How to Grow Amaranth
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How to grow amaranth depends first on which amaranth you mean. Some types are grown for their seed heads, while vegetable amaranth is grown for its leaves, and this guide covers the leafy kind. The Purdue NewCROP page notes that amaranth can be used as a high-protein grain or as a leafy vegetable. The UF/IFAS production guide for vegetable amaranth and the UF/IFAS home-garden page give the most practical steps for a leafy crop. This guide draws on those three pages to set out the site, soil, sowing, thinning, watering, feeding and harvest.
Quick answer
- Choose a sunny spot with well-drained, fertile soil, because the UF/IFAS production guide says vegetable amaranth prefers full-sun cultivation.
- Sow seed about one-eighth to one-quarter inch deep, and wait until the soil reaches about 70°F after the last frost.
- Thin seedlings as they grow, with the UF/IFAS production guide suggesting about 6 inches apart and the home-garden page suggesting 3 inches.
- Harvest young leaves and shoot tips 3 to 6 weeks after planting, and repeat cutting so the plant can regrow.
Know which amaranth you are growing
The Purdue page explains the split. Amaranth can be used as a high-protein grain or as a leafy vegetable, and it has also been studied as a forage crop. Grain types can grow five to seven feet tall when mature, and they are broadleaf plants with thick, tough stems. Vegetable amaranths are closely related but are grown for their leaves, so the steps in this guide are for that group.
Names add to the confusion. The UF/IFAS production guide says amaranth has numerous common names, including Joseph’s coat, garden amaranth, red amaranth, Chinese amaranth, Chinese spinach and fountain plant. If you buy seed, check the species name on the packet, since common names cover more than one type. The UF/IFAS home-garden page also says vegetable amaranth is often called callaloo where it grows in Florida, and that some amaranth species produce an edible seed head that forms a fuzzy spikelet.
Height matters for placement. The UF/IFAS production guide says vegetable amaranth can grow to about five feet tall and two feet wide, and that it may need staking. Give the plants room at the back of a bed, or plan a support.
For a wider view of the vegetables that suit raised beds, see our guide to vegetables to plant in raised beds.
Choose a sunny, well-drained site
Sun is the first requirement. The UF/IFAS production guide says vegetable amaranth prefers full-sun cultivation, but it can tolerate partial shade if the ambient temperature is high. The Purdue page makes the same point from a different angle, saying amaranth responds well to high sunlight and warm temperatures.
Soil comes next. The UF/IFAS production guide says vegetable amaranth grows well on a wide range of soil types, preferring well-drained and fertile soil. It gives a tolerance range of pH 4.3 to 8.0, with an optimum between pH 5.5 and 7.0. The Purdue page advises avoiding heavy textured soils. For a raised bed, loose and well-drained soil is the practical target.
Drainage is the point to watch most closely. The UF/IFAS production guide says that overirrigation and excessive water standing in the root zone may cause root rot. A bed that holds water after rain is a poor site for this crop.
Sow at the right depth and soil temperature
Plants start easily from seed. The UF/IFAS production guide says to sow the seed one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch deep, in rows 12 to 18 inches apart. The Purdue page gives a shallower limit for field sowing, saying seeds should be planted no more than half an inch deep, depending on soil texture and surface moisture at planting time. The two figures do not conflict, because the Purdue figure is a ceiling and the UF/IFAS range is narrower. The UF/IFAS production guide describes the seed as usually brown black in color and tiny, about 0.04 inches in diameter.
Soil temperature decides the start. The UF/IFAS production guide says germination is rapid when the soil is above 68°F, and that germination may slow down or fail if the soil is below 50°F. It says seeds will germinate about one week after planting at an optimal temperature of 70°F to 75°F. The guide therefore recommends sowing when the soil reaches about 70°F after the last frost.
The Purdue page gives a similar window for its field crop. It says the crop is usually sown when the soil temperature is at least 65°F, after early weed flushes have been controlled.
Cold is the limit. The UF/IFAS home-garden page says amaranth is killed off by cold weather, so it should be planted during the warm months. The UF/IFAS production guide adds that transplanting should happen early in growth after the last frost, because later transplanting may cause premature flowering or limp plants.
Thin the seedlings and set the spacing
Thinning is where the sources differ most. The UF/IFAS home-garden page says to broadcast the seed, then thin the seedlings to about three inches apart. The UF/IFAS production guide says that in a garden, you should space seeds about one inch apart and thin to about six inches apart as the plant grows.
Row spacing follows the production guide, which gives rows 12 to 18 inches apart for sowing. The sources do not give a single spacing for home beds, so the choice between three and six inches is yours.
The UF/IFAS home-garden page says the young seedlings you thin out can be eaten as microgreens. The page does not give a yield or a time for that use.
Water steadily and avoid standing water
Water is the next priority. The UF/IFAS production guide says to irrigate evenly and regularly to keep moisture moderate, because that keeps the plant from wilting. It also says severe water deficiency will cause early flowering and a decrease in yield.
The same guide warns about the other extreme. Overirrigation and water standing in the root zone may cause root rot. The lesson is to water evenly and avoid a bed that stays wet.
The UF/IFAS production guide says vegetable amaranth has moderate levels of drought tolerance, but severe water deficiency causes early flowering.
Feed with restraint
Feeding has a limit. The UF/IFAS production guide says fertilizer application has not been shown to dramatically increase yields. It also says too much nitrogen may cause pale leaves. The lesson is to feed modestly and watch the leaves, rather than to add material on a fixed schedule. The guide says that, for the time being, growers can use the existing fertilizer recommendations for leaf lettuce for amaranth production, and it notes that amaranth can grow well in nutrient-poor soil with appropriate fertilizer programs.
Harvest leaves and keep the plant cutting
Harvest begins early. The UF/IFAS home-garden page says to harvest young leaves and shoot tips between three and six weeks after planting. The UF/IFAS production guide says the crop is ready about 30 days after the seed is planted. Those two figures line up, and they show that the first cut is a matter of weeks, not months.
For repeated harvests, cut rather than pull. The UF/IFAS production guide says repeat cutting is preferred for successive harvests. For the first cut, remove a partial leaf so the plant can regrow and be harvested again in the next two weeks. Pulling the whole plant gives a single harvest, so keep the plant standing if you want more than one cut.
The guide also explains when the leaves stop being useful. Once the plant begins flowering, the leaves become fewer and are not suitable for harvest. That is the point where the leaves stop being useful. The UF/IFAS production guide also recommends short cooling after harvest, at 40°F to 55°F with a relative humidity of 75 percent.
For more on preparing a bed for a steady run of vegetables, see our guide to vegetables to grow in raised beds.
Plant in the warm months
Timing follows warmth. The UF/IFAS home-garden page calls amaranth a leafy green that can hold up in the heat of Florida’s summers.The UF/IFAS home-garden page says amaranth is killed by cold, so the planting window opens after the last frost and closes before cold weather returns. The UF/IFAS production guide describes the plant as heat tolerant and a candidate for a cash crop after the potato harvest in Florida. Those statements are specific to Florida, so check your local frost dates before you plan a bed.
The Purdue page describes the same warm-season logic for a field crop. It says amaranth responds well to warm temperatures, and that a frost is usually needed to kill the crop before harvest for grain. For a leafy home crop, the goal is a warm soil at sowing and enough warm weeks for the first cut.
Clean up after the harvest
The UF/IFAS production guide says there is no evidence that vegetable amaranth is invasive. It still recommends removing all plant materials and cleaning the area after harvest.
Watch for wet, poorly drained soil
Problems in this crop trace back to water and soil more often than to anything else in the sources. Standing water in the root zone is the risk the UF/IFAS production guide flags. Soil that is too heavy is the risk the Purdue page flags.
How we chose
We chose the pages for this guide by searching for growing guides for amaranth and then opening the candidates with curl. Many results were seed catalogs, gardening blogs and ornamental plant pages, which we left out because they describe products or ornamental use rather than the method. Three pages returned HTTP 200 with growing content: the UF/IFAS production guide for vegetable amaranth, the UF/IFAS home-garden page, and the Purdue NewCROP page.
The Purdue page is mainly about grain and forage crops grown in the Midwest, so its sowing and soil notes are kept only as a cross-check. The UF/IFAS pages are written for Florida, and the guide relies on them for leafy-crop steps. Where the pages differ, such as thinning distance, the guide gives both figures and says so.
What we could not verify
The UF/IFAS production guide is a Florida publication, and the sources do not give a timing calendar for cooler regions. The guide does not describe growing amaranth in a container, and it does not give a yield figure for a home bed. Nothing here is a seed or product recommendation.
What the sources do not say
The UF/IFAS production guide says there is no fertilizer recommendation available for amaranth growers in Florida, so the feeding advice in this guide is general. The sources do not say how many plants a household needs, how many weeks of harvest a bed will give, or which variety performs best in a home garden. They also do not give a single spacing for all home beds, which is why the guide gives the range.
Frequently asked questions
How long does amaranth take to be ready to harvest?
The UF/IFAS home-garden page puts the first young-leaf cut at three to six weeks after planting. The UF/IFAS production guide says the crop is ready about 30 days after sowing.
Does amaranth need full sun?
The UF/IFAS production guide says vegetable amaranth prefers full-sun cultivation. It can tolerate partial shade when the ambient temperature is high, so a bed with some afternoon shade can still work in a hot season.
What soil does amaranth grow best in?
The UF/IFAS production guide says it prefers well-drained and fertile soil, and that it grows optimally between pH 5.5 and 7.0. The Purdue page also warns against heavy textured soils.
Why does amaranth flower early?
The UF/IFAS production guide says severe water deficiency causes early flowering and a decrease in yield. Once the plant begins flowering, its leaves become fewer and are no longer suitable for harvest.
Can amaranth be planted in a cold climate?
Cold weather kills the plant, according to the UF/IFAS home-garden page, so planting belongs in the warm months. The Purdue page says the field crop is sown once the soil reaches at least 65°F, and none of these pages gives a cold-climate calendar.
Sources
- https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1407/pdf (opened 2026-10-23)
- https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/vegetables/amaranth/ (opened 2026-10-23)
- https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/amaranth.html (opened 2026-10-23)
