Blitum capitatum
Strawberry spinach
Common names: Strawberry blite
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 25 cm, rows 30 cm
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Sowing
- Apr–May
- Harvest
- Jun–Aug
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below −5 °C
- Water need
- Medium
- For children
- Well suited
Description
The plant is an old, low-maintenance leafy vegetable that produces mild, spinach-like leaves and conspicuous red, berry-like fruit clusters. Both parts are edible: the leaves can be used like spinach, and the red fruit clusters are a decorative, mildly sweet addition to salads or for snacking.
Care instructions
Sow from April directly into the garden in a sunny to partially shaded spot with loose soil and keep it evenly moist. Harvest the young leaves continuously from June to keep the plant tender. From July the red fruit clusters mature and can be eaten raw or added to salads. The plant readily self-seeds.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingApr–May
HarvestJun–Aug
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 8 °C, ideally 18 °C
- Days to sprout
- 7 to 21 days
- Light
- Sprouts in light or dark
- Sowing depth
- 0.5 cm
- How to start
- Sow straight into the bed
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
sandy, loamy, humus-rich, well-drained
Strawberry blite tolerates almost any well-drained garden soil, preferably fresh, humus-rich and loamy-sandy without waterlogging. Loosen heavy clay soils with sand and a little compost before sowing.
Goosefoot family (beetroot, chard, spinach), moderate feeder. A break of about 3 years is enough; avoid direct succession within the group.
Feeding
Light feeder
Months
Mar–Apr
In spring before sowing, work a thin layer of mature compost in shallowly; this usually covers the low nutrient requirement for the whole season. Hold back on nitrogen, as too much of it lowers leaf quality in goosefoot plants; on very poor soils, a little horn shavings helps.
Overwintering
Strawberry blite is an annual and dies off by itself after the seeds ripen in autumn. You do not need to overwinter the plant. Simply leave a few ripe seed heads standing in the bed: the seeds overwinter in the soil and germinate on their own in spring, or you collect ripe seeds, store them dry and cool and sow afresh from March.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
You propagate strawberry blite exclusively by sowing; other methods are not practical for this annual species. You can sow directly outdoors from March to June: strawberry blite is regarded as a dark germinator, so you place the seeds about 2 to 3 cm deep and press the soil down lightly. Row spacing is 25 to 30 cm, spacing within the row about 15 cm. Depending on soil temperature, germination takes a few days to a good two weeks, and it goes much faster in warmer soil. For your own seed, leave a few plants standing until the seeds ripen (August to September), collect the red fruit heads and thoroughly free the seeds from the flesh. To do so, crush the fruits, mix them with water and then rub the seeds that have sunk to the bottom dry in a tea towel. Stored dry, dark and cool, the seeds stay viable. Alternatively, you can simply let a few plants self-seed: strawberry blite reliably sows itself in the garden and reappears in the same places the following year.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
For your garden
Grow Strawberry spinach yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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