Why aren't wee seeing more kava being grown inside the U.S.?

[Krunkonaut]

The prices of kava have risen quite a bit since kava became more popular and known. I recently read a thread a couple of weeks back that said "having dermo is a sign of luxury now a days". That sentence kept hanging in the back of my mind and it's really true.
I don't think the sellers and growers wouldn't be effected in a bad way because there would be less theft and there would be more kava to be sold. I don't know what the situation is for the locals but is it still affordable on the pacific islands? The growers on the pacific islands can't keep up with the demand of kava and the prices keep rising, losing a lot of customers in the progress. Kava growers and sellers survived when kava wasn't known all around the world so I don't see why this would be a bad thing or what keeps us from growing in the United States, is it because of the authenticity that gives the kava from the pacific islands or am I completely missing the point?
Bula!

 

[Groggy]

The prices of kava have risen quite a bit since kava became more popular and known. I recently read a thread a couple of weeks back that said "having dermo is a sign of luxury now a days". That sentence kept hanging in the back of my mind and it's really true.
Bula!

Whomever said that can keep the dermo, lol. Dermo for me is a spa from hell.

 

[Krunkonaut]

Whomever said that can keep the dermo, lol. Dermo for me is a spa from hell.

couldn't agree more haha

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

I'm not sure I think it's because it's a long time before the plants grow . Hawaii is the only place it can be done and Chris at gourmet Hawaiin kava has offered anyone who wanted to start growing it in Hawaii cuttings to get going. I would love to do that but I can't move to Hawaii any time soon and doesn't seem anyone else has offered

 

[Alia]

I'm not sure I think it's because it's a long time before the plants grow . Hawaii is the only place it can be done and Chris at gourmet Hawaiin kava has offered anyone who wanted to start growing it in Hawaii cuttings to get going. I would love to do that but I can't move to Hawaii any time soon and doesn't seem anyone else has offered

I receive calls and requests on a weekly basis for cuttings, plants, propagation workshops, ... yet very few of these Hawai'i farmers follow through and actually begin their own collections. I have no idea as to why since it is obvious that it could be both a good income and a great addition to any famly garden.

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

I receive calls and requests on a weekly basis for cuttings, plants, propagation workshops, ... yet very few of these Hawai'i farmers follow through and actually begin their own collections. I have no idea as to why since it is obvious that it could be both a good income and a great addition to any famly garden.

Alia is correct, the reason we do not have more kava growing in the US is because nobody wants to grow kava in Hawaii. If there is anyone who wants to grow kava in the US, come to Hawaii and start a kava farm. This is the best place to grow kava in the USA. I wish there were more people that wanted to grow kava here but I guess they would rater plant Papaya's or other things. Oh well
Aloha.

Chris

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Again I would love to.
How much do you think the start up cost would be ?

 

[Alia]

Again I would love to.
How much do you think the start up cost would be ?

I'll PM you on that.

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

Once you remove Kava from its native climate/humidity it becomes a much harder plant to deal with. I’ve been trying to grow kava in California and it’s very difficult. To do it right, you have to put in a big investment $$$ and accept that things still might go wrong.

To grow an amount that would be profitable would take up a lot of space and a lot of time. A lot of time for things to go wrong and a lot of space that would require a large temperature/humidity controlled greenhouse.

If you had 10-20 grand to spare and at least 5 years waste waiting for a possible return on investment...it could be done. If I had the cash, I’d do it.

As it is right now, trying to do it as cheap as possible for a couple years as a backyard hobby in Los Angeles...it’s been a constant struggle to keep anything alive. I’ve had worms eat the roots of young sprouting cuttings and kill the plant, I have bugs that come and eat all the new leaves, eventually killing most or all leaves on the plant before it ever gets a chance to grow enough leaves to spare. I have to deal with drastically changing temps and humidity/dryness levels. I bought a cheap little green house, which makes nice humidity in the night hours, but gets so hot during the days I have to open the door, blow a fan in there and lose all the humidity. The greenhouse only keeps it 1 or 2 ° warmer over night and it’s already dipping into the 40°s at night, occasionally in the winter it’ll get down to 30°. So, I’ll need a heater, heating uses a lot of energy, cooling uses energy, humidifiers use energy. It’s all very costly and the outlook still doesn’t look good.

It’s generally just an expensive, delicate pain in the ass, to grow kava where it doesn’t belong.

One interesting thing I’ve learned by observation so far is that it actually is a bit more tolerant than I expected. It’s probably LEAST tolerant to dry air. It’s native humidty is around 70%-80%...days of extremely dry air (10%-30% humidity) & too much sun seem to kill the leaves. But it can handle 45-65% and it can handle temps that are lower than the tropics. It’s already an inherently slow growing plant...these differences seem to make it even slower.

Need to do some gene editing and give this the growth habits of Kudzu.

 

[Zaphod]

Once you remove Kava from its native climate/humidity it becomes a much harder plant to deal with. I’ve been trying to grow kava in California and it’s very difficult. To do it right, you have to put in a big investment $$$ and accept that things still might go wrong.

To grow an amount that would be profitable would take up a lot of space and a lot of time. A lot of time for things to go wrong and a lot of space that would require a large temperature/humidity controlled greenhouse.

If you had 10-20 grand to spare and at least 5 years waste waiting for a possible return on investment...it could be done. If I had the cash, I’d do it.

As it is right now, trying to do it as cheap as possible for a couple years as a backyard hobby in Los Angeles...it’s been a constant struggle to keep anything alive. I’ve had worms eat the roots of young sprouting cuttings and kill the plant, I have bugs that come and eat all the new leaves, eventually killing most or all leaves on the plant before it ever gets a chance to grow enough leaves to spare. I have to deal with drastically changing temps and humidity/dryness levels. I bought a cheap little green house, which makes nice humidity in the night hours, but gets so hot during the days I have to open the door, blow a fan in there and lose all the humidity. The greenhouse only keeps it 1 or 2 ° warmer over night and it’s already dipping into the 40°s at night, occasionally in the winter it’ll get down to 30°. So, I’ll need a heater, heating uses a lot of energy, cooling uses energy, humidifiers use energy. It’s all very costly and the outlook still doesn’t look good.

It’s generally just an expensive, delicate pain in the ass, to grow kava where it doesn’t belong.

One interesting thing I’ve learned by observation so far is that it actually is a bit more tolerant than I expected. It’s probably LEAST tolerant to dry air. It’s native humidty is around 70%-80%...days of extremely dry air (10%-30% humidity) & too much sun seem to kill the leaves. But it can handle 45-65% and it can handle temps that are lower than the tropics. It’s already an inherently slow growing plant...these differences seem to make it even slower.

Need to do some gene editing and give this the growth habits of Kudzu.

Not to mention that there is another "weed" that many folks can now grow in the US that is a whole lot easier, more resistant, and probably worth more...

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

thanks for sharing all this info.

People keep asking me if kava could grow in NZ. I guess, MAYBE somwhere in Northland. But even if it could survive there (there are parts of northland that are virtually frost free so I guess it's possible), I suppose it would take much longer for it to mature.

One funny/sad story. 2 years ago a friend of mine called me to say that his mate had been growing kava around Raglan for "close to 10 years" and he is ready to harvest his mini plantation". Everyone was pretty excited, but when they got to his "plantation", it turned out it wasn't real kava, but that "false kava" plant. Imagine the disappointment. 10 years of prayers, hopes and dreams. poof!

I follow the hashtags #pipermethysticum and #kava on Instagram...every once in while pictures pop up of people that are proud of their kava plants growing here or elsewhere outside of the islands...nearly without fail, when I inspect the leaf, it has the false kava pattern and when I inform the person they ALWAYS become salty with me and claim they know better and continue to believe it’s real Kava...even a local Samoan guy did this to me. They will find out in time...

At this point, I don’t even need to see the leaf, if anyone tells me they have kava thriving in CA, NZ or wherever else outside of its natural habitat (especially without a greenhouse or much effort)...they’ve already given me enough info to assume it’s actually false kava they’re growing.

In California there are some tropical plants that can survive...there are plenty of Plumeria around and there’s even some Mango trees here and there...but when I visit pacific islands, the difference between ones that grow here vs. there is massively apparent. Mango trees are enormous there, but here they max out at 1/3 the size...maybe even smaller. Same for plumeria, in a tropical climate they get so big it resembles a tree, but here they usually look more like a big bush. So, I’m guessing kava would be the same. (If it could survive.)

I’m gonna buy some Isa plants to see if they behave any differently.

 

[kastom_lif]

It's tough growing tropicals outside the tropics. Yesterday I helped my neighbor dig up his bouganvillea and put it in the cellar by a south-facing window. That bush has been dug up and replanted every season for probably 30 years.

Now imagine trying to do the same with tender kava roots, with a plant that never goes dormant and needs constant humidity and warmth.