How to harvest chaya for maximum yeild?

Plants Chaya
1

How do you manage chaya to maximize the yield?

I’d like to learn how people are managing their chaya to ensure that the chaya produces consistently and is high yielding. An important part of managing chaya is how the edible shoots and leaves are harvested.

Typically, I see chaya that is harvested by removing just the edible tip of each branch. Over time, this produces highly branching bushes. Currently I’m observing some chaya plants that have been pruned to different heights after harvest, to see if different coppicing techniques can result in improved regrowth.

Chaya cut back to different heights post-harvest
Chaya cut back to different heights post-harvest1920×1440 966 KB

What is your experience?

2

Hi Shaun,

  1. To maximize production of Chaya I keep any harvest to under 50% of the plant mass. This ensures there is enough photosynthesis for the plant to recover well.
  2. I harvest EITHER the tops, or the lower large leaves, but not both. It’s pretty much another version of #1. But a completely stripped stalk is very stressed and takes awhile to recover.
  3. Every 3rd harvest or so I break off excessive branching to keep the plant looking “natural” and young. If the tops are continuously harvested, it turns into a dense bush. This is not necessarily a problem from an aesthetic point of view, but it will produce better if there is natural branch spacing to allow sunlight to penetrate.
  4. Replace the plants after about five years. They can get large-ish and woody, but they are not very strong. A big wind storm, or a heatwave can kill bigger plants that are already stressed from harvest.