Amaranth is native to North America and Central America, and is usually planted from seed as soon as the last frost has passed in the spring. If you are eager for early harvest, you can start the seeds indoors as much as eight weeks earlier.
You can start them inside 6-8 weeks before the last frost or direct seed outside once the danger of frost has passed If you direct seed outdoors, wait for soil temps to reach 65°F. Amaranth seeds are small, so sprinkle them onto prepared soil and top with a thin layer of earth.
The earliest that you can plant amaranthus in Phoenix is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don’t want to take any chances. The last month that you can plant amaranthus and expect a good harvest is probably September.
When is the best time to plant amaranth?
Keep in mind that if you want seeds before frost hits, be sure your last planting takes place 100 days before the first frost in fall. While it can be susceptible to some problems, growing amaranth isn’t such a challenge that you should forgo planting.
A common query we ran across in our research was “What is the best time to harvest red amaranth?”.
Red amaranth produces thousands of small seeds, and often they are so heavy that the entire plant starts bending down. Harvesting red amaranth seeds are surprisingly easy. The best time to do this is in the afternoon, on a dry day.
Can you grow amaranth from cotton seeds?
That way the cotton seed breaks down over the winter. Growing amaranth plants need full sun with at least 6 hours per day. Once it get’s going, growing amaranth doesn’t require much in the way of maintenance. Amaranth likes nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, so a garden with lots of compost manure will make them happy.
Grows best from seed When to plant amaranth in Arizona: March – April and late July – early September Harvest leaves as needed and cut the seed-heads with stems for drying to collect seeds. Good to Know: Warm-season annual.
How long does it take for Amaranth to grow?
When growing amaranth, harvest time depends on what you are growing the plants for. Leaves can be ready a month after planting, while flowers take about 2 months and seeds up to 3 or more months. Harvesting Leaves, Seeds and Flowers Amaranth leaves are ready to harvest in about 30 -45 days.
We all have plants we like to grow for “fun.” Amaranth is one of those fun plants for me. The leaves and seeds are an excellent source of nutrition, but I love just to watch the plants grow.
Flowering amaranth plants can still have their leaves harvested to eat, but you may find that the flavor changes after the amaranth plant flowers. Once the flowers have developed, let the amaranth flowers grow fully and watch carefully for the first few flowers to start dying back or browning a bit.