Information On Kenaf

[nellyp]

Hi I am considering growing Kenaf, I have been in touch with ericthai about visiting a farm of his own and a farm independant of his operation but selling to him. I am also after totaly independant info. Has anyone on here any experience of growing kenaf or rosselle? whether for a merchant like eric thai or not. my understanding is that it is easy to grow, and very low maintenace, and also needs little water. This sounds ideal for a second crop on the wifes farm as we live miles away, and the family will need to look after it. I am a bit concerned about what the crop will do to the land for next seasons rice crop and also, if we plant in say 2 weeks time would the Kenaf grow and be harvested in time for next seasons rice to be planted?

Cheers

Neil

[WatersEdge]

I've grown Roselle this past year,

with very pleasing results.

Planted first in January and more in April.

The 1 January planting blossomed on 13 February

and bore a light crop of seed pod on the young plants.

The photoperiod blossoming at 11.5 hours takes effect on both sides of the year,

for the lengthening days in February March,

not just the shortening days in August September.

It requires good fertilizer for good growth,

as every plant of value.

Nothing good grows on nothing.

It will survive and occupy space on poor conditions,

but not produce any quantity.

It enjoys water as well, though will not tolerate standing water,

but will survive through dry spells.

It establishes deep roots,

to recover nutrients which have leached below the root zone

of shallow crops.

This may be why it is perceived to require no fertilizer.

It reaches down to get fertilizer that escaped the previous crops.

It cannot be transplanted by pulling up and moving the bare root stock.

Any disturbance of the roots immediately kills it,

almost as though air contact is deadly.

It should do OK potted in bags and then set out when established,

if care was taken to not expose the roots when planting.

The extra effort of potting and transplanting

would offset the two or three weedings

and it would free up the valuable field space/time.

I've not done it, so await a report from someone who has bagged and transplanted.

In the rainy season some plants rot off at the roots,

but because heavy canopy prevented the soil from getting sunshine.

I don't recall seeing any insect pest.

It seemed completely vibrant and healthy all the time.

Now, in November, the January planting in the river bottom was flooded, perhaps killed.

The April planting on high ground has been grazed down by the goats,

but will bounce back as irrigated and protected from the goats.

It has strong growth of leaf which pigs and goats love.

The nutritional analysis on it is very impressive.

The leaf is very tasty for food as well,

either chewed raw as picked,

boiled to make tart drink,

or cooked in soup.

The flavor to me is reminiscent of black berry,

while my wife says it reminds her of rhubarb.

The Burmese especially eat a lot of it in curry and soup.

Thai know it and eat a little, but it's not an emphasis.

The big market item is the red calyx around the seed pod.

It requires weeding when young,

as it is slower getting started than the weeds,

but then it canopies out weed competition.

To harvest leaf, you just gather a bunch of the top twigs into your hand,

and cut them all off together with a hooked sickle,

about 40 cm down from the tips.

Keep them cool under a damp burlap bag to prevent wilting.

This will remove almost all the leaf foliage.

The bush will then look like red sticks,

but in 30 days it will fully regrow to be cut again.

These leafy top twigs

weighed in kilogram bunches,

rubber banded together

are how we sold it in the local market.

We sold for between B5 and B20 per kg.

We threw some of the twigs out on the ground after picking the leaf off,

and they tried to root and grow.

A month later they were still green on the ground.

This leads me to believe that if it was done intentionally,

they could be rooted from cuttings.

It might be useful to mention that Okra is a near relative of Roselle and Kenaf.

We have also done very well with Okra on the same farm.

It's leaf is better food content than the pod,

with pigs devouring every fragment as it hits the floor.

Goats also like it, they will strip an entire patch of every leaf.

Okra however does not grow leaves back as vigorously as Roselle.

If it is stripped the plant will die.

We cut the bottom leaves of the Okra off as the pods come to harvest,

initially to be able to see pods in the dense foliage,

and later because leaf was more valuable than pod.

There is a balance to how much leaf you can cut.

If the plant does not have enough leaf area, it will abort buds, not setting pods.

It also opens up sunlight to reach the ground, and weeds will grow up from underneath.

Weeds have to be pulled from young Okra two or three times,

until it canopies over.

We also used a blanket of mung bean straw as mulch,

which worked very well.

Each leaf has either a branch or a pod immediately above it.

Okra grows about six months, starting to bear pods at around 80 days,

and bearing another pod about every three days

So each plant can be expected to bear 30 to 50 pods.

If the pods are left on the plant to make seed,

the plant will die sooner than if the pods are all cut off.

It will also stop setting new pods when there are around 8-10 pods maturing to seed.

There is a bright orange beetle which loves to eat the outside of the pod,

and presumably to lay eggs as well.

We didn't use any insecticide, so they developed into a moderate problem,

but they could probably be completely controlled with

I've not grown Kenaf, but read that the leaf is not as good for food.

Something about a mild toxin

But that's OK, because the whole purpose is the jute / burlap fiber

So all three plants have their similarities and their distinctions.

If I grew an entire farm of Roselle, it would be a good life for all the livestock.

[nellyp]

I've grown Roselle this past year,

with very pleasing results.

Planted first in January and more in April.

The 1 January planting blossomed on 13 February

and bore a light crop of seed pod on the young plants.

The photoperiod blossoming at 11.5 hours takes effect on both sides of the year,

for the lengthening days in February March,

not just the shortening days in August September.

It requires good fertilizer for good growth,

as every plant of value.

Nothing good grows on nothing.

It will survive and occupy space on poor conditions,

but not produce any quantity.

It enjoys water as well, though will not tolerate standing water,

but will survive through dry spells.

It establishes deep roots,

to recover nutrients which have leached below the root zone

of shallow crops.

This may be why it is perceived to require no fertilizer.

It reaches down to get fertilizer that escaped the previous crops.

It cannot be transplanted by pulling up and moving the bare root stock.

Any disturbance of the roots immediately kills it,

almost as though air contact is deadly.

It should do OK potted in bags and then set out when established,

if care was taken to not expose the roots when planting.

The extra effort of potting and transplanting

would offset the two or three weedings

and it would free up the valuable field space/time.

I've not done it, so await a report from someone who has bagged and transplanted.

In the rainy season some plants rot off at the roots,

but because heavy canopy prevented the soil from getting sunshine.

I don't recall seeing any insect pest.

It seemed completely vibrant and healthy all the time.

Now, in November, the January planting in the river bottom was flooded, perhaps killed.

The April planting on high ground has been grazed down by the goats,

but will bounce back as irrigated and protected from the goats.

It has strong growth of leaf which pigs and goats love.

The nutritional analysis on it is very impressive.

The leaf is very tasty for food as well,

either chewed raw as picked,

boiled to make tart drink,

or cooked in soup.

The flavor to me is reminiscent of black berry,

while my wife says it reminds her of rhubarb.

The Burmese especially eat a lot of it in curry and soup.

Thai know it and eat a little, but it's not an emphasis.

The big market item is the red calyx around the seed pod.

It requires weeding when young,

as it is slower getting started than the weeds,

but then it canopies out weed competition.

To harvest leaf, you just gather a bunch of the top twigs into your hand,

and cut them all off together with a hooked sickle,

about 40 cm down from the tips.

Keep them cool under a damp burlap bag to prevent wilting.

This will remove almost all the leaf foliage.

The bush will then look like red sticks,

but in 30 days it will fully regrow to be cut again.

These leafy top twigs

weighed in kilogram bunches,

rubber banded together

are how we sold it in the local market.

We sold for between B5 and B20 per kg.

We threw some of the twigs out on the ground after picking the leaf off,

and they tried to root and grow.

A month later they were still green on the ground.

This leads me to believe that if it was done intentionally,

they could be rooted from cuttings.

It might be useful to mention that Okra is a near relative of Roselle and Kenaf.

We have also done very well with Okra on the same farm.

It's leaf is better food content than the pod,

with pigs devouring every fragment as it hits the floor.

Goats also like it, they will strip an entire patch of every leaf.

Okra however does not grow leaves back as vigorously as Roselle.

If it is stripped the plant will die.

We cut the bottom leaves of the Okra off as the pods come to harvest,

initially to be able to see pods in the dense foliage,

and later because leaf was more valuable than pod.

There is a balance to how much leaf you can cut.

If the plant does not have enough leaf area, it will abort buds, not setting pods.

It also opens up sunlight to reach the ground, and weeds will grow up from underneath.

Weeds have to be pulled from young Okra two or three times,

until it canopies over.

We also used a blanket of mung bean straw as mulch,

which worked very well.

Each leaf has either a branch or a pod immediately above it.

Okra grows about six months, starting to bear pods at around 80 days,

and bearing another pod about every three days

So each plant can be expected to bear 30 to 50 pods.

If the pods are left on the plant to make seed,

the plant will die sooner than if the pods are all cut off.

It will also stop setting new pods when there are around 8-10 pods maturing to seed.

There is a bright orange beetle which loves to eat the outside of the pod,

and presumably to lay eggs as well.

We didn't use any insecticide, so they developed into a moderate problem,

but they could probably be completely controlled with

I've not grown Kenaf, but read that the leaf is not as good for food.

Something about a mild toxin

But that's OK, because the whole purpose is the jute / burlap fiber

So all three plants have their similarities and their distinctions.

If I grew an entire farm of Roselle, it would be a good life for all the livestock.

Wow, thanks for all this info. Do you believe Rossell and Kenaf grow the same? I have been told that if you have the right Kenaf seed your yield can be up to 8 tonnes a rai. A lot of the rest seems to be simular (obviously the market for the bits of the plant are a bit different also. Do you believe that it would be possible to grow rice straight after harvesting. I am most concerned about water. I would plant in November (hoping to harvest in early April), my major concern is water supply. I have been told that the kenaf will grow with little water, but how little. It is winter now and the rain can be expected till March, so will these plants grow on the water supplied by mother nature and then finish off on their own i.e with little water. or would I need to irrigate to get any result at all. I do not mind experimenting this year to see how things would go just letting the plants have their head (apparently thay are weeds), and then if I think it could work would put ferilizer, irrigation etc in place later.

Cheers, you have put a lot into this already

Neil

[WatersEdge]

Hi Nellyp,

Rice can be planted any time the soil is saturated,

so yes, it could immediately follow Kenaf.

Roselle and Kenaf will be very similar,

though also distinct

as they are sisters of Hibiscus genus,

with their near cousin Okra of Abelmoschus genus

and their other cousin Cotton of Gossypium genus

All of Malvaceae family

Without irrigation it's not going to work to plant in dry season.

A deep rooted plant might sustain after it's started,

but all seed starts the same way

tiny and helpless near the surface.

Even a hardy deep rooted plant is not magic.

Productivity demands ongoing valuable input,

while any apparent shortcuts are short term.

My rains in Mae Sot are not expected again until late April early May.

The Mung beans are doing very well finishing on the three day 30mm rain shower in late October.

but I certainly wouldn't plant anything right now mid November

Lacking a crystal ball,

I would have advised against planting in early October as well.

My farm neighbor grows a large white bean,

maybe something like a lima bean?

which seems to continue green and vibrant when everything else is long dead and dry.

That thing must have the roots from heaven under it.

He plants it in mid August in the standing corn,

when the other neighbors are planting Mung Bean.

It continues producing well into January,

as he periodically picks off the dried matured pods.

Other areas have different rainfall patterns.

For what value a national average is,

look at this http://www.tmd.go.th/en/climate.php?FileID=7

There is then also a 30 year average climate record for each weather station.

Mae Sot is here http://www.tmd.go.th/en/province_stat.php?StationNumber=48375

Your area is similarly posted.

With a dry season to prepare for rainy season to come,

there is a good bit you can do for intentional water retention.

First and most simple is to contour furrow,

so that rainfall is forced to percolate into the soil,

rather than run down the surface.

It's as simple as driving your plow across the slope of the land,

rather than up and down the slope.

The logical extension of contour furrow is perfect level terrace construction

but I can say from experience that it is expensive to reach the marvelous result.

Second increase the capacity of the soil to hold moisture in the root zone.

Blend every available organic material possible into the soil

bury every fragment of gypsum you can gather from construction trash

Third, cover the surface with absorbent mulch,

to immediately catch large amounts of rainfall,

slowly releasing it to soak into the soil.

I know that Coconut fiber is limited,

but I find it dream material in all respects,

except for the tannic acid which must be leached out.

A quick thanks to forum member teletiger for the tannic acid observation.

Corn Cob is available in much larger quantity,

as is Rice Straw, Rice Hull.

Never mind that it's not perfect immediately....give it time to rot into the soil.

Some argue that those fluffy surface mulches rob nitrogen fertilizer,

but they should stick around the year AFTER when the "lost" nitrogen is then available.

Being a farmer trapped in the garden,

I'm aware that some of these ideas might sound cutesy,

or far fetched tree hugger,

to consider covering a farm in thick mulch,

but what works on a small area will multiply benefit on a large area.

I have even picked up garment factory trash bags of fabric scraps.

It looks horrible to have brightly colored rags on the ground,

but when the plants grow up over it, all is forgotten.

Whatever is free is best...

I actually created a competitive demand for gypsum scrap in town,

as the Burmese trash gatherers had to figure out why

a foreigner was loading a pickup truck with gypsum debris.

Even if they didn't know,

they knew they wanted it against the day when they did figure it out.

When I returned for a second load,

the big pieces that I left had all disappeared.

Newspaper and cardboard also look like trash,

but they are surface mulch which will rot into the soil.

Maybe you can irrigate just enough to grow a full crop of troublesome weeds the first year.

Mulch grown on the ground is just a valuable as that hauled from afar.

The eventual goal is to make sunlight the limiting growth parameter,

when water and fertilizer are all optimized.

Most farms have a long way to progress to reach that point.

The world trend is unmistakably toward high value crops on all season irrigated fields.

There is a limited supply of tropical high rainfall good quality field space.

After going to all the expense and effort mentioned above,

you probably will find that you are able to grow fresh vegetables of higher value.

Carried to an extreme you will eventually attain the level of the Israeli's,

who farm extremely high yields in the desert on drips of brackish water.

[sudyod]

Wow. What a wealth of knowledge you are and I thank you for taking time to respond in such an informative way.

Usually this time of year the family pumps out the standing water behind the rice paddies to collect the fish. The water floods the paddies and I wonder if kenaf could be seeded and establish itself before the paddies dry out. Any insights here? Would kenaf need repeated waterings before it is hardy enough to survive the Dec-Mar dry season?

[rice555]

Hello WatersEdge, did you plant in rows or broadcast the seed?

My FIL planted some next to our fishpond at the farm, I haven't

been back to see how it was gitting since this pic, and the wife

forgot to take a pic last week as usual, but she didn't for get to

eat.

Roselle seed pack. 10Bt. for 10grms, 350 seed.

[nitecm]

Hello WatersEdge, did you plant in rows or broadcast the seed?

My FIL planted some next to our fishpond at the farm, I haven't

been back to see how it was gitting since this pic, and the wife

forgot to take a pic last week as usual, but she didn't for get to

eat.

Roselle seed pack. 10Bt. for 10grms, 350 seed.

Where can get the seed to plant ?

[WatersEdge]

Hi nitecm,

I bought Roselle seed from the local seed shop in small tin cans.

Kajeap daeng is Roselle

Kajeap kaew is Okra

After we grew the first crop we had abundant seed of our own.

We also picked seed pods from someone else's plant.

There are two apparent varieties of Roselle in the same seed.

One has dark red bark, while the other has light brown with a green streak.

I think I favored the dark red one, but you can't tell which is which until they are a couple of months old,

when they begin to establish adult type stem bark.

Hi rice555

We planted in rows, as I recall 1 meter row space and .3 m plant spacing,

but this was maybe too close together.

It takes a while to get established, slow in the beginning,

but after it builds a root system it really grows well.

It is said to grow on little or no fertilizer, but I'd say it survives on poor conditions,

but definitely responds well to good conditions.

In places where we put a lot of fertilizer, it grew into a thick hedge

We cut the green leaves off for sale in the local market,

bundling the stems and leaves together in 1 kg bunches with a rubber band.

The Customers then pick the leaves off the stem for cooking.

The red stems make really nice red tea if cooked right along with the leaves.

The established plants regrew a full set of foliage within a month of being cut.

There is a limit to how many times you can cut all the foliage off in one month intervals.

After cutting three times, the plants lost a lot of strength.

For this reason I'd suggest trying two month cutting intervals.

Hi sudyod,

This Hibiscus family, Kenaf, Roselle, Okra, and the cousin Cotton will not tolerate waterlogged conditions.

They love plenty of water, but cannot stand in water.

As I said above, they can survive dry conditions, but thrive on good.

Interesting fact, they cannot be transplanted by pulling here to replant over there,

as they die immediately from root exposure.

I tried to replant some young Roselle seedlings that were too close together.

I pulled up perhaps 100 of them and carefully replanted immediately.

I think all but 1 or 2 died, and they were not strong.

[rice555]

Hello All, thanks WE for the info.

For seed, print a copy of the seed pack and go

to your local seed store and ask.

If they can't help, try the numbers on the bottom

of this pic. They may be able to help with packet

or larger size, and do the LOS money transfer and

EMS to you. 10-pkts & EMS should be under Bt.200.

I got mine downtown Korat.

rice555