Chaya , Also recognize as the spinach Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is a plant that can easily grow in Florida ’s climate and produces an eatable super acid .
When do you embed chaya in Florida and how do you grow it?You should plant Chaya during the former spring as the warm weather bankroll in .
Chaya is most productive when grow in full sun with rich soil . However , Chaya is a tough plant and can be uprise in less than optimal conditions , it just wo n’t be as productive .
How To Plant Chaya?
It is best to embark on chaya from a cutting not from seed . you could buy cuttings , like I did , on Amazon(Affiliate link ) . It was about $ 20 and it should be a one metre purchase . Once you have your plants established you could well take multiple carving from there .
Strating your Chaya industrial plant from a cut is round-eyed . When you get your stick in the mail all you have to do is simply stick them in a pot of soil . It ’s stupid simple .
There are a few minor things you should give tending to . The first one being that you involve to make certain you ’ve set the right end into the ground . The node require to be bespeak the correct direction to charge roots to the ground and leaves to the sky .
The picture above should aid you decipher which mode is which for your plant .
the next of import affair to be intimate when planting your chaya is that in order for roots to be bring out your plant want a warm and moist envionement . periods of drouth or chilly weather will detain or may even vote down your thinning .
Planting into a potbelly piddle it easier to develop these conditions . Planting directly into the soil may be ok if you ’ve worked on buildinga healthy dirt . however , most of Florida does not have good grease . Florida Soilis often times , mostly sand .
Sandy land make it punishing to keep a moist enviornment and also increases the chances that the clipping will moulder .
I think it will be treacle easier for you to implant into grass and then move them to where you would care them to be .
Best Time To Plant Chaya In Florida
As I mention above , the full time to institute chaya in Florida is during the early leap . This will change for you depending on what part of the Department of State you live in .
Keep in mind that these escort are just guidleines . I ’m basing these planting times off of the mean date of last frost .
Chaya is a plant that loves the rut and humidity . It thrives in tropic environments .
So , these dates may exchange from year to year but the best time to get chaya in the ground is as soon as all of the cold weather is start .
If an established plant is hit with a frost it will drop its leaves and die back . However , the root are in all likelihood still alive and many citizenry from northern Florida have reported that their chaya plants have grown back from the ground as soon as the conditions starts to warm up .
How To Grow Chaya
Growing chaya is easy as long as you have warmth humidness and sunshine . We have an abundance of those thing in Florida .
Chaya can grow up to 6 - 8 ft marvelous in parts of Florida if it is given the correct ground , sunlightandregular watering . Chaya is in paradise during our summer warmth and afternoon showers .
however , chaya is a resiliant plant and can be turn in much worse conditions . Chaya is somewhat drouth liberal but it will drop it ’s leaves if not watered a few times a calendar week .
Chaya can also be grow in shaded conditions . The plants will stretch out for sunlight and producelessleaves , making a tall and slender plant life rather of a full , shaggy-haired bush .
Chaya can make a greatunderstory plant to any intellectual nourishment forest .
Best Soil To Grow Chaya In
If embed a Modern slip I would n’t recommend planting straight into the dirt , peculiarly Florida shite .
Chaya is n’t particular but , Adding compost to your dirt and a skillful thick stratum of mulch never hurt .
If plant into a pot , really , any quondam garden land or planting admixture will make . It does n’t really count as long as it has Lot of organic material .
The absolute best affair that you could do for any plant and it ’s soil is to lay mulch . you may buy mulch from your local glasshouse or you may make your own out of leave from surrounding tree diagram or unfinished compost . Mulch can be anything as long as it ’s an organic fabric that protects your soil from the sun ’s rays .
Fertilizing Chaya
The chaya plant create big unripened leafage that you harvest and eat . This intend that you will use a different fertilizer than you would for a works where your principal goal is to glean fruit that it has produced .
plant food are ordinarily identify with three differentnumers . Something like a 5 - 10 - 10 or a 5 - 5 - 5 .
These are the N - phosphorus - K values . Nitrogen(N ) , serve plants produce green leafy ontogenesis , Phosphorus(P ) help the plant with flower and fruit ontogenesis , and Potassium(K ) , is a worldwide health booster for the plant life .
So , since our main harvest from the chaya plant is it ’s immature leafy growth , we should concenter on fertiliing with something high in Nitrogen .
you may achieve this with an organic fertilizerthe youmix into the priming coat like stock Meal ( Checkpriceon Amazon ) or you may spray your plants every few week with a mix of pee and Fish Emulsion(Checkoriceon Amazon )
Can You Eat Chaya Raw?
No !
Do not corrode chaya rude . Chaya is part of the same , often toxic family ascassavais .
Chaya leaves actually hold cyainade . Yes , that mean that if you have these leaves raw you will become very very ill .
In order for Chaya to be edible to you andI , we must fudge it . The easiest elbow room to do this is to , just moil the leaves in water for 20 minutes . This removes all of the toxins and is now quick for consumption .
Common Pests And Disease Of Chaya
As I mentioned above , Chaya incorporate Cyanide . This also happens to keep most pests off .
The most common issues with Chaya are during it ’s rooting phase . There are sure bacterium that can chair to disease and death if atmospheric condition are too wet during this phase .
Nutrient Content Of Chaya
Chaya is a nutrient dense leafy green . In a 100 gram serving of chaya there are :
These numbers are source fromUS AIDand many other sources keep going the fact that Chaya is a super obtuse , nutrient deep food that should be worked into a healthy Diet .
