I had many attempts of planting kangkong or water spinach in our yard that have failed. It was only two months ago that I was able to plant it successfully. Every time I buy a bundle of that leafy vegetable in the market, I always reserve few stems for replanting. I soak it in a pet bottle with water and leave it for a while. As soon as I see roots appearing, I transfer it to a pot with soil. I repeated that procedure over and over for many times and got the same result and that is seeing the leaves and the stem wither and die after few days of transferring the plant to a pot.
I don’t know what was wrong with that procedure or where was I committing a mistake. I truly felt very bad seeing the Kangkong I planted die. After trying so many failed attempts I breathed out my frustration to my husband who upon hearing my grumble smiled and said that he knows how to grow kangkong. He said that he learned it from watching his neighbor when he was a kid. I did not believe him at first so I dared him to show me how. And so, he did and I was amazed. After few weeks that he planted kangkong we were able to harvest a cup of leaves that we steamed and ate for dinner.
How did he do it? This is what I am going to share with you in this article. It is very easy to follow, all you need is a pet bottle, soil and water. Planting kangkong does not require huge space. I tell you it is worth trying.
Here is the procedure,
- Cut a pet bottle into half. Do not put holes at the bottom of the bottle.
- Fill the other half with soil up to one inch before the lid.
- Fill the bottle with water up to the level of the soil. See picture below.
- Remove leaves of 2 or 3 stalks of kangkong
- Plant it in the pet bottle. See picture below.
Kangkong needs much sunlight so put it in a place where it can get at least 3 hours of sunlight a day. Also, it lives in swamps and watery environment so ensure that the pet bottle is never dried up totally. Ensure to fill it with water regularly.
Benefits of Planting Kangkong or Water Spinach
As a green leafy vegetable kangkong is rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals. It is a good inclusion to your healthy diet. It is used for many dishes but I believe it is best eaten steamed or as a salad mixed with tomato, onion and boiled egg.
There are some who says that kangkong can be used as an herbal medicine to cure some illnesses. They say it can lower fever and help maintain blood pressure.
It is a joy to be able to propagate kangkong especially to those who are just beginning to do home gardening. Being able to harvest fresh leaves of kangkong from your own garden is truly wonderful.
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