Growing Amaranth, also Love-lies-bleeding

Amaranthus caudatus : Amaranthaceae / the amaranth family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec

Not recommended for growing in USA - Zone 5a regions

  • Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 64°F and 86°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 20 inches apart
  • Harvest in 7-8 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Onions, corn, peppers, egg plant, tomatoes
  • Amaranth flowers
  • Amaranth seedling (CC BY-SA 3.0 Bruce Ackley, Ohio State University)

Amaranth species are frequently grown as flower plants and have many colour variations.

Amaranth tricolor is known as Chinese spinach and has an insignificant flower.

Needs a warm sunny position. Avoid heavy soils. Poor germination rates are common.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Amaranth

Both leaves and seeds can be used. Excessive intake is not recommended.
Suggestions for use and warnings can be found here http://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranth

Your comments and tips

03 Aug 17, Jp (USA - Zone 6b climate)
Is there a strain of Amaranth that will re-seed itself and survive in zone 6 or 5 ?
15 Apr 19, Melinds (USA - Zone 8b climate)
If you can grow Amaranth to full maturity on your property then it will produce viable seed, but being in a cold climate will be pretty lucky if it will germinate without you actually starting the seeds indoors early enough to make it possible to grow from seed to full maturity again. But you could grow it and save your mature seed and start them each year in pots. Hope this helps. Happy Gardening!
23 Mar 21, CoffeeLover76 (USA - Zone 5a climate)
almost if not all amaranth such as palmer amaranth, prostrate pigweed, Powell amaranth and many more are all able to self seed and germinate, as such they are classified as weeds more than as a horticultural crop. The winter actually helps them with that, it puts them into a dormant stage which is required prior to them germinating the next year. of course if there is a quick warm time and then it gets cold again the seed could start germinating too early and ultimately die off prior to the right temperatures staying. But in most cases the first reason above is why they autoreplenish at a incredible rate.
18 Sep 17, Andrew (USA - Zone 5a climate)
What types of amaranth grow in radford Virginia
03 Oct 18, Sarah (USA - Zone 9b climate)
I've recently started growing amaranth in pots. They have done really well indoors but they are getting too large and I have started putting them on the patio. I live in a hot dry climate 9B is what I'm getting for Phoenix Arizona. So my concern is if it can survive Heat more than winter as Winters do not get very cold here can you give me any tips for keeping it healthy here and a hot/warm dry climate? Would they survive if planted in the ground better? The ground here can be very hard. Do you think it would be safer to keep them in pot so I can bring them indoors and move around if needed?
11 Dec 21, Chupacabra (USA - Zone 9b climate)
We're about 150 miles west of Phoenix and have been growing the same stand of Amaranth for 6 years. Yours will be just fine.
16 Apr 20, Tanya King (USA - Zone 5b climate)
Your site says Amaranth isn't recommended to grow in Zone 5, but I've seen amaranth grow and spread on the University of Colorado Denver campus. It seems to be growing just fine as it comes back every year.
02 Jul 20, Victor Vasconcelos (USA - Zone 6a climate)
At what time does it grow in Colorado?
13 Jun 20, Rupa (USA - Zone 10a climate)
Can I sow the amaranthus seed now(June month). Will it work?? I am living in zone10a
22 Jan 22, Bill Horn (USA - Zone 9b climate)
Living in Palm Springs. What variety of Amarthants should I try to grow. I have shaded North side or a VERY sunny West patio landscaping beds and patio......in ground or in pots? Help please. Bill
Showing 1 - 10 of 14 comments

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