Amaranth is fast becoming one of my favorite edible houseplants:
The leaves can be eaten raw or cut into strips and wilted in clear soups. The stems can be eaten raw or cooked, too. Some call the amaranth stalks an asparagus substitute, and like asparagus, they peel the larger stalks before cooking.
The red stems in the lower left of this photo are from the purslane plant, and they are good eating, too, as are the purslane leaves which are shown on my Purslane Grow Log.
With the exception of a particularly beloved old pothos plant we have lugged from place to place every time we move for more than 30 years (and even took with on a few long vacations), almost all of our houseplants are edible.
Asia Red:
Tender Green:
Related to purslane, once an old English pot herb, but now another weed that hybridization has turned into a superstar, edible amaranth is a fast-growing, heat-tolerant, delicious, and nutritious salad herb. Because, like spinach, buckwheat, quinoa, and a variety of other tasty salad herbs, amarath contains oxalic acid, people with a sensitivity to this substance should avoid it, and as is the case with many plants that are becoming trendy in home-grown salad bars.
Amaranth can be grown from seed to harvest in about 3 weeks in an AeroGarden and in about one month will be big enough to take soft stem cuttings which will root within a week and then happily grow in a glass filled with Hydroton grow rocks and a weak liquid nutrient solution. If two see-through plastic containers can be found which nest, so that drain holes poked in the bottom of one will allow the nutrient solution to drain out into the second container when lifted, this makes a wonderful low-maintenance container for growing edible amaranth plants alongside the AeroGarden where they can benefit from the lamps. I consider the AeroGarden grow holes to be prime real estate in my plant arena, and therefore move easy to grow plants such as amaranth and basil into this kind of container as soon as it is big enough to propagate by cuttings.
The Hydroton grow rocks can be reused, and are easily sterilized between uses by rinsing clean and then soaking in a mild bleach solution or boiling in water to disinfect.
Amaranth is heat-tolerant, so as soon as the porch temperature dropped below 95F I put some outside in a mason jar to see how it would do. That was late in September, and here it is in November:
If you are growing Amaranth as a salad green, you will want to pinch back (and eat!) any budding stems, as once the plant bolts it is not as attractive and delicious, except for the seeds. WARNING: If you do let your plant bolt outdoors, and unlike me there is any soil nearby, be advised that the seeds will self-sow everywhere and what you used to regard as a sweet little house plant will soon become your most noxious weed.
