How to Grow Roselle in Florida: The Florida Cranberry (Plant #32)

Roselle starts small in the spring and does not look like much all summer. Then the weather shifts and the deep red calyces start coming out. That is about as close to fall as we get here, even if we are still outside sweating in shorts.

In our family roselle has its own name. My babies call it the sour plant like lemons. They walk up to the plant, grab a leaf, and immediately make the most dramatic sour face like someone tricked them. Then they come back for another one. That is how I knew roselle earned a spot in our yard forever.

What Roselle Actually Is

Roselle is a hibiscus. Same family as okra, which explains a lot once you see how the plant grows and how the seed pods form.

The part everybody wants is the calyx, the fat red cup that swells up underneath after the flower drops. That is what you harvest, and that is what turns into sorrel.

It tastes bright and tart, somewhere between cranberry and hibiscus. If you grew up drinking sorrel during the holidays that first simmer will take you straight back to childhood.

The leaves are edible too. They have a lemony tang and add the perfect kick to soups or stir fries. Nothing on roselle goes to waste.

When to Plant Roselle in Florida

This is the part most grow guides get wrong for us, because they are written for people with a real winter.

• March to April. Sow your seeds, either in trays or straight in the ground. They come up in 5 to 10 days.
• May to June. If you started in trays, pot them up into 1 to 3 gallon containers and let them build size through the heat.
• August to September. Into their permanent spot in the ground. This still feels late to people and it is not.
• September to October. Flowers.
• October to November. Harvest, and it can keep going into the new year if the cold stays away.

You are looking at roughly six to eight months from seed to your first real harvest. It is a long game. Plant it in spring and leave it alone for a while, because it will not do much until the days get short.

Why Your Roselle Is Not Flowering

Here is the one thing nobody tells you and then everybody panics about in August.

Roselle is a short day plant. It does not flower because it got big enough or because you fed it right. It flowers when the days get shorter, and in Florida that means late September and into October.

So if it is August and your plant is five feet of gorgeous green with not one bloom on it, nothing is wrong. It is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. Leave it alone.

This also means a porch light or a street light shining on your plant at night can genuinely delay it. If yours is planted under a light and your neighbor's is flowering first, that is probably why.

How to Grow It

Sun

Full sun and do not compromise. This plant loves heat and Florida gives it everything it wants. Shade gets you a tall leggy plant and a disappointing harvest.

Water

Consistent water through dry stretches, especially while it is young and again once the calyces are forming. It is tougher than it looks once established, but it will suffer if you let it dry out hard during our spring drought.

Soil

Well drained, and that is really the only requirement. Roselle is not fussy. It will grow in the sandy stuff most of us are working with. Compost helps like it helps everything.

Feeding

Go easy. Too much nitrogen gives you a giant green bush and almost no calyces. If you are going to feed it, do it early in the season and then let it be.

Pruning

This is the move that doubles your harvest. Pinch or prune it early while it is young so it branches out instead of going straight up. More branches means more flowers means more calyces. Mulch it once it hits a foot and a half to two feet tall.

Give It Room

Three feet apart, five feet between rows. I know that looks like way too much room for a six inch seedling. By October the plant is seven feet tall and as wide as a patio chair.

This is the single most common roselle mistake I see. People plant it like a pepper and then it is a jungle by fall.

Harvesting

Harvest the calyces when they are fully grown but still tender. Squeeze one. If it gives a little, it is right. If it feels woody and dry, you waited too long and it will be a fight to work with.

Snip them off with the seed pod still inside. You can pop the pod out with your thumb or with the back of a knife, and it comes out cleaner when the calyx is fresh.

Keep picking. The more you harvest the more it produces, right up until the first cold snap takes the whole plant.

A good plant can give you up to twelve pounds of calyces in a strong year.

Drying and Storing

Roselle dries beautifully. Spread the calyces out in a warm dry spot and let them go completely crisp. Store them in jars and you have tea for months.

Fair warning on the math. It takes roughly ten to twelve pounds of fresh calyces to end up with one pound dried. They shrink a lot, so dry more than you think you need.

Add ginger and honey to the dried ones for a warm drink.

Fresh calyces also freeze fine. Bag them whole and pull them out when you want sorrel in July.

Saving Seed

Let a few of the lowest calyces stay on the plant and go fully mature instead of harvesting them. They will dry and split on their own and the seed inside is next year's crop, free.

One plant gives you more seed than you will ever use. Save it and share it.

Problems You Might Run Into

Tall and green with no calyces

Two usual causes. It is not October yet, or you fed it too much nitrogen. Both fix themselves with patience and a lighter hand next season.

Leggy and thin

Not enough sun, or you never pinched it early. Prune young next time.

Chewed leaves

Same crowd that goes after okra, since they are cousins. Caterpillars and beetles mostly. Roselle is vigorous enough that a little leaf damage does not matter. I would not spray it.

The plant died overnight in December

That was frost, and that is normal. Roselle is an annual for us. Pull it, compost it, plant again in March.

Now the Part Everybody Waits For

Sorrel is the holiday drink everybody comes to the kitchen for.

The full recipe with measurements is here: my Jamaican sorrel recipe.

The short version. Fresh or dried roselle in a pot with sliced ginger, whole cloves, cinnamon and allspice. Cover with water, boil, then drop the heat and simmer until the spices come through. Turn it off and let it sit so the flavor deepens. Strain, sweeten to your taste, chill it all the way down. It always tastes better the next day. Orange slice if you want to feel fancy. Rum or wine if it is adults only.

And nothing gets wasted. Blend the leftover roselle with sugar and a little water and you get a bright red sorrel jam that spreads beautifully on toast or biscuits.

Questions I Get

Is roselle the same as the sorrel you eat as a green?

No, and this confuses people constantly. Garden sorrel is a leafy green in a completely different family. Caribbean sorrel is this, the hibiscus. It is the same word used for two different plants.

Can I grow it in a pot?

Yes, and go big. Fifteen gallons or more, because a happy roselle is a seven foot plant. In a small pot you get a small plant and a small harvest.

Will it come back next year?

Not after a real frost. Grow it as an annual and save seed. In a mild winter in south Florida it sometimes survives, but do not count on it.

Can I eat the leaves?

Yes. Lemony and tart, good in soups and stir fries. My kids eat them straight off the plant and pull a face every single time.

Do I have to wait until October?

Pretty much. Roselle will not set flowers until the days get short, which here means late September into October.

Garden Reflection

Write down one holiday flavor that reminds you of home and one new tradition you want your kids to inherit.