How to Grow Bok Choy Indoors

Growing bok choy indoors with grow lights is super easy. Get some bok choy seeds and potting mix, plant them in seed trays and put them under a grow light. In about a month you can pick fresh bok choy to eat!

Growing Baby Bok Choy Indoors is Easy

I love baby bok choy so much we grow it year round. Instead of growing them in our garden beds I’m often growing them indoors so I am always stocked and ready to to use in our favorite recipes.

Growing bok choy indoors is pretty easy if you have a heating mat and grow light (don’t have those things? read the bottom of the post for tips). In about 4 weeks after planting your seeds you will have beautiful bok choy to cook and eat!

Once you grow bok choy come back and try my Bok Choy Stir Fry in Brown Sauce, Bok Choy in Chicken Broth and Bok Choy Pasta. And if you are growing lots here’s how I store bok choy, and here’s how to freeze bok choy without it turning mushy (awesome for soups!).

Using a Heating Mat and Grow Lights

The key parts to growing bok choy indoors (or really starting any seeds) is a heating mat and grow lights (to mimic the sun).

When starting your seeds it’s best to use a heating mat to get consistent fast germination. Set your heating mat to 75F. After the seeds germinate you can turn off the heating mat.

The seedlings need up to 16 hours of light a day. Growing without a grow light is possible if you have windows that gets really great light but you might have poor results with leggy weak plants.

You might find these 2 posts helpful if you are new to gardening: How to Use a Heat Mat for Seed Germination and How to Make Your Own DIY Seed Grow Light Stand!.

How to Grow Bok Choy Indoors

Get a pack of bok choy seeds.

Plant seeds in seed trays filled with potting mix.

Set up grow lights (here’s the lights we use) and heating mat to 75F.

Cover seed tray with lid and allow the seeds to germinate. This will take 2-3 days. Once they’re germinated, turn off the heating mat and remove the lid.

Keep the soil moist while the bok choy is growing. Here’s the bok choy at 2 weeks old.

With proper care, you will have boy choy to pick in about 4 weeks.

Tips for Growing Bok Choy

• Keep the soil moist but be careful not to over water.
• To make extra strong seedlings indoors we need to simulate the natural wind. Place a fan to lightly blow on the seedlings or brush them gently with your hand everyday. This makes the plants grow thick strong stems.

How to Grow Bok Choy With Window Light

Growing bok choy indoors by window light can be difficult. However, it is possible if you are prepared.

First you need a window that gets at least some direct sunlight – ideally a south facing window that gets a minimum of 6 hours of sun. When seedlings don’t get enough sunlight they can grow really tall and leggy. This is the seedlings desperate attempt to grow towards sunlight. Leggy seedlings will rarely yield a useful crop and will eventually topple over and die – usually before they make a flower or produce a crop.

Some things you can do if you don’t have grow light is to use a regular lamp. Any extra light you can add to the window light will help. If you don’t have extra lights you can use a white or reflective fill card (like in photography) to bounce more light from the window on to the plant. Putting a fan on your seedlings to lightly blow them or brushing them daily with your hand can help simulate natural wind and trick the plant into growing a strong stocky stem.

Hope this post helps you with growing your own bok choy!

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