Roselle

  Roselle is cultivated throughout West Africa, especially in Sierra Leone where it is inter cropped with other vegetables in upland rice fields and back-yard gardens during the rainy season. There are two varieties grown in Sierra Leone -- the Red and the green types. Both varieties are grown for their edible leave and calyxes (fleshy buds before blossoms open). The green type is favorable for its pleasant sour taste. The red type (hibiscus acetosella) is grown for ornamental purposes due to its attractive red foliage and pink blossoms with dark centers.

Growing Methods:

  Roselle is grown both in the rainy and wet season. Both varieties tolerate high temperature and rainfall and thrive on infertile soils. Seeds are broadcast in well- prepared raised beds and thinned to 6-9 inches apart. (Plants grown for calyx production are spaced wider.) Young seedlings are thinned and used as greens, eaten raw or steamed. Plants grow up to 8 feet tall where organic content is high. Plants grown in the dry season are irrigated and fertilized.

Harvest:

  The swollen and mature calyxes are harvested 75-115 days after planting. Leaves and shoots are also removed when fully mature. The removal of the shoots promotes branching.

Uses:

  Roselle leaves are sometimes eaten raw but are mostly cooked with Egusi (cucmumeropsis edulis) to make a pleasant sour tasting source, usually served with fufu. Calyxes are also boiled for tea and used to make jams and jellies.