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Chapter 5. Ethnic Vegetable Production

Guodong Liu, Bonnie Wells, Yuncong Li, Qingren Wang, Johan Desaeger, andXiaoying Li

Ethnic vegetable production in Florida has significantly enhanced the market and diversity of the state’s agricultural industry. More than 40 types of ethnic/Asian vegetables are commercially grown each year across Florida. In recent years, growing consumer demand has rapidly expanded ethnic vegetable production throughout Florida, particularly from the northeast to southern regions. The ethnic vegetable growing area is rapidly increasing because of the demand and the niche market. Though availability, profitability, and competitiveness have increased, one of the concerns creating confusion between producers and consumers is that many of the ethnic vegetable crops have different names in different countries and cultures. Additionally, for many ethnic vegetable crops, science-based production recommendations remain unavailable. This unavailability of recommendations may limit the production of these crops as local growers attempt to determine crop requirements with limited guidance. However, before specific recommendations are developed for these specialty crops, ethnic vegetable growers should follow recommendations that are available for crop species closely related to these Asian or ethnic vegetables. This is especially important for pest control and pest management because it is usually very difficult to find pesticides labeled specifically for certain Asian or ethnic vegetable species.

The objectives of this chapter are to

  1. provide various names of some ethnic/Asian vegetable crops;
  2. list related chapters in this handbook, which provide recommendations for crops close to these ethnic vegetables grown in Florida; and
  3. list Ask IFAS publications currently available for these crops.

Growers are strongly encouraged to adhere to UF/IFAS recommendations for related crops until guidelines tailored specifically to ethnic vegetables are developed. In addition, the following publications focusing on Asian or ethnic vegetable crops are available on Ask IFAS and may be helpful to relevant growers:

  1. “Bitter Melon—an Asian Vegetable Expanding in Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1271)
  2. “Bok Choy, an Asian Leafy Green Vegetable Emerging in Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1337)
  3. “Chayote—a Potential Vegetable Crop for Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1454)
  4. “Chinese Mustard Cultivation Guide for Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1402)
  5. “Daikon Radish Cultivation Guide for Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1370)
  6. “Fingered Citron—a Fragrant, Ornamental Citrus Tree for Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1427)
  7. “Florida Cultivation Guide for Malabar Spinach” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1371)
  8. “Goji Berry—a Novel Nutraceutical ‘Superfruit’ for Florida Master Gardeners” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1391)
  9. “Leek Cultivation Guide for Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1388)
  10. “Long Bean—an Asian Vegetable Emerging in Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1268)
  11. “Long Squash—an Asian Vegetable Expanding in Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1272)
  12. “Luffa—an Asian Vegetable Emerging in Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1285)
  13. “Production Guide for Choy Sum—an Emerging Asian Vegetable in Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1380)
  14. “Production Guide of Vegetable Amaranth for Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1407)
  15. “Tong Hao—an Asian Vegetable Expanding in Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1276)
  16. “Waterleaf, a Potential Leafy Vegetable for Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1434)
  17. “Yacon, a Potential Tuberous Crop for Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1435)
  18. “Edamame Growth Stages in Miami-Dade County” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1498)
  19. “Plant-Parasitic Nematodes Associated with Asian Vegetables in Florida” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN1378)
  20. “Symptoms of Nitrogen and Iron Deficiency in Luffa” (https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1475)

Table 1. Common name and botanical classification for selected Asian or ethnic vegetables.

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