How to Grow Amaranth
Amaranth At a Glance
Difficulty
Easy
Category
Grain
Sun Exposure
Full Sun, Partial Sun
Frost Tolerance
Frost Tender
Cold Hardiness
Survives to 2°C
Plant Family
Amaranthaceae
Growing Season
Warm Season
Plant Lifecycle
Annual
How to Start It
★ Recommended for beginners
Sow 1 to 2 weeks after your last spring frost, once the soil feels warm. Scatter the tiny seeds thinly and barely cover them, no more than 1 cm deep. They sprout in 3 to 10 days: thin them (pull the extras) so each plant has 30 cm of room, and eat the thinnings like baby spinach.
Amaranth gives you two crops from one easy plant: tender leaves you cook like spinach, and tiny grain held in big, bright flower plumes. It loves heat, shrugs off dry spells and drops plenty of seed, so expect a few surprise seedlings next spring.
When To Start
First chance to plant
10 Days After Last Frost
Last chance to plant
60 Days Before First Frost
When should you plant Amaranth?
Your planting dates depend on your local climate. Sign up and add your location to unlock personalized dates.
Your Amaranth Planting Window
Start planting
May 15, 2026
Last chance
Sep 10, 2026
Your Amaranth Calendar
Set your location to turn these into exact dates and reminders.
Sow amaranth outdoors now that the soil is warm
1 week after your last frost· every year
Rub an amaranth plume: if the seeds fall out, cut it
2 weeks before your first frost· every year· optional
Did you water your amaranth seedlings today? Keep the top of the soil damp until they are up and growing.
About 1 days after you plant it
How is your amaranth coming along? Keep weeds pulled while it is young; once it is tall it shades them out.
About 38 days after you plant it
Your amaranth is getting close. The grain is ready when the seeds feel firm and shake loose from the head.
About 67 days after you plant it
Picking time may be here: check your amaranth.
About 85 days after you plant it
The Journey Ahead
Amaranth's Lifecycle
Seedling
Mature Plant
Seed Production
Step 1
Prepare Your Space
1 cm
Seeding Depth
30 cm
Plant Spacing
45 cm
Row Spacing
1
Plants / Sq Ft
Vertical Growing
Yes: Trellis.
Method: Trellis.
Succession Planting
Yes.
Good Companions
Bad Companions
Step 2
Planting & Sprouting
Expect sprouts in 3–10 days
Growing Tips
- 1Give amaranth full sun, at least 6 hours a day.
- 2It grows in most soils, but a few handfuls of compost mixed in give you bigger plants and fuller plumes.
- 3Water young plants often until they are knee high, then only in long dry spells, since the deep roots find their own water.
- 4A splash of compost tea once the plumes start to form is all the feeding it needs.
- 5Tall grain types can reach 2 m, so tie them to a stake in windy spots before the heavy heads pull them over.
- 6Tiny holes in the leaves mean flea beetles, so cover young plants with row cover for their first few weeks.
Seedling Phase
Step 3
Growth & Maturity
~85
Days to Maturity
150 cm
Mature Height
60 cm
Mature Width
Pests to Watch For
Diseases to Watch For
Mature Plant
Step 4
Harvesting
Harvest Window
45 days
When to Pick
Grain heads when seeds firm
How to Harvest
- 1Pick young leaves any time once the plant is about 30 cm tall, taking a few from each plant, and cook them like spinach.
- 2The grain is ready when you rub a plume between your fingers and the seeds fall out easily, usually in late summer or early fall.
- 3Cut the plumes off, lay them in a paper bag or on a sheet indoors, and let them dry for about a week.
- 4Rub the dry plumes over a bowl, then pour the seeds slowly from one bowl to another in a light breeze so the dry bits blow away.
- 5Store the clean grain in a jar and cook it like rice, or pop it in a hot, dry pan like tiny popcorn.
Step 5
Saving Seeds
How to Save Seeds
Your grain harvest is also your seed, so set aside a jar of the plumpest, cleanest seeds from your best plants. Amaranth can cross with other amaranths flowering nearby, including the weedy wild kind called pigweed, so grow one variety at a time if you want it to stay true. Hybrid F1 seeds will not grow true, so save only from a variety that is not a hybrid. Make sure the seeds are completely dry, then store them in a labelled envelope in a cool, dark, dry place, where they keep about 5 years.
Seed Production
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