Chapter 5. Ethnic Vegetable Production
Guodong Liu, Christian Miller, Bonnie Wells, Yuncong Li, and Qingren Wang
Ethnic vegetable production in Florida contributes greatly to the diversity
of the state’s agricultural industry. More than 40 types of Ethnic/Asian
Vegetables are commercially grown each year in Florida. In recent years,
the increasing demand for these crops has resulted in a rapid expansion
of ethnic vegetable production in Northeast and South Florida. Though
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cerns creating confusion between producers and consumers is that many
of the ethnic vegetable crops have different names in different countries
and cultures. Another concern is that, for many of these crops, there are no
science-based production recommendations available for ethnic vegetable
producers to follow. This unavailability of recommendations may limit
the production of these crops as local growers attempt to determine crop
developed for these crops, ethnic vegetable growers should follow recommendations
which are available for crop species closely related to these
ethnic vegetables. This is especially important for pest control and pest
The objectives of this publication are to (1) provide various names of
some ethnic/Asian vegetable crops with EDIS publications available to
readers; (2) list related chapters in this handbook, which provide recommendations
for crops close to these ethnic vegetables grown in Florida; and
(3) list EDIS publications currently available for these crops. We strongly
encourage growers of ethnic vegetables to follow the UF/IFAS recommendations
in closely related crops before the UF/IFAS recommendations for
Web links for EDIS Publications available for ethnic/asian vegetable
growers in Florida
Luffa—an Asian Vegetable Emerging in Florida.
Tong Hao—an Asian Vegetable Emerging in Florida.
Long Squash—an Asian Vegetable Emerging in Florida.
Bitter Melon—an Asian Vegetable Emerging in Florida.
Long Bean—an Asian Vegetable Emerging in Florida.
Table 5.1.
Vegetable Type Common Name Other Names Family Name Related crop grown in Florida
Root Daikon radish Long white radish, Oriental radish, white radish, winter radish Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) Radish (Chapter 15)
Lobok radish Chinese radish Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) Radish (Chapter 15)
Turmeric Western ginger Zingiberaceae Root crops (Chapter 15)
Leafy A choy Taiwanese lettuce Asteraceae (Compositae) Lettuce (Chapter 9)
Shalihon Xue li hong, mustard green Asteraceae (Compositae) Lettuce (Chapter 9)
Tong Hao Tahn ho, Shungiku, crown daisy, garland daisy, edible chrysanthemum,
garland chrysanthemum, or chrysanthemum greens
Asteraceae (Compositae) Lettuce (Chapter 9)
Napa Napa cabbage Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) Cabbage (Chapter 6)
Long napa Peking cabbage, celery cabbage Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) Cabbage (Chapter 6)
Shanghai bok choy Bok choy, pak choi, bok choi, pok choy Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) Cabbage (Chapter 6)
U choy Yu choy, Chinese greens Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) Cabbage (Chapter 6)
Taiwan cabbage Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) Cabbage (Chapter 6)
Wawa choy Baby Chinese cabbage Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) Cabbage (Chapter 6)
Callaloo Callalloo, calalloo, calaloo, kallaloo, Xian choy, amaranth, taro,
Xanthosoma
Amaranthus (Amaranthaceae) Lettuce (Chapter 9)
Malabar spinach Vine spinach, red vine spinach, climbing spinach, creeping
spinach, buffalo spinach, Ceylon spinach
Basella alba (Basellaceae) Lettuce (Chapter 9)