Because of the "noxious weed" assignment it is, unfortunately, very difficult to find seeds in the U.S. Water spinach has become a weed in areas of the U.S. southeast, where moisture is plentiful & the season is long enough for it to go to seed.

To my knowledge, there are no retail sources for seed in the U.S. Agrohaitai sells seed in Canada, but as mentioned on their website, they will not ship Water Spinach here.

At one point, some Asian grocery stores sold seed; that was quite a few years ago (when I lived in California), so that may no longer be true. They may, however, carry Water Spinach shoots sold as a vegetable. The stems are very easy to root, after which they can be transplanted. If the soil is kept moist, you can even plant the shoots directly in the ground... mud is their preferred growing medium.

The advantage of buying shoots is that you can (carefully) remove the leaves and cook them, putting the stems aside for planting. That way, you know whether you actually like water spinach before you go through the trouble of growing it. ;-)

This is what it looks like:

Yes,of course I knew that you can root the shoots but all my calls to grocers turned up nothing.The only Asian seeds I have are Thai red birds eye chilis from Thailand. I would trade some for water spinach seeds.I have a large container with dirt that I was going to flood and plant them in.I would never release them into the wild.It's a shame that people have to go and ruin it for the rest of us by planting invasive species into natural balanced ecosystems.

I finally found some on choy at a local finer foods market.I'm going to root it in water and plant it out.I will allow a small bit of it to go to seed so I can get a much earlier start next year.

"I will allow a small bit of it to go to seed so I can get a much earlier start next year."

I don't know your location... but unless you are in one of the warmer climate zones, getting seed can be a challenge. Like many tropical vegetables, water spinach is daylength sensitive, and will only bloom when days approach 12 hours in length. That would be mid-September. If your warm season does not extend through October, you might need to grow some indoors under lights to get seed, with a timer set for 12 hours on.

Thanks for the tip.I'm in Illinois zone 6a and it usually stays warm until mid October. I guess I was assuming it would bloom and set seed because all my other morning glories do.The only one I haven't been able to get seeds from is the big,fragrant moonflower.The season up here is too short to do that and we have had hard freezes here before the first flowers opened.I do have lights just in case they don't finish seeding outside.

So I did find some water spinach plants at a local finer food grocers. I bought 2 packages and put the plants from 1 package in water to root.I stir fried the other package.This was the first time I ever ate water spinach.It didn't blow my socks off. I was expecting more.It tasted similar to spinach but not quite as good.The plants in the water were wilted because the they were refrigerated I think.I decided not to grow them after all.Too much extra work for something that doesn't taste better than regular spinach anyway.It's probably so popular in Asia because they have a lot of local waterways where they can get an abundant supply with practically no effort on their part besides harvesting. I love tasting exotic plants that I've never had before,but in this case I'm not at all impressed.

Granted, not as tasty as spinach, but spinach here is a one & done. I wouldn't waste space on it in my garden, preferring greens that bear over a long period.

I enjoy water spinach chiefly because DW knows how to prepare it well (lightly cooked, and seasoned with vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic powder)... and because it produces so heavily in hot weather. Not over-cooking is important, to preserve the texture of the stems.

Egyptian spinach is another hot weather green that produces abundantly, but has a very bland flavor. You might enjoy amaranth, if you have not yet tried it.

I grew some Malabar spinach a few years ago and I think it tasted better than the ong choy.Pretty colored flowers too. I stir fried the ong choy in olive oil and added salt and pepper. I was thinking that I might like it more if it was prepared in a more Asian style.Like I was saying and you said it too.It produces non stop over a long period of time and if you have a lot of streams and waterways to grow it in like they do in Asia than all you have to do is go and harvest it. I have been busy putting in a lot of new plants this year and I feel just too burnt out to go and start a water spinach planting at this time.

It's best flash stir fried on VERY high heat for a short time so that the crunchy texture is preserved. It marries especially well to that "wok flavor" you get when you can cook food at the proper stir-fry temp, but it's sometimes not possible to achieve that on home stovetops. It's one of my favorite vegetables when prepared this way--much better than spinach--but it can be a pain to grow in most areas. Southeast Asian restaurants (Vietnamese, Thai, southern Chinese) often have it as a special when it's available at market. I would try it in that setting if you get a chance before writing it off. When my local Thai place had it in season, I'd go and order it every day while I could.

"--but it can be a pain to grow in most areas."

Actually, it can be grown in much of the U.S. and lower Canada - anywhere with warm summers. Given heat, it grows very quickly... so it can be successful even in areas with short seasons (note my location, and the photo posted above). Only in areas with cool nights (such as mountain or maritime climates) would water spinach struggle.

Its water needs can be hard to provide in a bed, depending on your area. Many places have summers that are much drier than the plant likes. You can grow it in planters set in trays of water, etc., but I personally wouldn't because of mosquitoes. So, on the one hand, it does grow easily... IF it gets enough consistent water. Maybe a shallow SIP setup is something to consider if one is very determined?

There are 2 kinds IIRC, and one needs somewhat less water than the other.

For those who want to try, I've seen seed pop up on etsy from US sources.

jaybirdyj, just go to an Asian grocery store, or farmer's market. You'll find it for sale. It tastes like beet greens. Only better.

I'm not sure exactly how beet greens taste. I think I will get some and see.Been doing collards. I live in a town of over a hundred thousand people and unbelievably there is no Asian stores.Not going to drive far for ingredients anymore.Been there,done that. I would make more Asian dishes if the stuff was easy to get.

Beet greens taste like Swiss chard. Basically, they're the same: chard is basically the same species as beets--it's just a subspecies that doesn't grow a big root.

Funny thing I have been looking for beets but haven't found any in the produce sections lately. I love Swiss chard.The water spinach I tried wasn't the freshest by looks of it so I will give them another try if I see some nice ones.

I like both water spinach and your average grocery store spinach but to me it's not the same sort of taste. I prefer water spinach.

but I personally wouldn't because of mosquitoes.

^^ in regards to that statement by gorebelly. I don't think you need to worry about mosquitoes . My water spinach likes to be very wet but it doesn't necessarily need to be swimming in water.

I grow these at home every season. You can stir fry with garlic, cook Vietnamese hot and sour soup with shrimp, eat it raw in Vietnamese beef soup like bun bo hue. Very easy to grow. The key is to cut them the first time when they are young and skinny. That way they will branch out more. I usually have 4-5 harvest every season.

I grow these in the summer (zone 6) in the ground from cuttings from the Asian market. They do not have to be grown in a pool. The grow just fine on high ground as long as you keep them watered. They love compost. That way you avoid dealing with the mosquito issue. Nice stir fried with shrimp paste , little bit goes a long way. (available at Vietnamese stores.) Smell is horrible, but taste is GREAT.

Have you seen this. That explains why you did not receive any seeds, because what is allowed in some countries is not allowed here. Best advise before buying anything from sellers outside the US, do your research. This way you avoid disappointment.

https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/aquatics/waterspinach.shtml