Seed preparation
The seed is very small. Mix it with dry sand or fine soil before sowing so it spreads evenly along the row.
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Leafy vegetable growing guide
Jute mallow, also called tossa jute or molokhia, is a fast warm-season annual grown for its slippery, nutritious leaves and for jute fibre. Sow the tiny seed very shallowly in warm soil and keep it moist until it comes up.
The seed is very small. Mix it with dry sand or fine soil before sowing so it spreads evenly along the row.
Jute mallow seed often has hard-seed dormancy. If a test sowing comes up poorly, a short hot-water dip helps: seed studies used water at 90 °C (194 °F) for 30-60 seconds, then drained and sowed the seed. Do not leave the seed in hot water longer, and try it on part of the seed first; University of Minnesota Extension warns that heat treatment can reduce germination.
Not needed. This is a tropical annual and needs no cold period.
Not needed for most seed lots. Trials also tested a 24-hour soak in plain water, but the best germination and vigour came from the brief hot-water dip.
Sow only once the soil is at least 18 °C (65 °F). In Assam, tossa jute varieties are sown from mid-March to the end of March; leaf crops can be sown through the warm season.
Barely cover the seed with soil, a few millimetres at most. Deeper sowing is the most common reason for a poor stand.
A clean, fine seedbed of loam or sandy loam with pH 6.0-7.0. On acid soils below pH 5.5, lime the bed at least three weeks before sowing.
Water well at sowing and keep the surface moist until seedlings are up. Established plants tolerate dry spells.
Sow in an open, sunny bed; seedlings and plants need full sun.
Seed that is not dormant comes up quickly in warm, moist soil; seed with a hard coat comes up slowly and unevenly unless treated. Keep the bed moist until the stand is complete.
Fibre crops are always sown direct. For a leaf crop you can raise seedlings in modules and plant them out into warm soil, or sow direct; small seed makes outdoor germination less even, so modules give a more reliable stand.
For leaves, space plants 5-8 cm (2-3 in) apart for bunching or 15-30 cm (6-12 in) apart for repeated picking, in rows 75-90 cm (30-36 in) apart. For fibre, sow in lines 22-25 cm (9-10 in) apart and thin to 5-7 cm (2-3 in) between plants about three to four weeks after emergence.
Weed by hand at thinning time; young plants compete poorly with weeds.
Start picking individual leaves and shoot tips about 40 days after sowing and keep picking through the warm season; regular picking keeps plants bushy. For bunches, cut whole plants at 40-60 days.
Work in compost or manure before sowing. Extra nitrogen promotes leaf growth, but cut back if the bed was recently manured.
For fibre, cut at the small-pod stage, then ret the stems in water for about 10-30 days, depending on temperature.
Leave a few plants unpicked until the long pods turn brown and dry, then collect the seed before the pods split.
Sow jute mallow shallowly in warm soil for fresh leaves within about six weeks.
Usually they were sown too deep or into cold soil. The seed should be barely covered and the soil at least 18 °C. Some seed lots also have a hard coat; a 30-60 second dip in 90 °C water can help, but test it on a small amount first.
Yes. Corchorus olitorius is tossa jute, one of the two jute species grown for fibre, and the same species is grown in gardens for its edible leaves.
Start picking leaves about 40 days after sowing, or cut whole plants for bunches at 40-60 days.