How to Grow Red Garnet Amaranth Microgreens

in #gardening7 years ago (edited)

I don't know about you all, but I find amaranth to be one of the most beautiful plants I've ever grown.

I mean, just look at what it looks like when it's mature...

Amaranthus-caudatus_12518193413_l.jpg

Source: Cost3l

But there was a time in my life where I didn't have land and couldn't grow amaranth at all...or so I thought

The following is how I managed to grow a ton of red garnet amaranth microgreens. I have a full video walkthrough of this stunning microgreen crop, but also a step-by-step guide with pictures if you prefer to follow along that way.

Without further ado...let's get growin'!

Materials

amaranth-microgreens-materials.jpg

You really don't need much to grow microgreens:

  • Container (I use 10x20 plant growing trays)
  • Potting soil (I use a 50/50 mix of organic potting soil and coconut coir)
  • Light (I use a 4' T5 CFL grow light if growing indoors)
  • Seeds (I buy mine from Everwilde Farms)
  • Spray bottle

Planting

planting-amaranth-microgreens.jpg

Whatever container you choose, fill it up with soil, making sure it's screened and the surface is uniform. Don't compress it too much — you need to give the roots room to dig down and establish themselves.

After your container is filled, fill up your seed shaker with amaranth seeds and sprinkle them on the surface in as even a distribution as possible.

Try to mimic the density of the picture above. If you're growing in a 10x20 standard plant propagation tray, use ~1oz of seed.?

?Lightly mist your seeds with a spray bottle and cover the container so no light enters. I like to use two 10x20 propagation trays with one flipped upside down. This creates the perfect environment for germination. Over the next two days or so, lightly mist your seeds with water, but don't over do it — you don't want to get mold.

Growing

germinating-amaranth-microgreens.jpg

After two days, your amaranth seeds should be germinated. If not, wait one more day and check on them. If they're still not germinated, something went wrong. You either have:

  • bad seed
  • overwatered
  • underwatered
  • the temperature isn't right

It's almost always one of those 4 issues.

Here's a quick bonus .gif of the movement of my amaranth microgreens during 8 hours of artificial lighting:

Keep them covered for 24-48 more hours until they get a bit lanky and look a light, translucent pink. Once they're 1/2"-3/4" tall, it's time to expose them to light.

growing-amaranth-microgreens.jpg

Once they're tall enough, place them in a well-lit area outside or under a CFL light. Amaranth microgreens don't need a lot of sun - in fact, if you place them in direct sun you need to make sure and water more consistently as your soil will dry up quickly, causing all of your greens to die.

Harvesting

If you've followed along, your amaranth micros should be about ten days old now. Perfect time to harvest! When harvesting, take extra care to harvest slightly above the soil like with an extremely sharp knife. You want a knife that will slice right through without pulling the greens at all to avoid getting soil and seed husks in your final product.

harvesting-amaranth-microgreens.jpg

By harvesting this way, you avoid the need to wash your greens which means they'll last longer and you'll save quite a bit of time-intensive work.?

After you've harvested, make sure your greens are completely dry before storing. Any moisture on your leaves or stems will shorten their shelf life. Put them in a sealed container in the refrigerator and they should last at least 7-8 days, if not longer.

Thanks For Reading!


A version of this guide is also available on my website, if you care to take a look!

All photos besides header photo are my own from a batch of microgreens I grew a while back :)

If this is your first time reading my writing, thank you!

My name is Kevin and I run a website called Epic Gardening, where it is my goal to teach 1,000,000 people how to garden. Now that I've found Steemit, I'm going all in on this community and sharing as much as I can here. You'll find me writing about gardening, business, health, and philosophy - I can't seem to stick to one topic :P

Thanks and happy Steeming,

Kevin

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I've never had amaranth. The adult plant looks amazing! What part of the fully grown plant do you eat? I have no experience with this beautiful plant at all.

Unless I'm mistaken you eat the seeds of the fully grown amaranth, which are a grain! But I've never grown it to full size, only microgreens myself!

I can eat the leaves and the seeds. It's best to pick the small tender leaves. I add them to salads. I also cook with the seeds. I use them in place of quinoa.

I've never tried eating it as a micro green. I grow many varieties of amaranth mainly as a "grain" source. I save and cook the seeds just as I do quinoa. I also eat the young leaves. But now, I've got to try the micro greens. I don't know why I never thought of it before. Maybe I was too focused on preservation of the seed.

It's super nice as a micro. I hear you though, the grains are quite nice as well :)

I think Amaranth are really ugly..... LOL!

BUT...the color is SUPER cool on the young shoots. I've just ordered a tonne of microgreen stuff myself as I aim to grow that indoors now the winter's coming. Thanks for the added inspiration - love the timelapse GIF. Very cool. :D

Bahahaha. Fair enough! Let me know how the micro's go. I used to grow commercially, so I can help out!

Is there a benefit to growing them in soil vs in a tray without any? I've seen many people do it with wheat grass with great success.

I've tried it many times and soil ALWAYS outperforms a soilless medium!

so what do you do with the soil after harvesting?

Compost pile :)

Great post ..I adore time laps!
happy night,
Melissa

Thanks! I need to do more of them...

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