Chaya or Moringa are supposed to be fantastic permaculture plants that are grown in Florida. Jacksonville, FL gets about as cold as it does here in PNW. Has anyone here grown these plants in PNW? I am curious. I would like to if it would have a chance of working.
John S
PDX OR

Hey there John!
It's a good thought, but it may not be possible in that climate. I have a lot of experience with both in the Virgin Islands, where they grow like weeds!!! In fact, I don't think I ever want to eat Chaya again! Not true, but when it's a major staple every day...Moringa has millions of possibilities and positives - you can grind it and sprinkle just for the health benefits alone...I'd say if you got the seeds, give it a go if it's for "personal consumption" just for the hell of it and keep your fingers crossed - anything is possible. However, check this out first:

http://www.treesforlife.org/our-work/our-initiatives/moringa

and you should be able to find your answers...Moringa is a cool looking tree with amazingly versatile properties and benefits.

Good Luck!

I'm going to be trying Chaya and Moringa this year, and am in the PNW. I'd appreciate if anybody has experiences to share! And I'll report back next year in any case with a report of how it worked for me...

Well, my source for Chaya petered out, and the Moringa we direct seeded appeared to get 100% eaten by something.

Next season what I'll do differently is (1) actually plant chaya, and (2) do moringa as transplants.

Given limited time (and lots of breeding projects), I'm continuing with Moringa this year and am not working with Chaya.

I ordered three different supposedly cold tolerant varieties from ebay STX-1, STX-2, and PKM 1. I will be planting them soon, we'll see how they do!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/232706970293?ViewItem=&item=232706970293
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SUPER-SPECIAL-DEAL-MORINGA-Oleifera-STX-1-Most-Hardy-Organically-Grown-SEEDS/162738667109
https://www.ebay.com/itm/MORINGA-Oleifera-STX-2-EXTREMELY-PRODUCTIVE-Best-Variety-Organically-Grown-SEEDS/161826497868

Moringa is known to bounce back from the roots after a Frost kill.

I would use DEEP mulch in a wide area around the planting zone to guarantee the roots don't freeze, coppice in the winter and kickstart production in the spring with a lowtunnel until the shoots outgrow it.

Matter of fact now I want to go try that....

simon wilde wrote:Moringa has millions of possibilities and positives - you can grind it and sprinkle just for the health benefits alone...I'd say if you got the seeds, give it a go if it's for "personal consumption" just for the hell of it and keep your fingers crossed - anything is possible.

Why is it only for "personal consumption"?  Are there legalities related to using/selling/buying it?

Jason Padvorac, I laughed out loud when you said 100% got eaten.  I'm in PNW and am trying moringa again this year in a Fort Knox type cage.  The blue jays are already going crazy around it.  They can smell those seeds!

I'm in NZ in a climate not too different from coastal PNW, and I started some moringa in the glasshouse back in the spring. They grew great and then one morning I went out and they were all leafless stumps. Caterpillars love moringa. :-(

I tried them last year in the Portland area and none survived outdoors without any special protection or placement. I now have about 10 eight-inch seedlings from leftover last year's seed that I planted two months ago in a passive greenhouse and they're doing great so far. I'll keep maybe five growing on in pots and try the others in different microclimates to see if I can coax some through a winter--might only need rain protection depending on the year?  The seeds are cheap and there are loads of cultivars to try so worst case it grows as an annual--and it does grow fast. 

My PKM1 sit there and do nothing until the temp hits 25C+, then whoosh up they go. With the possibilities of a whole breeding cycle within one summer maybe you can come up with a landrace that prospers in colder weather, good luck.

I had some seedlings which never made it out of the greenhouse, even in pots they only started growing in late summer and stopped after a few months. I'm in  a cool maritime temperate climate, but outside air temperature very rarely drops below 4C (39F), they don't seem to have much cool climate tolerance.