Description
🥒 Clove beans, also known as Ipomoea muricata, Nithya Vazhuthana in Malayalam, or Mookuthi Avarai, are a unique vine vegetable native to India and closely related to the morning glory family—not true beans at all!
🌿 Botanical & Growing Profile
- Growth habit: Perennial vine; climbs fences or trellises
- Fruit shape: Long pedicels with swollen, bulb-like tips
- Climate: Grows year-round in tropical regions like Kerala
- Soil: Garden soil mixed with cocopeat and vermicompost
- Sunlight: Full sun after germination
- Watering: Regular, but avoid waterlogging
🌱 Cultivation Tips
- Sowing: Directly from seeds; germinates in 4–6 days
- Transplanting: Move outdoors once seedlings are strong
- Support: Needs trellis or fencing to climb
- Harvest: Tender fruits ready in 60–70 days; crop lasts 150–170 days
- Yield: 2.5–4.5 kg per plant; ~5–6 tonnes per hectare
🍽️ Culinary & Medicinal Uses
- Cooking: Tender fruits used in stir-fries, curries, and traditional Kerala dishes
- Nutrition: Rich in fiber, vitamin C, potassium, and calcium
- Traditional remedies:
- Powdered fruit used for fever
- Plant juice sprayed to repel bugs
🌟 Why It’s Special
- Grows in all seasons—hence the name Nithya (eternal)
- Low maintenance and pesticide-free
- Rare and culturally significant in Kerala and coastal India
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