Anyone working on amaranth grain? I recently read an article that said that all three of the amaranth species grown for grain cross at a rate of about 10%. That’s high enough to make it interesting, at least for me.
I can buy grain from whole food stores and at least two Australian seed companies offer a grain amaranth, one of which I’m hoping to harvest before frost.
I’ve also been able to buy two ornamental amaranths, Coral Fountain and Hot Biscuits which are Amaranthus cruentus so fine for grain. I’ll grow these and others together next season as a start.
I’m not actively working on amaranth, but I have grown it and will have a small block (10 plants) this year. For planting this year I have “Golden Giant” (A. hypochondriacus) and “Sunset Goldilocks” (likely the same species). A couple of years ago I grew Golden Giant and it set seed well. It did not get giant, with most plants between 3-4 ft (90 - 120cm). The height was not an issue for me but would be if I was planting out where the deer could get to it. In that case, I would prefer the seed heads out of reach.
We grew Loves Lies Bleeding and Hot Biscuits in summer 22, but mainly just for ornament. Had bad rabbit pressure but they rebounded well. The main problem was that I dropped the ball on harvesting seed before the rains set in. Oops.
This year, we are growing out two varieties with grain in mind: Golden Giant and Elena’s Rojo. We’re gonna plant them tight to try to maximize chance of crossing, and go from there. Probably growing out 50-60 plants. Hoping these will serve as a good base to expand from.
Hope you keep us posted on your plantings.
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