Kava Farming

Growing Farm Fresh Kava Is Not That Easy

Hi everyone, people think I have an unfair advantage since I grow my own kava and I’m one of the few suppliers that can offer Farm Fresh Kava or Farm to Market Kava to the consumer. In fact, if you google it, I’m the only one that sells Hawaiian ‘Awa in powder, micronized, and instant. Though growing Tudei ‘Awa is simple since it grows like a weed, growing Noble kava is a very intensive procedure and not easy at all. Then you add in the time of processing the freshly harvested ‘Awa roots for pure powder, micronized, and instant; and you quickly have a business that takes up every day of the week. I have been growing ‘Awa for over 30 years now and since I sold my logging business, I have more time to tend to my Kava. There are a lot of different techniques involved in growing ‘Awa. , I will try to explain some of the growing methods and the pros and cons or each style of planting 'Awa. I grow mostly Hawaiian varieties of 'Awa but I also have several from the south Pacific like Boroguru. Growing the 13 Kava of Hawaii are my main passion and they include Moi, Mahakea, Nene, Hiwa, Opihikao, Papa Ele ele, Papa Ele Ele Puu Puu, Panaewa, Hanakapi Ai, Kumakua, Honokane Iki, Mapulehu and Papa Kea.

Location is Important

Picking a good location is important. The young seedlings need shade in the the younger parts of it's life. As they mature, they need more sun. So I like to plant in shady areas and then after 6 months or a bit longer I will open up the area to let more sun in. I like to plant the 'Awa in and among trees and natural forest topography, this limits the amount of kava I can plant per acre and so multi-cropping (planting several crops in the same area) insures that the land is used to its full potential. I do have one area that I do mono cropping but it’s the exception. When I plant as a multi-crop, I will plant the kava in areas of the land that are naturally shady and weed free. For example, I will plant under Hapuu ( Hawaiian tree ferns). If you are having trouble finding shade, then you can provide shade with shade cloth and then take the shade cloth down after the kava has reached a certain age.

Kava does not like “wet feet”, it does not like to be in standing water or a water logged area so I have to be careful for that. If the location is prone to being wet, then I might plant on the hillside to allow it to drain or perhaps several feet away from the wet area. Wet areas can be a problem for the roots of the kava, it can cause root rot. Wet soil also provides an ideal environment for the Phoma fungus or shot hole fungus. Both these diseases are big problems for Kava. Kava also does not like the wind either. It will tolerate it but it will grow slower and it will make long internode varieties short. This is not an actual mutation because if you took cuttings and grew them in a area with no high winds then it would grow tall like it normally would.

Taking Cuttings to Plant

As you might know, Kava is not grown by seed by is grown by cuttings. Once I settle on a good location, then I will go and harvest a 'Awa plant. After harvesting I will take the stalks and make cuttings from them. On a good mature 4 year old plant or older I will get 100-200 knuckles. That means 100-200 new kava plants from the harvest of one 4 year old plant. In this picture, I am standing next to an 'Awa plant that will supply me with the cuttings. The number of knuckles harvested depends on the variety and whether it is a long internode or a short internode variety. I will take these cuttings and I will put down a layer of live moss and then place the cuttings with the eye on the knuckle pointing up and then I cover them all with another layer of moss and I keep them in the shade. I like to use the moss because it grows all over my yard and the moss possesses iodine-like qualities that help protect the baby kava from fungus as it is growing. In this picture, you can see the cut knuckles ready to transplant. The trays of moss are pictured below the picture of the 'awa knuckles. This is not the only way to start kava cuttings but it is what I use and I get a 90% or more success rate which is pretty high for Kava Farmers.

Best Soil and Compost for Kava

In the "'Awa Production Guide" it mentions about the different types of soil that 'Awa will grow in. The best soils are deep soil, rocky soil, forest planting, lava soil, and basket planting." The way I do my planting is with mounds on the top of the ground. This makes it easy to harvest when they are mature. I also make my own soil on site where the 'awa is to be grown and I have a secret recipe which I have honed over the years. Here is a picture of the soil and a picture of me using a mini-bulldozer to make the mounds. I make a compost with wood chips, sea weed, mac nut husks and a few other secret ingredients. I make a mound of this homemade soil on the top of the ground and then plant the kava on that mound. After a few months the compost settles in and the compost has broken down and released its goodness. You know this has happened when the top of the soil from the pot (meaning the pot that I grew it in after the rooting in the moss) of the kava plant starts to look taller than the mound. This is a signal to me that I need to add more composted soil. Using compost to feed my kava plants plants is one of the organic methods I use and I will feed the kava plant compost throughout its life. Here is a picture of a 'Awa plant growing on a mound.

Tending to the Kava

After planting the kava you will need to tend to the kava on a regular basis. This means looking at the plants to make sure there are no bugs, fungus, or disease. In areas that get a lot of rain, the kava will get Phoma fungus if you are not watchful. I find it interesting that one of my largest farms on the south part of the Big Island does not get any fungus or disease. I have to wonder if it is because it is dry and isolated by old lava fields. No matter the reason, the kava grows a lot better over there than in other locations. For the most part, you will have healthy strong kava plants if you feed them continously with compost and stop pests, fungus and disease before they can effect the plant.

Harvest Time

Though I like to harvest my ‘awa after 4 years, I can let it grow for as long as the kava wants. I have seen Hawaiian 'awa that were bigger than a full size truck. These were the old ancient Hawaiian 'awa stands and they could have been there for a hundred years or more. There have been studies that show the kavalactone content will reach maturity in 18 months but most growers will let the 'awa grow longer so that they get a larger 'awa plant and more root to harvest.

Commercial ‘Awa Farms

It is too bad that there aren't more people here in Hawaii growing 'Awa. If you google Hawaiian ‘Awa/Kava, you might find a few that sell tinctures and perhaps tiny amounts of powder portending to be kava. But as far as I can tell, I am the only Hawaiian Farmer who sells a wide variety of Hawaiian ‘Awa and in many forms. There have been a few ‘Awa farmers in the past but they eventually gave it up to focus on their main business. There are a few that grow a plant or two on there personal property but commercial growers are few and far in between and I suspect they sell their crop to be made into tinctures and pills. I seriously doubt there are more than 4-5 commercial farmers here in Hawaii but I suspect that it is a lot less. Also, I don’t see any of them offering the consumers Powdered, Micronized, and Instant like I do so perhaps they sell their crop to large buyers. I know Puu Ala Farms and Puu O Hoku Ranch are growing commercially. Puu O Hoku Ranch runs a successful business offering lodging for educational retreats or workshops and they are into other businesses as well so no telling how long they will continue to grow ‘Awa commercially. Maybe the ‘Awa they grow will be served to their guests. If so, I might sign up for a seminar. :) There is at least one farmer who specializes in growing the ISA Tudei ‘Awa but growing the finicky Noble Kavas is not for the faint of heart and very few farmers have the skill and time to grow Noble ‘Awa. There are some people with a few 'Awa plants in there yard and one of my good friends has enough kava growing on his property that he drinks fresh kava on a regular basis. There is interest from outside Hawaii in growing 'Awa commercially and that is good but we need more local farmers. I was approached by a German company, they wanted to plant over 150,000 plants. They wanted me to grow the Kava for them but I just didn’t have time to tend to their plants and my plants. The last I heard, they found someone on the Hamakua Coast to grow the kava for them. That kava will be sent to make Kava Pills in German. A shame they don’t just sell the freshly processed ‘Awa. It is also very hard to start a large farm because it is difficult to get cuttings. When I first started, there was an abundance of wild kava plants growing in Hawaii. I could go into the forest and find a variety of ‘Awa plants and that is how I got many of my initial cuttings and without hurting the ‘Awa plant. But the rustlers took over in the 1990s and would dig up whole plants and harvest them so now that resource is gone. There are still 'Awa in remote places but these locations are very far away and there are no roads in those wild areas. Here are a variety of pictures of a 'Awa seedling, a 8 month old plant, and a 14 year old plant.

Conclusion. Good Techniques Equals Strong Potency

The way you grow kava has a profound effect on the kavalactone content. 'Awa grown in my yard will be stronger than my farm grown 'awa because I take care of it on a daily basis and spoil it with attention. It reciprocates with increased production of kavalactones. I still give my Farm ‘awa plenty of tender loving care by making sure they get enough sun and compost. In my opinion, the key to growing strong healthy ‘awa is the Hawaiian soil which we call the "Lepo". You take that soil and add compost and the end result is a strong potent kava plant. I hope this article gave you some insight into all the work that goes into growing and selling Farm to Market ‘Awa. Perhaps in my next article I will review the techniques for harvesting and processing the fresh ‘Awa.

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Aloha.