Water Spinach - Hot Rau Muong - Ong Choy (Ipomoea aquatica) Perennial, also known as Kang Kong !
(Ipomoea aquatica) Perennial, also known as Kang Kong
An aquatic tropical vine, water spinach is immensely popular through out Southeast Asia, India and China as a nutritious leafy vegetable. This variety produces smooth green leaves and hollow stems.
Water Spinach grows rapidly in warm temperatures with abundant water and can be successfully grown in any vegetable garden with sufficient watering. Leaves and stems can be harvested at any growth stage once plants have become established.
Common Name: Water Spinach, Kangkong, River Spinach, Water Morning Glory, Ong Choy, Water Convolvulus, Swamp Cabbage
Scientific Name: Ipomoea aquatica
Family: Convolvulaceae (the Morning Glory or Bindweed family)
Ipomoea aquatica goes by many names around the world!
Common Names
Bengali = kalmi shaak or kalami
Burmese = gazun ywet or kan-swun
Cantonese (Jyutping) = weng cai or tung coi or ong tsoi or ung coi (sometimes transliterated as ong choy)
Chinese (Mandarin) = kÅng xÄ«n cà i or toongsin tsai
Chinese (Hokkien) = eng ca
Dutch = waterspinazie
Filipino and Tagalog = kangkóng or cancong
Hindi = kalmua or kalmi or kalmisaag
Japanese = asagaona or ensai or kankon or kuushin sai or stuu sai
Khmer (in Cambodia) = trâkuön
Korean = kong sim chae or da yeon chae
Laotian = pak bong or bongz
Malay and Indonesian = kangkung or ballel
Thai = phak bung or pak hung or phak thotyot
Vietnamese = rau muá»ng.
How to grow it: Kang Kong is a terrifically hardy perennial that will grow anywhere at anytime itâs growing conditions are met â that is, when itâs hot & wet. It grows like mad in these conditions, and will meander or die back when itâs cold and/or dry. Seems just as happy in sun or shade
In the tropics, it will grow all year if it has regular water, but is best planted as the wet season begins and will require no maintenance. If thereâs a problem with it, it can get out of control â a great reason to harvest it regularly.
In cooler areas, it will die back in winter and reshoot in spring. In cold areas itâs growing season might be quite short.
Given itâs water requirements, it does best in a boggy area or on the edges of ponds. Itâs just as happy in shallow water as it is in wet mud. It does well in a shadehouse or hothouse and itâs growing period might be extended due to the extra warmth.
Kang Kong will certainly benefit from the addition of manure, compost, worm juice or seaweed, but will also do pretty well without any maintenance at all. Once I put a cutting in a vase of water to root, and it grew & produced leaves for months without any help at all â quite amazing!
Iâve had great success growing Kang Kong in closed containers â simply fill any closed container (20 litre bucket, pots with no drainage, styrofoam boxes etc) with soil leaving 5-10 cms from the top. Fill with water to a level just above the soil, and put your cuttings or seeds in. As soon as the plants start growing you can start harvesting. This growing method can be very productive and is great for drier climates â just add a bit a bit of water when needed â the foliage will reduce much of the water loss.
