Planting guide

When to plant amaranth

Tall, heat-loving leaf crop and grain plant with dazzling red or gold leaves. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Mar.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 6–13 wks
Spacing: 20 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Low
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means amaranth can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Perth	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Canberra	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Central Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Geelong	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Hobart	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Townsville	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mandurah	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Launceston	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mackay	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Bunbury	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mildura	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wellington	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant amaranth

Scatter fine seed on warm soil.
Thin to 20 cm apart.
Pick tender leaves.
Let the best plants flower for seed.

Amaranth varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Red Garnet Classicheat-tolerant · colourful · 6–10 wksBright red leaves for stir-fry
Green Thumb Classicheat-tolerant · 9–13 wksCompact bushy amaranth, leaves and seeds
Mira Red and Green Adventurouscolourful · 6–10 wksRed-green leaves; good for bunches
Hot Biscuits Adventurouscolourful · 10–14 wksDense orange-gold seed heads
Bicolour Adventurousheirloom · colourful · 6–13 wks
Caudatus Red Classic6–13 wks
Caudatus Viridus Green Classic6–13 wks
Early Splendour Classicfast · 6–13 wks
Green Garnet Classic6–13 wks
Green Leaf Classicheirloom · 6–13 wks
Green Spikes Classic10 wks
Illumination Classic6–13 wks
Midnight Red Classicheirloom · 6–13 wks
Molten Fire Classic6–13 wks
Oeschberg Classic6–13 wks
Pygmy Torch Classic6–13 wks
Red Beauty Classicheirloom · 6–13 wks
Red Cathedral Classic6–13 wks
Red Leaf Classicheirloom · 6–13 wks

Where to buy seeds

Buy on Happy Valley Seeds Buy on The Diggers Club Buy on The Seed Collection Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Corn, Bean, Squash

Amaranth by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Lettuce · Spinach · Silverbeet · Kale · Rocket · Bok Choy

Not sure amaranth is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now