This is for informational purposes only. For medical advice or diagnosis, consult a professional.
🐝🦋 Popular pollinator attractor
▷ IDENTIFICATION🔍
Common Name: Red Amaranth
Botanical Name: Amaranthus cruentus
Family: Amaranth family (Amaranthaceae)
Prolific seed producer and herbaceous annual for Zones 2 to 11
PRECAUTION: Allergies with people are uncommon. Not appropriate for all, consider consulting a doctor first. See section “ADDITIONAL INFORMATION > Animal Toxicity and Medicine Interactions”.
❗Toxic if leaves are consumed in excess quantities due to oxalate and nitrate levels, which could cause myocardial degeneration, renal disease, and nitrate toxicity. Seeds are low in oxalates and nitrates and are safer for regular consumption.
▷ OTHER NAMES & LOOKALIKES 🏷️
Other Names 🏷️
◦ Blood Amaranth
◦ Prince’s Feather
◦ Mexican Grain Amaranth
◦ Indian Spinach
◦ Caterpillar Amaranth
◦ Huauhtli: (Nahuatl)
◦ Amaranto: (Spanish)
Lookalikes 🔎
◦ Redroot Pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus): Has fuzzy leaves and stem with dense seed heads, edible young leaves and seeds.
◦ Smooth Pigweed (Amaranthus hybridus): Has fuzzy leaves and stems, edible young leaves and seeds.
◦ Waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus): Has thin, lengthy, smooth stems with leaves that have a waxy surface. Edible young leaves and seeds, do not harvest from plants exposed to pesticides or chemicals.
◦ Spiny Amaranth (Amaranthus spinosus): Seed heads that can be found at the tip of stems and at the base of the leaf petiole. Edible young leaves and seeds.
◦ Powell Amaranth (Amaranthus powellii): Green flower inflorescence that dries to a white-yellow, stems are green or red with the presence of small thorns. Edible young leaves and seeds.
▷ APPEARANCE 🪞
Plant Description🌿🗒️
Brilliantly contrastive and ancient herbaceous plant with stems that are straight, hollow, grooved, slightly fuzzy exterior with streaks of red. Leaves are green, smooth, lanceolate to ovate in shape, alternately arranged, and 1″ to 5½” length and 1½” to 3½” width. Flowers are very tiny, incomplete and imperfect, red to pink-red, on a tall spike-like inflorescence. Fruit is a mature achene, containing light white-yellow seeds.
Dimensions, Root Depth, and Spacing 📏↔️
Height: 3′ to 8′
Width: 2′ to 8′
Root Depth: 9″+ deep. Ideal minimum container size 7 gallon or 8 gallons. Larger containers allow plants to grow taller and wider!
Spacing: 1′ to 2′ apart
Flower Season and Fruit or Seed 🌻🍎🫘
Flower: Red to pink-red flowering inflorescence from Summer to Fall
Seed: Tiny, light white-yellow, spherical seeds, 1.5 mm diameter
▷ REPRODUCTION🌱
Sexuality: Monoecious
Pollination: Bees, butterflies, and other beneficial pollinators
Growth Rate: Fast
Propagation:
◦ Roots: Not applicable
◦ Cuttings: Plant hardwood or softwood cuttings , ⅜” to ½” diameter (the wider the stem, the higher percentage of success) and 4″ to 6″ tall. Add cuttings to water and change the water every day for 1 month until roots form, later planting in soil in a container, or propagate by planting in soil during the Spring. Protect the new plant by placing it in partial sun or under a grow light until it has matured, avoiding direct sun.
Seed Germination: Soil pH 6.5 to 7.5 at preferably 70°F to 75°F, kept moist, however not wet or dry. Plant seeds ¼” deep, emerges 7 to 10 days after being sown. Germination rate of 80% (depending on producer).
Indoor Planting: Grow plant for 1 year prior to transplanting outside 10 weeks after last frost date.
Outdoor Planting: Plant seed 10 weeks after to last frost date.
▷ REQUIREMENTS❤️
Sunlight, Water, Fertilizer, and Pruning ☀️💧✂️
Sunlight: Prefers 6 to 8 hours full sun
Note: Avoid aerial watering, which encourages fungal growth and disease.
Outdoor Watering: Water regularly during Summer (every 2 to 3 days) and less frequently in the Winter (once a week). Tiny pots and K-cup seed starters need water every day during Summer and every 2 days during Winter. Small pots require watering more often, especially if exposed to full sun, while large pots and shaded pots need less water.
Indoor Watering: Deep and infrequent, allowing for soil to dry on the top layer prior to more water.
Drought Resistance: Drought tolerant once established, prefers consistent moisture. Thrives in dry conditions and may be able to create seeds up to 40 days after no rain.
Fertilizer: Does not require fertilization applications for moderately rich soil. For nutrient dense plants, fertilize once in the Spring, then fertilize in the Summer. Scatter evenly at the base of plants, avoiding clumps of fertilizer and preventing contact with the stalk and stems. Large clumps of fertilizer won’t evenly supplement nutrients into the entire soil surface after it mixes with water from rain or irrigation. Fertilizer clumps around the base of plants may cause the main stalk to rot or have contact burns, which could damage or kill the plant. Do not throw fertilizer over plant tops, as the clumps of fertilizer caught in between leaf nodes and on foliage may either burn or rot the foliage.
Pruning: Avoid pruning during Winter as it may kill the plant. This same rule applies for the Fall in northern climates. Remove withered flowers, dead leaves, and leggy stems to enhance plant’s appearance. This also promotes new stems to appear with more leaves and flowers.
Soil, Planting, and Environment 🌄🏞️🏜️
Soil: Prefers well-drained, fertile, loamy soil
pH: 6.5 to 7.5
Planting: When planting a potted plant, dig a hole that’s as deep as the pot and have each side of the plant at least as wide as the pot. For plants with wide roots, dig a hole that is twice the width of the pot and gently space out the root system and then cover with soil to promote healthy growth. Burying tangled roots could cause health issues or stunted growth.
Habitat: Native to Guatemala and Mexico, thought to have originated in Central American and Latin America. Common in cultivated fields and disturbed land.
Temperature Preference and Temperature Tolerance🌡️
Temperature: 70°F to 80°F
Heat Tolerance: High heat tolerance of 95°F, tolerates 110°F; Drought tolerant once established.
Cold Tolerance: 50°F, won’t survive 40°F or below.
Salt, Wind, and Pollution Tolerance 🧂💨 ☣️
Salt Tolerance: Low to moderate tolerance
Wind Tolerance: Low to moderate tolerance
Pollution Tolerance: Moderate tolerance
▷ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION📚
Description 📝
Vivid plant cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant or for grain food resource in tropical and warm regions. Amaranth is high in protein, fiber, and essential nutrients, making it a valuable edible for all.
Attract and Repel Wildlife🐝🦋🐦🐌🪰🐇🦌
Deer and Rodent Resistant🦌🐇🐁
Attracts: Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other beneficial pollinating insects
Repels: Not applicable
Diseases and Pests🐜🦠
Note: Proper care keeps plants resilient and healthy, preventing diseases and pests. This list details the potential threats, specific diseases and pests vary depending on environmental climate.
Diseases:
◦ Powdery Mildew: Disease caused by a fungus due to overwatering or overcrowding, making the plant vulnerable to other pests.
◦ Damping-off: Fungal disease that affects seedlings.
◦ Leaf spot: Various fungal and bacterial diseases can cause leaf spots on Amaranthus cruentus.
Pests:
◦ Aphids: Small, soft-bodied sucking insects which pierce plant tissues and draw out the juices.
◦ Leaf Hoppers
◦ Spider Mites: They feed by bruising plant cells with their small, whiplike mouthparts and ingesting the sap. Spider mites produce a fine silk webbing, often found at leaf nodes or the undersides of leaves, which may kill plants or cause serious stress to them.
Animal Toxicity and Medicine Interactions ☠️❤️🩹
Animal Toxicity: Toxic to dogs, cats, and horses due to levels of nitrates and oxalates.
Individuals may have a sensitivity or allergies to amaranth, consult a healthcare professional first and proceed at own risk.
WebMD Website – Amaranth “Interactions”
Use and Harvest⚕️🌾
❗Seeds are low in oxalates and nitrates and may be used as any other grain. Leaves are toxic if consumed in high amounts due to levels of nitrates and oxalates. Moderate intake of leaves to prevent health problems.
Use: Red amaranth flowers, leaves, and stems may be used to make a beautiful pink or red dye.
◦ Flowers: Beautiful, vibrant red to pink-red flowers are edible and may be used as a garnish for salads, desserts, and beverages.
◦ Leaves: Young leaves may be eaten raw, used in salads or as a garnish. Mature leaves may be steamed or used for soups, stews, or stir-fry.
◦ Seeds: Amaranth seeds are a common grain used either whole, ground into flour, or popped like popcorn. Seeds may be used similar to any other grain. Excellent source of calories, carbohydrates, protein, fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine), and vitamin B9 (Folate).
Benefits: Antioxidant (protects cells), anti-inflammatory (reduces internal and external swelling), increases energy, regulates heart health, digestion, improves skin health, constipation, and helps weight management.
Dosing: ¼ cup each day for adults
Click Here for How To Harvest, Dry, and Properly Store Herbs and Seeds
Harvest: Never harvest more than 20% of a plant’s leaves or roots!
◦ Flowers: From Summer to Fall
◦ Leaves: Any time while available
◦ Seeds: Harvest the dry, brown, crunchy flowers from Summer to Fall. Follow harvesting techniques in the link above to extract and properly store the seeds.
Aroma, Flavor, and Culinary Combinations🧼🍴
Aroma: Not apparent; Flowers are somewhat herbaceous
Flavor: Young leaves have a subtle herbaceous flavor, similar to spinach. Seeds are somewhat nutty and earthy.
Culinary Combinations: Amaranth compliments herbs and spices (thyme, rosemary, oregano, cilantro, parsley, sage, cardamom, coriander, chives, ginger), quinoa, whole wheat enriched pasta, wild rice, beans (sugar snap peas, green beans, chickpeas [garbanzos], black, pinto), legumes (lentils, mung beans), tofu, tempeh, mushrooms, nuts (roasted cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans, and pine nuts), vegetables (arugula, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Winter squash [pumpkin, butternut squash, acorn squash], Summer squash [zucchini, straightneck, and crookneck], red potato, white potato, eggplant, zucchini, garlic, lemongrass, bell pepper, carrot, beet, asparagus, brussels sprouts, radish, tomato, and cucumber), and fruits (avocado, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, apricot, mango, citrus [lemon and lime], and figs)
History 📜
Believed to have been domesticated around 6,000 to 8,000 years ago in the Americas, this plant provided a widely used grain for the Incas, Aztecs, and Mayans.
Lifespan⏳
1 year longevity for life expectancy.
Vegan Botany 