Choy sum ~ Life Cycle

End of August we sowed many kind of vegetable seeds to prepare for middle spring planting. After a week the first group of vegetable seeds that has already germinated were daikon, choy sum and hon tsai tai. Below picture are a day or two day or even hours old baby choy sum seedlings in recycled orange juice carton box. End of August in Adelaide is already a good time to start sow choy sum seeds outside. Moreover, looking at it make me think the germination rate is almost 100%.

  Inter-planting fast crop choy sum seedling with slow to mature vegetable in late autumn: in the background new garlic shoots and new emerged carrot seedlings. 

Choy sum producing buds. 

Choy sum buds has bloomed. Look at the picture closely and you can see an insect growing fond of choy sum flower. The same choy sum plant producing more flowers. The insect is still there. It has become attached with choy sum flowers. I wonder if the choy sum and the insect has form a special relationship to benefit from each other.

More flowers means more seed pods. Some of the flower petals has already gone leaving the seed pod behind. Do you think that is still the same insect on the same plant?

Gone all the flowers. Only the seed pod remain and becoming fatter as the seed mature.

Leaving the seed pod to dry now to collect seeds.

I think they complete their life cycle from seed to seed in less than 4 months.