Topic: Kamokamo

Kamokamo 

Kia ora. Does anyone have any kamokamo tips? All I do is plant them, water them, and remove the tips of shoots (now and again) to keep them under control and so the plant does not spread out too much. Anyway, someone out there might wanna share some knowledge on growing kamokamo.

Re: Kamokamo 

Hey, is there any update on this?
I've been trying to find a good guide or some information to grow some.
If someone was able to point me to it, I'd happily blog about it to help future growers.

Re: Kamokamo 

Kamokamo is simple to grow & harvest. If you are talking about growing from seed, the shell has an opening-end. When you sow the seeds (assuming you already have pots/trays/containers ensure there'e atleast 15cm potting seed mix), make sure the opening is facing up, after 7-9days they will pop. Cover seeds into soil no more than 10cm depth. Once stem & leaves fully extend out of shell, begin to water atleast daily pref at nights or when moisture fade. Make sure there's enough day light/warmth. As soon as it becomes warmer/frost clear/, pending where in Aotearoa you are ie. North Island - Prepare seeds at the end of july - aug or next full moon, the stem should take atleast 4-5 weeks to gain strength before transplanting into garden. Give around 3-3.5 months for harvest. Meaning if you prep in July-Aug, you will harvest in December. There are 3 stages of eating to Kamokamo:

1. Wenoweno - Stem shape of Pikopiko spiral, beautiful to use in Boil Up - or any salads
Easy to prep - Boil then use for almost anything as you would with any other sorts of greens.

2. Kamo Tupua - After 3months, your kamokamo should have appeared, the baby looking shells no bigger than the palm of your hand are great to eat

3. Kamo Puare - Once they're fully grown, you will notice as they grow into the shape of a football, same size or bigger, cutting them is also simple. Some suggest to use an axe or saw! That is a whole load of crap! Pick up the solid shell & twist with abit of kaha & speed, it will break off.
Ensure plenty of water during growing. For myself, I like to transplant into tyres & have each tyre a good 0 feet apart. Once they begin to crawl along the ground, train them by pegging the end of the stems ensuring you dont cut the stems, to angle toward the others. Leaving a trail which can easily be accessed for maintenence. Maintaining Kamokamo should only be required no more than 4 times throughout growing
period. Storage of harvest should be in a cool area or in a kono (ground storage is the best) but thats giving too much away now!

Hope this helps.

Re: Kamokamo 

Thank you so much for sharing this information. It has been most helpful.
Mauri ora.

Re: Kamokamo 

after flowering the beautiful petals close up.... then they just drop off... why is this...

Re: Kamokamo 

Yeh - same thing happens to mine. The plant itself is growing well, quite a few flowers but no fruiting is happening!

Re: Kamokamo 

Could it be that the flowers have not been pollinated? Same things happened to mine. Also sometimes the baby Kamokamo stays yellow then drops off / dies.
Kia ora