Documentary of Growing Tokyo Bekana completed 4/15/25 in Oviedo, Florida, zone 10A.

General Information:

• Tokyo Bekana is a Chinese cabbage variety that matures within 40-45 days.
• Taste: The leafy foliage resembles lettuce but it does not have the texture or taste of lettuces.
• Culinary usage: Tokyo Bekana is great in soups and stir fry.
• Root system: Tokyo Bekana has a very shallow root system. A planter or pot that is at least 6-inches deep should be ideal to grow it.
• Pest issues: Some unknown pest kept munching on the leaves when I grew this Tokyo Bekana in my raised bed. To be updated if there is any or no pest issues when growing Tokyo Bekana in a pot on my driveway.
• Sunlight: Tokyo Bekana seems to do best in Morning and late afternoon shade.
• Watering: I tried to water my Tokyo Bekana every two days.
• Seed seller: I offer the seeds as part of my $1 seed packet sales to support urban gardeners who are amateurs like me and on a budget or order seeds from Pan Asia Heirloom on Etsy.

Life Cycle

3/4/2025: Seeds are direct sown. I made 15 little holes eventually spaced out in a Gro Pro 10-gallon pot. The pot has a 16-inch saucer underneath and is located on my driveway away from pests under the ground.

3/9/25: Day 5: Seeds sprouted literally overnight! I thinned out the seedlings so that there about one seedling every four inches.

3/11/25: Day 7: I thinned out the seedlings.

3/15/25: I have rested my three largest Tokyo Bekana.

Reflection:

I prefer growing Tokyo Bekana in the spring and warmer weather in pots places above ground to avoid getting critters or pest munching on the leaves.

I feel this 10-gallon Gro Pro pots are too deep for Tokyo Bekana. I think growing it in a 6-inch deep planter will be more efficient, to save more soil. I will test this out next time. To be followed up…