Aibika, Edible Hibiscus

Where does Aibika grow?

Found in: Africa, Andorra, Asia, Australia, Benin, Bhutan, Bougainville, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo DR, China, Cook Islands, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, East Timor, Fiji, FSM, Gabon, Guinea, Guinée, Haiti, Hawaii, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kiribati, Korea, Laos, Liberia, Malaysia, Micronesia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, North America, Northeastern India, Pacific, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Philippines, Pohnpei, Rotuma, Samoa, SE Asia, Sierra Leone, Sikkim, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tasmania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, United States, Vanuatu, Vietnam, West Africa, West Papua

Notes: There are about 15 Abelmoschus species. They are tropical and subtropical. It is high in folates.

Status: The most important edible leafy green in coastal areas of Papua New Guinea, the Pacific and SE Asia. They are an important vegetable in Africa. It is a commercially cultivated vegetable. Leaves are sold in local markets.

Growing Aibika, Edible Hibiscus

Cultivation: It is grown from cuttings. Cuttings with 2-3 nodes are sufficient. It can be grown from seeds. The narrow leafed types tend to compete less well with weeds. In some areas people tend to put the narrow leafed types in the middle of the garden, intercropped with sweet potato, and the broad leafed kinds near stumps or logs and around the edges of gardens. The pale green leafed kinds that occur only grow very slowly. Aibika is normally grown from cuttings. Lengths of about 25 cm (2 or 3 leaf joints or "nodes") of fresh green stem cuttings are used. These are simply stuck in the ground. A fertile soil is needed. Therefore Aibika can be planted in good soil in a newly cleared garden site, or it can be planted near houses where the soil fertility can be built up by adding scraps and compost and ashes. The growth and colour of Aibika leaves can be improved greatly by spraying the leaves each 2 or 3 weeks with a very small amount of the nitrogen fertiliser called urea, dissolved in water. (A 0.5% solution). This uses less fertiliser than putting it on the ground where it can wash away in the rain. Picking out the tips off branches of Aibika plants encourages the plant to produce more branches and therefore more leaves. But when you are harvesting leaves, you should not pick too many off the one bush at the one time. This is because it slows down the growth of more leaves. If the soil is very fertile, older bushes, which are only growing a few leaves, can be chopped off. The stump left in the ground can then re-grow into a new bush.

Edible Uses: Young leaves are cooked and eaten. They are slimy unless steamed or fried. They can be eaten with papaya leaves to remove the bitterness of the papaya. The root is boiled with pork to make a broth. The young fruit are cooked and eaten. They can be dried and also ground to a powder. The fruit make dishes go slimy.

Production: Leaves are ready to harvest after about 80 days. Yields of 6.7-7.3 tons/ha/crop have been recorded. It flowers in 50-110 days. This gets longer with increasing daylength. Plants can take 4 to 12 months until fruit are ready. Production can continue to an extended time.

Nutrition Info

Aibika, Edible Hibiscus Photos

References

Aibika references Abelmoschus manihot Syn Hibiscus manihot.

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