Tamarind

The tamarind tree is grown for its fruits as well as a shade tree. It is a large tree, usually growing to a height of 20 meters or more. The leaves are even-pinnate composed of very small leaflets. The flowers which grow in recemes have yellowish petals with pink strips.

The green pods, young leaves and flowers are used for flavoring a certain favorite dish called " sinigang." The sweet ripe pods are used in the manufacture of syrup, beverage, jellies and other sub-acid confections.

The young leaves are prepared to ease rheumatic pains. To reduce inflammations of body-joints apply on them poultices of warm, pounded young leaves.The solution formed by boiling the leaves in water mixed with little sugar when taken relieve cough.

Pigeon Pea

Pigeon Pea or kadios as locally known is an erect, branched and shrubby legume. The small pods are eaten as vegetable white still green or young. The dried seeds are also eaten as vegetable and cooked with other vegetables, fish, shrimps or meat.

The leaves are pounded and applied as treatment for sores. The juice passed from the leaves mixed with salt as given as medicine for jaundice.

Plant 2 to 4 seeds in a hill spaced at 1.5 meters apart between hills in the row or furrow, and 1.5 meters apart between furrows.

Katuray

Katuray is one of the most widely distrubution vegetable tree crop in the country growing to about 12 meters in height. It may be greatly reduced in height if pruned, but will have more lateral branches than when not pruned. The Katuray tree bears few white, large flowers.

Economic and Nutritive Values of Katuray:

* The young leaves and pods which are eaten as vegetables are cooked either with fish and met or with other vegetables.

* Protein concentrates can be extracted from the leaves. The younger leaves contain more protein than the older leaves.

* Vitamins A and C are found in the leaves.

Medicinal Value of Katuray:

* Juice extracted from the roots mixwd with honey is used as an expectorant for colds and catarrh.

* A paste is made from the roots of the red- flowered Katuray variety and is given as remedy for rheumatic pains.

* Applies as remedy for headache caused by severe catarrh is the juice extracted from the juice of leaves and flowers.

* Flowers are used to make bowel movement easy.

Katuray tree is propagated by seeds and by cutting. Germinate the seeds in seed boxes or seedbeds. Transplant in the seedlings in the fiels or garden when they are about 75 to 100 centimeters tall.

Guava

The guava tree is a small which may reach a height of about 8 meters. It has four-angled branches. The leaves are opposite, somewhat hairy, oblong to elliptic and usually pointed at both ends. The flowers are white and borne in panicles with one to three flowers.
The guava fruit is rounded, about 4 to 5 centimeters long, the introduced guavas, such as the Brazilian guava, the Florida Guava and the Java guava are much bigger than the native varieties. They are much more fleshy and have lesser seeds. The fruit when unripe is green, when fully ripe, it is yellow. The ripe fruit has pink or white pulp.
One variety, with smaller fruits but recommended for backyard planting is the purple guava. It is a sort of a novelty because of its color. The ripe fruit is sweet and delicious;
Economic and Nutritive Values of Guava Fruits
• Guava fruits are eaten ripe or unripe. The ripe guava fruits are sweet and are made into jellies which preserved in bottle.
• Ripe guavas are used in the preparation of a certain dish.
• Vitamin C content of guava fruits.
Medicinal Value
• The leaves are boiled in water and the solution is used for stomach ache and for expelling intestinal worms.
• The bark and leaves are used in childbirth to expel the placenta.
• The pounded leaves are applied to ease rheumatic pains.
• Juice extracted from roots and leaves are rubbed on the spine children having convulsions.

Guava are propagated in a number of ways. Seed planting is most common way. Guavas, however, may be planted asexually, by marcotting, stem cutting, grafting and budding.

Mango

The ripe mango fruit is usually eaten as a dessert. It can be preserve into jelly, jam, chutney, marmalate and vinegar. The green fruit may be eaten as is with bago-ong(bagong) or salt. It is also made into pickles.

Children suffer from scurvy due to lack of Vitamin C or for not taking fruit juices that are rich in Vitamin C. Daily requirements of Vitamin C is 40 miligrams. Eating one mango a day will give all the Vitamin C one needs daily. In addition, one also gets the Vitamins needed daily.

Tea can be made from the leaves of mango tree. This beverage counteracts the inflammation of the nose and mucus membranes during a cough and other diseases of the bronchial tube. The ripe mango fruit is a laxative. The seed which is bitter can be prepared as deworming agent.

Mango tree may be propagated by seed, bondding, grafting or inarching. The plants are set in the field from 10 to 14 meters apart.

Pineapple

The pineapple is a wonder fruit. It is not grown from seeds. The plant is grown from slips near the base of the fruit, from suckers that grow lower down on the stem of the plant, or from the crown that issues from the top of the pineapple.

When fully grown, the vegetative plant is the appearance of a "red bud" in the growing center by the plant where the new leaves have been forming. It is about the size of a big calamansi and red in color. It is actually a miniature pineapple containing approximately 150 individual flowers, a number equal to the " eye" of the ripe pineapple, for parts of each flower are eventually to become an eye.

The ripe pineapple fruit is eaten as a dessert. Sugar syrup is made from pineapple fruit. Pineapples are canned and exported. The forms of canned pineapples are slices, chunks, tidbits and "crisp cut". Fiber from pineapple leaves is made into pina cloth.

The juice extracted from the pineapple leaves is used as a purgative also to expel intestinal worms. The unripe fruit when eaten aids in disposing excess water in the body through increasing the amount of urine produced which is then disposed through urination.

Garlic

Garlic is a shallow-rooted plant with the bulbs forming close to the soils surface. The plant responds favorably to short-day lights,particularly during the growing stage. Growing stops when long day lights any high temperature set in followed by the rapid maturity of the bulbs.

Medicinal Value of Garlic

* It lowers the blood pressure.

* It can reduce fever.

* It rids the stomach and intestines of intestinal worms and parasites.

* It eliminates gas formed in alimentary canal.

* It eliminates excess mucus.

* It eliminates excess water in the body flow of urine.

* A preparation of garlic cloves cures backaches.

Economic and Nutritive Value of Garlic

* It is the most popular and often used of all the species.

* It is used for flavoring many kinds of dishes.

* It contains all the major vitamins except Vitamin D.

* It is high in potassium and phosphorus.

Before planting, garlic cloves are prepared with extra care so as not to injure or damage them. Cloves are prepared in the afternoon before the day of planting and are so asked in a solution of Malathion ( 3 table spoon for every 5 gallons of water) for 2 minutes to kill the microscopic mites that cause " Tangle Top." Plant garlic at the end of the rainy season, from October to November. If you plant on time, you will be able to harvest more and bigger bulbs.

Eggplant

The eggplant is one of the most popular vegetable crops in the Philippines. It is grown in almost all backyards and school gardens in the country.

The native eggplants bear small, round or elongated fruits. Among the widely grown native varieties are Negros Purple. Pampanga Purple and Simmeda. Among the foreign varieties are Black Beauty and Golden Gate. They bear longer and more fleshy fruits.

The fruits are fairly good sources of calcium,phosphorus and iron. The fruits are also a good source of vitamin B.

The leaves are employed to cure piles. The ashes of the fruit are prescribed for use in a dry, hot poultice on hemonorrhoids.

Malunggay

The malunggay is a small vegetable tree which grows to height of about 8 meters, more or less. The leaves which are pinnate in form, the white flowers and the long pendulous young pods and seeds are edible.

Nutrient Contents of Malunggay:

Just 1/3 cup of cooked malunggay leaves gives children their daily requirements for:

Iron - to build maintain the blood supply and prevent anemia;

Calcium - for healthy bones and teeth;

Vitamin A - to give good vision, healthy skin,proper growth and resistance to infections;

Vitamin B - to stimulate growth and appetite; to prevent skin troubles, beri-beri and anemia;

Vitamin C - to help develop health tissues, teeth and gums.

Malunggay tree may be propagated by stem cuttings or by seeds. Propagation by mature stem cuttings is preferable to propagation by seeds because the planted stems grow much faster.

Duhat

The duhat fruit is small, oval or elliptic in shape. It is about two centimeters long, dark purple or nearly black in color. Duhat tree is grown for its edible fruits.

The fruit is often made into jelly. The beverage made from duhat juice offers commercial possibilities. The trunk yield a soft timber of good quality which is used for interior decoction. The leaves are pounded and heated and applied on skin irritations.

Varieties of Duhat

There are only two known varieties of duhat grown in the country. They are the seeded “Kinalabao” and the seedless type. Kinalabao is commonly grown in most parts of the country, while the seedless type is rarely grown because it produces small fruits.

Propagation and Harvesting

Duhat can be propagated sexually by seeds and asexually by budding, grafting, inarching and marcotting.

Duhat fruits can be harvested seven to eight years from planting time. Its fruiting season is from April to June. The fruit is fully ripe when the purplish-red color changes to dark purple or black

Cassava

Cassava is an erect, shrubby plant growing to height of about i meter to 3 meters. It bears stout,elongated, fleshy edible roots. This plant is classified under root crop. Its small fruits are in the form of ovoid capsules.

Medicinal Value of Cassava

* For relief of headache or fever apply a head compress of pounded cassava leaves.

* Solution formed by boiling the bark of the stem of the cassava plant will help expel intestinal worms and will also serves as medicine of rheumatism.

Economic and Nutritive Values of Cassava

* The cassava tuber is boiled and eaten, with or without sugar.

* The tuber is a good source of gapleck and sago. From gapleck, starch is manufactures which is them made into flour and used in the preparation of biscuits, cookies and bread. Sago is used in the preparation of "guinta-an," a native delicacy.

There are two varieties of cassava- the sweet and the bitter.Both varieties contain a certain percentage of hydrocyanic compound, a kind of poison in the bark and flesh of the plant. Sweet cassava has a low percentage of the poison. The better kind has 1.012 to 0.37 percent in the edible portion. This hydrocyanic compound disappears or is eliminated during the boiling process.

In harvesting, dig the soil carefully around the roots of the plants with a crowbar or pointed bamboo stick when the soil is soft.Cut the top parts of the cassava stems first, leaving the stumps which should them the pulled to haul the storage roots from the soil.

Ginger

Ginger or “luya” as it is called locally, is an herbaceous root crop with a straight stem arising from a think aromatic rhizome. It may grow to about a meter high with long elongated leaves. It grows well in a sandy loam soil with good drainage.

Some Uses of Ginger

• “ Salabat” is made from fresh rhizome which is used as a stimulating drink.
• Fresh rhizome is used for flavoring food.
• Ginger in any of its three forms can be used in the preparation of confectionary, beverage, perfume and medicine.

Ginger as Prepared in Medicine

• Pound the leaves and apply to bruises.
• As an antirheumatic remedy, pound some pieces of rhizome and apply them on the affected part.
• Extract the juice from rhizome pieces and apply as cure for toothache and bleeding gums.

Ginger plants eat plenty of soil nutrients. It is essential, therefore, that these soil nutrients be replaced. Application of sufficient amount of organic materials such as well-rotted animal manure and “complete fertilizers” would favorably help the plants.

Black Pepper

Black Pepper is a perennial vine crop with a productive life of fifteen to twenty years or more. It is easy to grow black pepper. There is only one variety and several native strains of black pepper cultivated in the country.

The bushy black pepper bears fruit much earlier, usually as early as six months after planting.The seed - growth type, on the other hand,starts flowering after five to six years. That is why it is used only for breeding purposes.

Economic Value Of Black Pepper

* Black Pepper is the most widely used spice. The dried berries of black papper called Peppercorns are used as the major condiment in several food preparation.

* Peppercorns give aroma and flavor to food.

Medicinal Value Of Black Pepper

* The berriies are used externally as a rubefacient ( an externally skin application)in baldness and skin diseases.

* The decoction (solution caused by boiling the berries in water), when taken internally is used for dyspepsia, cough and intermittent fever.

* A water infusion of the corons( peppercorns) is used as a gargle in various infections in the throat.

* The roots are boiled in water and the solution is used as tonic, stimulant, cordial and anthelmintic ( expels intestinal worms).


The Black pepper may be propagated by waterspouts and runner stems. Waterspouts are succulent branches which arise from the main stem of primary branches.

Chico

Chico is a many-branched tree reaching a height of about 8 feet, more or less.It is commercially grown because of its edible fruits.The fruit is somewhat egg-shaped or rounded with a thin, brown skin. When ripe it is soft and sweet.

Nutritive and Economic Values

* The fruits which are sweet serve as a delicious dessert.
* The fruits are used as a good ingredient for ice cream.
* The Chico fruit is deficient in calcium but fair in iron.

Medicinal Value of Chico

* The seeds which contains saponins and quercetin are diuretic(helps the body dispose of excess water by increasing the amount of urine produced.)They contain 23% oil.

* The mature bark which contains tannin has a medicinal use in Cambodia where it is employed in the cure of diarrhea.

Chico tress may be propagated by seeds,marcotting and inarching. In orchards, plant chico tress about seven to eight meters apart.

Harvest only fully matured fruits.Immature fruits may ripen but the quality is poor, because the skin wrinkles and the taste is inferior.

Cashew ( Kasoy)

The cashew plant is a small to medium-sized tree. The trunk is gnarled and usually crooked.There are three types of cashew fruits;a group with big apples and small nuts;a group with small apples and big nuts; and a group with big apples and big nuts.

Medicinal Value of Kasoy

* For Diarrhea and Diabetes - Boil the bark;cool and drain solution before drinking.
* For ulcerations in the mouth - Boil the bark;cool and drain solution before using as mouth wash.
* For Dysentery - Pour boiling water on the leaves of kasoy placed in a container. Cool and drain before drinking.

Economic And Nutritive Values Of Cashew

* The juicy cashew apple,receptacle may be eaten when ripe and is used for sweet preserves.
* Wine, alcohol and vinegar can be made from the cashew apple.
* The meat of the cashew nuts are used in the preparation of confectionery and in the preparation of cakes, pastries,ice cream and candies.

The fruits are ready for harvest when the color of the cashew apples has became cream yellow and when the nuts are already hard and light brown in color.

Guayabano (Sour Sop)

Guayabano or sour sop is a small tree which was introduced into the Philippines from West Indies. It grows to about seven meters high.
It is grown for its fruit. The fruit is ovate is shape and weighs about 2 to 4 kilos. The skin of the fruit is covered with flexible green prickles.The pulp of the fruit is white, fibrous and contains several black seeds.It is soft,juicy, and has a sweet acid flavor when ripe.

Economic And Nutritive Values of Sour Sop

* The mature green fruit is used as a vegetable.
* The ripe fruit is eaten off hand or for dessert.
* The fruit juice is used for flavoring ice cream and sherbets and for the preparation of drinks.
* The ripe fruit is fair in Vitamin C content and has traces of Vitamin A.

Medicinal Value of Sour Sop

* The unripe fruit is prepared as remedy for dysentery.
* The above solution also relieves muscular pains or cramp.
* The ripe fruit is a good remedy for scurvy.
* The heated liquid extract from the leaves or flowers is used to induce sweating.

The Sour Sop tree is propagated by seeds. The seeds are sown in seedbeds.The seedlings should be set in the field 5 to 7 meters apart. The Sour Sop trees grow fast and attains a height of 4 to 7 meters. The bear fruit in about three years after planting.

Lansones( Lansium domesticum)

Lansones tree grows to a height of about 8 meters. There are other varieties which are lesser in height. This tree is grown for its delicious fruits. The fruits are borne in grape-like bunches. Each fruit is ovoid in shape, about 2 to 4 centimeters in diameter. The skin is yellowish, tough and satiny. The fruit usually has one to three viable seeds.

Economic and Nutritive Values of Lansones
*The ripe lansones fruits are considered one of the most delicious Philippine fruits.
*The rings and seeds contain chemicals which are industrially and medicinally important.

Medical Value of lansones

• The solution formed by boiling the bark of the tree in water is taken internally as medicine for dysentery.
• The powdered bark is applied as remedy against poison in scorpion and centipede stings.
• The ground seeds mixed with water is taken internally to expel intestinal worms.
• The resin from the bark of the tree is prepared and applied externally for the prevention of muscular spasms or cramps.
• A preparation from the dried rinds is useful in counteracting diarrhea.
• Burning dried fruit peels, which gives a certain fragrance drives mosquitoes away.

Lansones grows profitably in loamy, clayey and sandy soils with good drainage. It thrives best in places with a uniform distribution of rainfall and in areas with distinct dry and wet seasons. It grows well at sea level to about 2,000 feet elevation.

Lansones can be propagated by seeds, marcotting and inarching. Seeds are first planted in seedbeds. When the seedlings are two-and-a-half years old, they are transplanted in the prepared holes in the field, 5 meters apart.

The white and red bark bores are serious pests that attack the lansones tree. One way of controlling these insect pests is to scrape off the barks of the trunk and branches of the tree. The places where the barks are scraped should then be washed with “gogo,” a kind of bark of a certain vine. This removes the hiding places of the borers.

After five or six months after blooming, the fruits are ready for th harvesting. Harvest only the fully-mature or ripe fruits.

Caimito (Star Apple)

The caimito or star apple is an attractive tree reaching a height of about fifteen meters. It is a native of the American tropics and suited to low and medium altitudes but grows well in the Philippines even where the dry season is pronounced.
The star apple fruit is light-green, smooth and shiny. There are three types of caimito fruits. One type is rounded; the second, is an oblong; and the third, is top-shaped with the larger portion towards the base.
The star apple fruit has a thin skin which covers a whitish, edible pulp. When ripe, this pulp is soft and contains a small amount of milky juice. There are five to six, sometimes nine seeds found in one fruit. The color of the seeds are very dark brown, almost black. The seed has a mild, pleasant taste.

Economic Value of Star Apple Fruit

• The ripe caimito fruit is eaten as a dessert. Its flavour may be enhanced by mixing the white pulp with milk and sugar.
Medicinal Value of Star Apple
• The ripe fruit is a remedy for diabetes.
• The solution formed by boiling the bark of the trunk in water is a remedy for dysentery.
• The fresh latex from the fruits is good for abscesses.
• The dried latex when applied expels intestinal worms.

Caimito bears fruits after five or six years when planted as seedling. Budded plants bear fruits much earlier.
Twig, borer, carpenter moth, grey mealybug , toy beetle and fruit fly, the destructive insect pests which attack the atis tree and fruits, can be controlled by regular spraying of such insecticides as Roger L-20, Daygun, Malathion 57% E.C. and Dimecron 50% E.C.

Avocado

The avocado plant is a tropical tree. It begins bearing fruits at five to six years of age. The full bearing age maybe expected at about eight to ten years. By then it attains a height of five to fifteen meters.
It may be propagated by seed, grafting, budding and in arching. It has been extensively propagated mainly for its edible fruits.
The avocado fruit maybe oblong, nearly spherical, pear-shaped or bottle-shaped and may vary in length from 10 to 36 centimeters long. In color, it may vary from green, brown to purple. It has one large seed in the center.

Economic and Nutritive Values of Avocado
• The ripe avocado fruit is eaten either plain; with salt or salad dressing; with sugar and milk.
• Ripe avocado fruit is used as an ingredient in ice cream.
• The avocado fruit is energy-producing. Its energy-producing value is 1,000 calories per pound, which is double than that of lean meat. Its fat content is as high as 20 percent and its digestibility can equal that of butter fat and surpass that of beef fat.
• Avocado fruit is rich in Vitamin E, which is popular among people who want to remain young.
• Vitamin E together with Vitamin A is contained in avocado oil that can be extracted from the fruit pulp by using a cold mixed solvent extraction process.
Medicinal Value of Avocado
• Avocado leaves are dried and prepared as tea for the relief of headache and diseases of the throat and stomach. It also regulates menstruation.
• Avocado leaves are heated and while still warm are applied directly on the forehead of the patient for the relief of headache.
• Avocado seeds are toasted and ground and prepared for cure of dysentery.
• The powder made from the toasted seeds is prepared as poultice for inflammations.
• A piece of avocado fruit is said to relieve toothache when placed in the cavity of the aching tooth.
• Avocado seed has been found the cure rheumatism. Pulverized avocado seed mixed with coconut oil can be applied externally on the affected part.
• The pulp can be used to hasten the formation of pus in wounds.

Species of avocado grown in the country are Mexican, West Idian and Guatemalan. The Mexican varities grown in the Philippines are Ganther, Rubla, Gottfried and Northrop. Locally-grown West Indian varieties are Pollack, Family, Gardins, Wilson, Waldin, Wester and Baldwin. Among the Guatemalan varieties grown in the country are Dickeson, Lyon, Troth, Taft, Tumin, Sharpless, Blackman, Solane and Taylor.
Avocado grows best in clay loam soils. Plant at the start of the rainy season, during the months of May to August. Set the plants at 9 to 10 meters apart each way. It is advisable to propagate only budded or grafted plants as trees grown from seeds do not run true to type and slow in coming to bearing.
Avocado fruits are harvested from May to September. Fruits are not allowed to ripen in the tree, as ripe fruits readily full to the ground. Fully mature avocado fruits should be harvested and allow to ripen in clean places at room temperature.

Atis (Anona aquamosa)

The atis tree(Sugar Apple Tree) is widely cultivated in many parts of the Philippines. It is one of the fruit trees that is easy to grow, and is recommended for backyard growing because of its relatively small size. It grows about two to seven meters high.
The fruit is about the size and shape of an apple. Its rind is scale-like in appearance, which breaks loose from the pulp when the fruit ripens. The pulp is very soft and aromatic. It has many seeds. Although not very juicy, it is very sweet.

Economic And Nutritive Values of Atis Fruit
• The ripe atis fruit is mainly eaten as a dessert fruit.
• It is a rich source of Vitamin C and also contains Vitamin A.
Medicinal Value of Atis
• The unripe fruit is given for internal use(eaten) as remedy for dysentery and diarrhea.
• The pounded leaves mixed with oil make a good poultice for diseases of the scalp.
• The solution formed by boiling the roots in water is used as purgative.


The atis tree may be propagated by seeds, cutting and grafting. It grows well in a well-drained soil containing plenty of humus. The seeding or young tree should be planted from four to five meters apart.
The fruits should be properly mature before they are harvested so that they would be fleshy and delicious. The fruits are ready for picking when it has become light green and the space between the outer carpels has widened but not cracked. The planting time for atis are during the months of July to December.

Ampalaya (Momordica charantia)

Ampalaya is an annual herbaceous vine, climbing by means of its tendrils which measure about 20 centimeters in length. The leaves are heart-shaped at the base, 2.5 to 10 centimeters, and cut nearly to the base into five or seven variously toothed and divided lobes. The large flowers appear in the axils of the leaves on long stalks. They are yellow with petals about 3.5 to 4 centimeters long.

Some fruits of ampalaya are oblong, cylindrical, pointed at both ends and measure up to at least 25 centimeters in length. Other are rounded or short which measure from 5 to 10 centimeters long. All have wrinkled surfaces with broken ridges. From these fruits the seeds are taken for propagation.


Economic and Nutritive Values of Ampalaya

* The young fruits and leaves of ampalaya are extensively used as vegetable.

* The leaves are excellent sources of iron and calcium and a good source of phosphorus.

* The leaves are also high in carbohydrates and a good source of Vitamin B.

Medicinal Value of Ampalaya

* The leaf juice is used for cough, to kill parasites to heal wounds.

* Juice extracted from the green fruit is effective against colitis(the inflamation of the large intestine)and bacilliary dysentery.

* The whole plant can be prepared to treat diabetes, skin diseases, sterility in women and chronic ulcers of the stomach.

* The plant can be prepared to bring vomiting.

* The powder from roots, fruits and seeds can be used as an ingredient in a aphrodisiac preparation.

* The powdered roots, fruits and seeds can be applied externally to hemorrhoids because they have astringent properties, that is, they posses the quality to shrink tissues and prevent the secretion of fluids from wounds.

The fruits are ready to be harvest 12 to 14 days after the female flowers have fallen. The young leaves may be harvested anytime the vine has developed a luxuriant foliage.

Alugbati (Basella alba L.)

Alugbati is a twining, herbaceous vine which grows to several meters in length. It has luxuriant, succulent, heart-shaped edible leaves growing on green or purplish stems. It bears small flowers and fruits. The flowers are pinkish.


Economic and Nutritive Value of Alugbati

* The young, fleshy and delectable leaves are usually cooked with other vegetables
or with fish and meat.

* The leaves are rich in food value, especially in minerals and vitamins.

Medicinal Value of alugbati

* The roots are prepared as poultice for local inflammations or swellings.

* The leaves are crushed or pounded and place over boils and ulcers.

* The leaves are also prepared as mild laxative for pregnant women.

There are two varieties of alugbati, namely the green variety and the red variety.
Both varieties are propagated either by seeds or cutting. Backyard planting is usually done through cuttings. To prepare cutting from 20 to 25 centimeters long. Remove some leaves to reduce water loss caused by transpiration in the cutting during the process of their growth.

Harvesting usually starts a month after planting. Harvesting is done by cutting the shoots 15 to 30 centimeters long. Weekly or bi-weekly harvesting may follow if there is vigorous and abundant growth of leaves.