Mustard Green Red Giant
$4.95
Brassica Junicea
- Seed Count 250
- Great For Salads
- Annual
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Description
Mustard Green Red Giant with its bold burgundy-purple leaves, pale green veining and mildly spicy flavour is a favourite in gourmet kitchens and ornamental vegetable gardens alike. It is a dependable, fuss-free green that slots beautifully into a kitchen garden, a few patio pots, or even the flower bed. Whether you’re sowing for baby leaves or going for the full leaf, Mustard Green Red Giant rewards you with colour, texture, and flavour throughout the cooler seasons and often beyond.
The leaves are savoyed meaning that they have a lovely ruffled, crinkled texture that adds visual interest in a salad bowl or a flower border. The flavour is mild when young, becoming more pronounced as the leaves mature. Think of it as a peppery, Dijon-mustard-like zing that is not too fiery, but enough to wake up the palate.
In the kitchen, there’s no shortage of ways to use it. Harvest the young leaves for a quick toss into baby leaf salads, or snip them as microgreens for garnishing winter meals. The larger leaves work wonderfully in stir-fries and soups, julienned into rice paper rolls, or layered into wraps for a bit of crunch and spice.
In terms of resilience, Mustard Green Red Giant earns its stripes. It’s famously both cold tolerant and slow to bolt, meaning it holds well through changeable weather and doesn’t rush off to seed at the first warm spell. This makes it a great choice for autumn sowing, and in many climates around Australia, you’ll get excellent performance right through winter into early spring.
| Method: Sow direct | Soil Temp: 10°C - 35°C |
| Cool Mountain: Jan - Dec | Position: Full sun |
| Arid: Aug - Apr | Row Spacing 50 cm |
| Temperate: Jan - Dec | Planting Depth: 3 mm |
| Sub Tropical: Jan - December | Harvest: 65 Days |
| Tropical: Jan - Nov | Plant Height: 35 cm |
Absolutely! Here’s your comprehensive mustard greens grow guide with emoji headers to add visual interest and make it easy to scan — perfect for a blog, newsletter, or printout.
🧺 Sowing in Trays vs. Direct: Which is Best?
Short answer: You can do both!
Sow in trays if you’re dealing with slugs, snails or erratic weather. Direct sow if you want quick, fuss-free greens.
🌱 Sowing in Trays
- Sow 2–3 seeds per cell, cover lightly
- Thin to strongest seedling
- Transplant at 4–5 true leaves
- Final spacing:
- Baby leaf: 10–15 cm apart
- Full size: 25–35 cm apart
🌾 Direct Sowing
- Create shallow drills (~5 mm)
- Sow thinly, cover, water gently
- Thin once up and growing
- Eat thinning’s as microgreens!
🔬 Do Mustard Seeds Need Pre-Treatment?
No pre-treatment needed!
Optionally soak for 2–4 hrs in room temp water to speed things up in cooler weather, but they’re reliable germinators on their own.
🌞 Soil & Position
- Sun: Full sun is best; partial shade ok in warm zones
- Soil: Well-drained, rich, full of compost
- pH: 6.0–7.5
- Prep soil with compost and organic fertiliser (like pelletised chook poo)
Tip: Mulch after planting to keep moisture even and weeds down.
🌿 Care & Maintenance
- 💧 Water: Keep soil consistently moist
- 🍽️ Feed: Light top-dress with fish emulsion or seaweed every 2–3 weeks
- 🚫 Weeds: Remove early before they crowd out young seedlings
- 🌾 Mulch: Straw or lucerne works a treat
- 😎 Heat stress: Shade cloth helps if growing into spring
🤝 Companion Planting Guide
✅ Good Companions:
- Legumes (peas, broad beans)
- Aromatic herbs (dill, coriander, mint)
- Alliums (spring onions, garlic)
- Nasturtiums & Calendula (attract beneficials)
❌ Avoid:
- Other brassicas (for disease rotation)
- Nightshades & strawberries (not ideal neighbours)
✂️ Harvesting
- Baby leaves: Cut at 10–12 cm tall
- Full leaves: Harvest outer leaves as needed
- Whole plants: Uproot once mature
- Bonus: Flowering stems are edible too—tender and spicy!
🌡️ Cool weather = milder flavour
🔥 Heat stress = spicier leaves
🐛 Common Issues & Organic Fixes
| 🚨 Problem | 🔍 Symptom | 🌱 Cause | 🧰 Organic Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aphids | Clusters, curling | Warm spells, lush growth | Spray with water, insecticidal soap, attract ladybirds |
| Cabbage moths | Holes, green frass | Caterpillars | Netting, hand-pick, BT spray |
| Flea beetles | Tiny holes | Warm, dry soil | Row covers, keep moist, sprinkle diatomaceous earth |
| Slugs & snails | Chewed seedlings | Damp mulch | Beer traps, iron pellets, remove manually |
| Downy mildew | Yellow spots, fuzzy leaves | Humid air, poor airflow | Water soil not leaves, increase spacing |
| Clubroot | Wilting, gnarled roots | Soil-borne fungus | Rotate crops, lime soil, improve drainage |
🌼 Detailed Seed Saving Guide
Mustard greens are easy to save seed from, but will cross with other brassicas (especially B. juncea types).
🧬 Select Your Plants
- Pick 20–50 strong plants
- Choose for leaf shape, flavour, vigour
🚧 Isolation
- Backyard saving: 20–50 m from other brassicas
- For purity: 200–500 m or use insect-proof cages
🌸 Let It Flower
- Plants bolt naturally in spring
- Leave to flower and pod up
- Optional: bag flower heads with mesh to prevent crossing
🌾 Harvesting Seed
- Wait for pods to turn tan and rattle
- Harvest whole stems, dry upside down
- Thresh by rubbing pods or gently stomping in a bag
- Winnow to clean (light breeze or fan)
🏺 Storing Seed
- Fully dry seeds snap when bent
- Store in airtight jars, add a desiccant
- Viability: 4–5 years
🌟 Final Thoughts
Mustard greens are one of the easiest, quickest greens you can grow—perfect for both beginners and seed-savers. Sow thickly for baby leaf salads, or space them out and let them shine into full, savoyed glory. With just a bit of water and a watchful eye for caterpillars, you’ll have weeks of fresh harvest from each plant.
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Postage Charge
Orders under $35 attract a $4.95 shipping charge. Orders $35 and above have free shipping.
Order Times
Seed orders are normally dispatched within three business days. You will receive an email when seeds are mailed out.
Postage Days
Seeds are mailed out Tuesday to Friday at 1pm. Except for the Friday of long weekends.
Postage Times
WA 2-3 Days: SA,NT 3-5 Days: NSW, ACT, QLD, VIC: 5-7 Days
Carrier
We use Australia Post Letter Postage for the majority of orders
Not only are our seeds packed in recycled paper envelopes, we keep the theme going when we post out website orders. To protect your seeds from moisture and the letter box munchers (snails), we use a very special plastic free material made from plants. They are then put into recycled mailing envelopes. Green all the way 💚🌿
Delivery Guarantee
We take great care to make sure your seeds arrive safely. If your order is lost or damaged in transit, we’ll happily send a replacement. Unfortunately, we can’t replace or refund orders that arrive later than the estimated delivery date, as delays can sometimes occur that are outside our control.
Please note that all dispatch and delivery times listed are estimates only. While we do our best to post promptly, delivery timeframes can vary due to postal service delays, weather events, or other unforeseen circumstances. We’re unable to take responsibility for any loss, damage, or cost that results from a late delivery.
An order is not considered missing until at least 20 business days have passed from the postage date. You’ll receive an email once your seeds have been posted, letting you know they’re on their way. If you don’t see it in your main inbox, please check your Spam or Promotions folders as sometimes our emails like to hide there.
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