A Kihei Garden Newsletter for November

The weather is usually cool enough in November to plant Asian greens, endive, escarole, individual lettuces, mache, peas, radicchio and spinach. It's also the month I plant bulbing onions, red bunching onions, leeks, carrots and radishes.

If you live on the makai side of Piilani Hwy and you're planting cabbage this month I recommend planting early varieties. Cour d'bue, Early Jersey Wakefield and Testa di Ferro (at right) were the earliest cabbages I've grown. Photos and additional information can be found in my post about growing cabbages.

Seeds to plant in November:

Amaranth

Arugula

Asian Greens

Basil 

Beans (all types)

Beets

Broccoli
Broccoli Rabe
Buckwheat

Cabbage (early varieties)

Carrots

Celery

Capers
Chard

Cilantro (plant in partial shade)
Corn

Cucumbers (Suyo grows well in the fall)

Eggplant 
Endive & Escarole

Fennel
Garlic (late November)

Herbs
Jicama

Kale

Kohlrabi

Leeks

Lemongrass - Culinary

Lettuce

Mache

Mesclun Greens
Mint

Mustard Greens

Onions - Bunching (red & white)

Onions - Bulbing (short day -all colors)
Peas
Peppers

Radicchio

Radishes
Spinach
Sweet Potatoes

Tomatillos
Tomatoes
Wheat

Spinach
Matador is the only true spinach I've been able to grow in Kihei. It's a heat tolerant variety from Italy - available from Seeds From Italy. I've been able to plant Matador with good results from November through February.

Onions & Leeks
November is the month I plant bulbing onions, leeks and red/violet bunching onions. Early Texas Grano and White Bermuda were the best performing bulbing onions I've grown and both were sweet. Early Texas Grano and White Bermuda seeds are widely available.

Red onions need our coolest weather to grow to a normal size. The best results I've had with reds were Red Burgundy and Red Creole. Short day onions are recommended for Hawaii.

I've grown Blue Solaize, Sherwood and Tadorna leeks. All grew well when planted in November. Sherwood leeks are earlier and wider than Blue Solaize or Tadorna.

Capers
Caper seeds are normally planted in November and December. The seeds have low germination and don't usually begin to germinate until spring. Sources for seeds in the US are Seeds From Italy and Trade Winds Fruit. For more information see my post about growing Capers.

Snow & Sugar Peas
Peas grow best in Kihei when planted from mid-November through December. Most snow and sugar peas take about 75 days for the pods to develop.

A few of my favorite snow peas are Carouby de Maussane (at right), Golden Sweet, Oregon Giant and Super Sugar.

Potatoes
For information about ordering and planting potatoes - see the October newsletter.

Destructive Bugs, Larvae & Disease

See the October newsletter about preparing for the cabbageworm, the larvae of a white moth that usually becomes a problem in mid-November. Without protective measures, they can destroy the leafy green part of a garden in a short period of time. In Keonekai I didn't have problems with the fruit flies after September and only occassional pickleworm damage after October.