KEEPING THE FOOD PRODUCTION GOING DURING HOT HUMID SUMMERS
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Green Harvest carries a range of seeds ideally suited to hot, humid areas. To make finding them easier on the website below is a list with short description and a hyperlink to the right page.
One way of dealing with this season is to ‘put the garden to bed’, by spreading a liberal amount of mulch and refraining from sowing seeds until the weather starts to cool down in March. This doesn’t mean there is nothing to harvest, only that the harvest is limited to perennial, tropical edibles such as asparagus, arrowroot, bamboo, cassava, chillies, choko, ginger, kangkong, lotus, pawpaw, pigeon pea, sweetleaf, sweet potato, taro, waterchestnuts and yam.
Many of these plants are available
seasonally
more info
Alternatively you can substitute more
familiar vegetables with hardier ones
that are native to tropical regions and
will withstand waterlogging and high
humidity without collapsing in a
screaming heap. Angled luffa or New
Guinea bean will substitute for zucchini
without the powdery mildew problems,
snake bean will continue to set pods
during very hot weather and is resistant
to bean fly. Ceylon or Egyptian spinach
are both rust resistant and won’t bolt
too fast as the weather warms up.
The
book
Tropical
Food Gardens:
A Guide to Growing Fruit, Herbs and
Vegetables is
highly recommended to
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syn. Vegetable Hummingbird; Sesban; kembang turi (Indonesia); so đũa (Vietnam); katuray (Filipino); dok khae (Thailand) A frost tender, fast growing small legume tree to 10 m. The large white flowers are eaten as a cooked vegetable.
Amaranthus tricolor syn. Leaf Amaranth; Chinese Spinach; in tsoi, yin choi, heng-chai (Chinese); bayam (Indonesia); hi-yu-na (Japan); bayam (Malaysian); phak khom (Thailand); rau den (Vietnam) 'Mekong Red' is a very attractive, nutritious, red leafy green for warmer areas. It is a fast-growing and can be harvested by the cut-and-come-again method. In China and Japan it is the main vegetable used as ‘spinach’.
Angled Luffa
Luffa
acutangula
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syn. Malabar Spinach; Indian spinach; Surinam spinach; vine spinach; shaan tsoi, luo kui (China); gandola (Indonesia); tsuru-murasaki (Japan); remayung (Malaysia); pak prang (Thai); mong toi (Vietnam) Attractive climbing vegetable, leaves are rich in vitamins, minerals and chlorophyll, eaten raw or cooked; perennial in the tropics.
Excellent variety for humid areas, vigorous vine, fruits are very large, crisp, sweet and acid-free, keep for several months, much more resistant to mildew than Lebanese cucumbers |
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Corchorus olitorius syn. Malu Khia; Melokheya; Meloukia; Salad Mallow; Jew's mallow; West African sorrel. A very hardy, fast growing annual to 1m. The young leaves used in salad, older leaves and the shoot tips cooked as spinach and are high in protein. It self-sows readily.
Pachyrrhizus erosus syn. climbing yam bean; Mexican potato; Mexican turnip; cây củ đậu (Vietnam); seng kuang (Malay); di gwa (Chinese); kuzuimo (Japan); sinkamas (Filipino); man kaeo (Thai); sankalu (Hindi) Climbing plant from Central America, with delicious sweet, crisp tuber, eaten raw or cooked, flowers are removed, as seeds are toxic. More information on growing jicama
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syn Chinese broccoli; Chinese kale Hardy and easy to grow; kailaan is harvested for its thick, succulent stems which are delicious cooked. Grow all year in most areas.
Ipomoea aquatica syn. water spinach; swamp cabbage; water convolvulus; water morning-glory; kangkung (Indonesia, Malay); eng chai (Hokkian); tangkong (Cebuano); trawkoon (Khmer); pak boong (Thai); rau muống (Vietnam); kongxincai (Chinese) Ground-hugging, leaf vegetable that likes moist soil; young leaves, stems and tips are delicious cooked in a stir-fry or steamed. Sow spring and summer.
Mung Bean
syn. green bean, mung, moong, mash bean, munggo, green gram, golden gram, green soy; pachchai payaru (Tamil); đậu xanh (Vietnam); lǜ dòu (Chinese) Quick growing and hardy; produces edible seeds. Sow in temperate areas Nov-Feb; in subtropical areas Sept-March and tropical areas during the wet season.
syn. Italian Edible Gourd; Gourd Cucuzzi; Indian Squash. Not of course a bean at all, instead this is a type of squash. A traditional Italian vegetable, the light green fruits are cylindrical 60 -100 cm long and can weigh up to 2.5 kg. The creamy white flesh is said to have a flavour and texture similar to green beans, which is probably where it gets its common name. Prepare it in a similar way to squash.
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Vigna unguiculata var. sesquipedalis syn.yard long bean; Chinese Long Bean; asparagus bean; bodi bean; long podded cowpea; kacang belut (Indonesia); dâu dûa (Vietnam); tua fak yaow (Thai); dou jiao (Chinese); dolique asperge (France); feijão-chicote (Portugal); juuroku sasage (Japan) Fast growing climber with stringless long pods to 35cm and black seeds. Resistant to Bean Fly and Rust that can make French or runner beans difficult to grow over summer. Sow all year round in tropical and frost-free areas.
Trichosanthes cucumerina var. anguina Syn. serpent gourd, chichinga, padwal Snake Gourd is sometimes confused with Guada Gourd syn. New Guinea Bean but it is a completely different plant. It is widely grown as a vegetable in India and southeast Asia. It is a fast growing, subtropical plant with a growth habit similar to luffa. It is best to grow this vine on a trellis to obtain straight fruit.
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Sweet potato, including kumara, is usually not available from garden centres, nurseries or mail order companies. You can try to grow your own by selecting a piece from the fruit shop or farmers market. Select one which is firm with no soft spots. Swollen buds are a good indication that the tuber has not been treated with a hormone to prevent growth. Look on the web or in garden books for more information on the specifics of growing this nutritious tuber.
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syn. Indian date; asam (Malaysia); asem (Indonesia); me (Vietnam); ma-kham (Thai); sampaloc (Filipino) Tamarind is an evergreen tree, 18-25 m in height, native to tropical Africa. It is a traditional shade tree of villages in Africa and India. It is grown for its edible pods, which are dark brown and sweet when ripe. The leaves and flowers are also eaten. Sow seed in spring, or during the wet season, soil temperature should be at least 25°C for good germination. Suitable for subtropical and tropical areas.
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Tomatoes can suffer a range
of pest and disease problems
in the tropics. Try these
hardy types for a good
chance of success. Sow seed
in the dry season and
practice crop rotation.
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Benincasa hispidasyn. Chinese winter melon, flour gourd A fast growing, long season, warm climate vegetable producing very large fruit up to 20kg. The round gourds are green with a white waxy coating. The wax gourd keeps for many months off the vine and is eaten raw or cooked. The shoots, tendrils and leaves are also eaten as greens; seeds are edible and are tasty roasted. Use the white flesh of this giant fruit in a chicken and wax-gourd curry; serve appetizers of finely chopped stir-fried vegetables in bowls made from a hollowed-out melon.
Psophacarpus tetragonolobus
syn. Goa bean; kacang botol, kacang kelisa (Malaysia); kecipir
(Indonesia);
thua phuu
(Thai); sigarilyas
(Filipino); đậu rồng Winged bean is a vigorous, tropical climber with mauve-blue flowers and four-angled pods with wavy margins. The pods, leaves, flowers and tubers are all edible. It is high in protein: the seeds contain 34% protein and 17% oil; the root contains 20% protein. If you are growing it for pods, leaves or flowers, grow it on a trellis; a trellis is not needed if you are growing it for the tuberous roots – let it sprawl. Of course, you will need to replant annually if you are harvesting the roots. The young leaves (top three sets of leaflets on a shoot) are cooked and eaten. The flowers taste like sweetish mushrooms. It is among the world’s most effective nitrogen-fixers. A short day length (11-13 hours of daylight) during hot weather is required to flower, so it is not suitable for temperate areas; it is also very frost sensitive. It grows to 3 - 4m. Wait for warm, humid weather before sowing; in the subtropics sow November - December; in the tropics sow October until January. It will grow on a wide range of soils but requires moisture to do well; it tolerates acidity.
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DISCLAIMER: We guarantee our seeds to the value of the purchase price. We are happy to replace the seeds, give you a credit or refund, whichever you prefer. Other than our guarantee to the extent of the purchase price Green Harvest gives no other warranty expressed or implied. No liability will be accepted by Green Harvest, its owners or employees as to the accuracy of any information. No responsibility will be taken for damage to property or persons due to information given about a product or technique. No responsibility will be taken for the loss of a crop or income due to information given about a product or technique.
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Green Harvest |
help gardeners in
the tropics.
Basella
rubra
(Vietnam); jaat
(Sundanese); sirahu avarai (Tamil)