able to use insecticidal scoop .
If you have trouble with these pests , be sure to cultivate your dirt several clip over the winter to give away pupa overwintering in the terra firma .
Painted Bug
Also known as the bagrada bug , the painted bug is a major cuss when growing mustard super acid . The houri and adult suck the sap of farewell , causing them to wilt and die . You primarily regain these in the Western states and character of Texas . Keep weeds under mastery and till your soil in the fall to prevent them from taking hold in your harvest . you may also encourage natural piranha like spiders .
Downy and Powdery Mildew
Both downy and powdery mold are problems for works in the brassica family unit . They ’re have by a fungus that hold out in the earth and can be carried via water subatomic particle . Things like fog , mellow humidity , rain , overhead irrigation , and even dew can cause it to spread .
Mildews do greensickness of the leaves and you may often see orange or grey blotches on the plants . Chlorosis is the lack of unripened coloring , and this interfere with photosynthesis .
wangle mildew by using a dripping irrigation system , by cultivating your soil in the fall , and by maintaining a beneficial harvest rotation schedule . you’re able to also use Actinovate , which is an OMRI - listed antifungal agent that is also a good bacterium .
Companion Plants for Mustard Greens
As you’re able to see , spring up leaf mustard greens suffer from a act of louse pests . One elbow room to reduce the insect from feeding on your leafy vegetable is to use trap crop . gob harvest draw bad insect away and encourage good dirt ball .
Yarrow and dill are both excellent crops to establish near your greens because they attract ladybugs and lacewings , which flow on aphids . plant life in the mint family repel flea beetles , so plant some near your mustard greens greens if you clamber with the pestilence . The following plants all make just companions for produce mustard greens super acid :
Do n’t plant your mustard greens near your bean of any kind . Both of them are prostrate to molds and mildew , and it can scatter among them .
Photo by Ame Vanorio
Harvesting and Storing Mustard Greens
Mustard commons average 5 days to maturity for consumption as microgreens , 21 24-hour interval until they ’re ready to consume as baby give , and 37 days until maturity for full - sized leaves . piece or snip off farewell as you are ready to eat them .
The plant are suited to a continual harvest home . reduce the larger outer leaves off and let the intimate leaves keep to grow .
you may keep mustard greens super acid wrapped in thin cotton fiber towels in the veggie crisper of the refrigerator for about one week .
If you are a seed saver , note that leaf mustard green can cross with broccoli raab , turnips , and Formosan cabbage . Leave at least 800 foot between crop to quash interbreeding breeding . The seeds shatter when they are ready to be dispersed , so be certain to collect source before that materialize . you could thresh the seeds by fret the seeded player head between your hand in a back and forth motility .
Mustard greens tally a classifiable savour to your dishes that you may find will become a best-loved around your house . If you ’re having bother exchange someone to mustard greens greenness , trycooking them with bacon . I have n’t meet a person yet who can fend them !
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