Amaranthus tricolor
vegetable amaranth
Common names: leaf amaranth, Chinese spinach
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 25 cm, rows 40 cm
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Sowing
- May–Jul
- Harvest
- Jul–Sep
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 5 °C
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Vegetable amaranth is a warm‑loving summer leafy vegetable with strikingly colorful foliage in green, red, and yellow. The tender leaves taste spinach‑like and can be eaten raw in salads or lightly steamed. As a fast‑growing crop it is well suited for succession planting in midsummer after spring vegetables have been harvested. Varieties such as ‘Red Army’ or ‘Early Splendor’ add additional color accents to the bed.
Care instructions
Sow vegetable amaranth only after nights are reliably warm, from mid‑May (week 20) through July. The soil should be loose, nutrient‑rich, and kept evenly moist; the plant does not tolerate waterlogging. Water regularly, especially during hot, dry periods, to keep the leaves tender and prevent premature flowering. Harvest young leaves and shoot tips continuously to encourage bushy regrowth. A sunny, wind‑protected location promotes the strongest growth.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingMay–Jul
HarvestJul–Sep
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 15 °C, ideally 25 °C
- Days to sprout
- 5 to 10 days
- Light
- Needs light to sprout
- Sowing depth
- Press in, don't cover
- How to start
- Start indoors, then plant out
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, humus-rich, nutrient-rich, sandy
Vegetable amaranth likes loose, humus-rich soil that warms up quickly in early summer. It cannot tolerate waterlogging at all; a warm, free-draining spot with a little sand in the soil suits it best. Before planting you can work in plenty of ripe compost, because the species grows quickly and rewards nutrient-rich soil with strong leaves.
Vegetable amaranth belongs to the amaranth family (Amaranthaceae) and is treated as a heavy feeder in crop rotation. Do not grow it on the same plot for several years in a row; leave at least three years' break before growing it in the same place again.
Feeding
Heavy feeder
Months
May–Jul
Before planting, add ripe compost or well-rotted manure to the top layer of soil. During the main growing season from May to July, vegetable amaranth appreciates an extra dose of compost or a nettle feed every few weeks. After the first larger harvest you can feed once more, so the plant pushes out new leaves.
Overwintering
Vegetable amaranth is frost-tender and does not survive the Central European winter outdoors. As an annual crop, you grow it from seed anew every year; overwintering is not intended. You can store ripe seed heads dry in autumn and sow them again the following spring.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
You propagate vegetable amaranth by seed only. From mid-May · week 20, when night frosts are no longer a threat, sow directly outdoors, or raise the plants on a warm windowsill from April. Cover the fine seeds with only a little soil, because they need light to germinate. With even moisture and warmth of around 20 degrees, they germinate reliably within one to two weeks.
For your garden
Grow vegetable amaranth yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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