Kangkong

We picked up a bunch of organic baby kangkong (with roots) from the local wet market about 10 days ago. Stir-fried half the lot and kept the other half in water by the window sill - northeast facing, bright but barely any direct sunlight. 

The happy campers are thriving and have grown about 2 inches on the average, with new roots and leaves - which I take as a good sign. 

Some of the lower leaves turn yellow, so I have been picking those off. In a couple of days, I will be potting some stalks in soil, to test if they can be cultivated as a more steady source of vegetable. I hope to find a more permanent way to keep them, as I doubt they are getting enough nutrients in drinking glasses.

In the meanwhile, they just look so fresh and cheerful at the window sill.

Update 27 Jun 2015:

It has been about 10 weeks since I started experimenting with the Kangkong.

I tried planting a batch in soil and the rest in glass vases. The ones planted in soil started developing yellow spots on the leaves and eventually died out. The ones in the glass vases thrived.

I read that there are 2 different varieties of Kangkongs available here - land vs water based. The small organic saplings, about 10cm height, that I managed to get had roots that were not soiled. So I figured they should be the water-based variety that was grown via hydroponics. So I will continue keep them in the glass vases.

So far I have not been using fertilisers.

Some lessons learnt:

1. Vessel

I started the saplings in drinking glasses and when they were tall enough, I transferred some into larger glasses vases from IKEA. The ones that were grown the larger vases did better. I keep about 10 stalks in each vase.

2. Stalk

Generally, the saplings with thicker stalk and healthier root systems did better. When I got a second batch of saplings, I was more selective with the stalks and roots. Almost all of the saplings survived.

3. Sunlight

I tried out the original batch of Kangkongs saplings at two different locations. One was at a brightly lit window sill, with barely any direct sunlight and the other at a sill that gets a few hours of morning sun. Strangely the ones without direct sunlight did better. So I transferred them there. 

However, after a couple of rounds of harvesting, I noticed that the stalks got thinner and more strangling. The leaves got few and far between and smaller too. Classic signs of seeking for sunlight.

So I transferred the whole lot to a sill with a few hours of morning sun and the improvement is so apparent after a week. More shoots are growing, they grow straight up, with bigger leaves.

4. Roots

I top up the water whenever the water level drops. Once in about 10 days, I will rinse out the roots and glass and change the water. If left unchecked, the roots turn brown and cloud the water. 

To rinse out the roots, I just run it under the tap and gently rub out the rotten (brown) roots, careful to leave the healthy roots intact. I try to avoid taking out the main root but if it is partially rotten, I will rub out the portion that is brown and leave the stump. I also rub out any algae that might be forming. 

5. Harvesting

So far, because I have only established a few vases, harvesting is limited. Currently, 5 vases can only yield small portions for 2 pax once a week.

For cuttings, I have a few rules of thumb. Each time I will not take more than 1/3 of each stalk. I try to cut above where shoots are forming. If there are no shoots, I cut just above a node, leaving the leaf.

So far I have been leaving the Kangkong indoor by the window. I will work on bringing them outdoor and eventually try again to grow them in soil. Will keep this post updated!

Update 28 August 15:

The yield from growing the kangkong in water vessels without fertilisers is inefficient.

So it became inevitable that I had to pot them in soil. 

I have been experimenting with different containers to pot the kangkong shoots. Best results were yielded from the deeper pots. This pot is about 20cm deep.  

 

To plant the shoots, I generally select the stronger ones and plant them as deeply as I can in the soil. Here I have 3 shoots in a 30cm diameter pot. I top the soil up to at least 20cm.

When harvesting, I generally snip off entire shoots that are about 10-15cm. 

The idea is to let clustering shoots develop at the soil line. Once that is established, new shoots will sprout from that point, so harvesting can be more regular.

Kangkong when grown in soil needs full sun and regular watering. I use chicken poo occasionally to keep the soil fertile.

From time to time, spider mites may visit. I just cut off the infected leaves and wait for new shoots to grow. 

Hoping to establish 3 pots of this to supply a weekly dish of our favourite sambal kangkong. 

Update 19 Feb 2016:

We now have 5 pots of matured kangkongs in the yard. 

They are very abused. We return from trips and they would have flopped down and lost most of their leaves. At the end of a scorching day, the leaves turned yellow and fell off. They have endured multiple rounds of whiteflies, red mites, grasshopper attacks. 

After each calamity I brutally chop and trim back the stems, often leaving practically no leaves. After each trim, they bounce right back with edible young shoots. 

Another joy of keeping the matured stems are the flowers. Kangkong belongs to the morning glory family. They bear the most fragile white trumpet flowers at the break of dawn. 

Here is a matured stem bearing a spray of more than 6 flower buds. Too pretty. Let's hope I can catch these in bloom.

Update 20 Feb 2016:

Morning bloom on a rainy morning... Xo