Is Amaranth invasive?

journey11 · Feb 17, 2011

I was looking at giant golden amaranth on Baker Creek's website as something to grow for my chickens. I have wild amaranth that comes up in my garden every year and it is a pain in the butt, spreads its seeds very easily. I know some of you guys grow it. Thought I'd better check first before I order any!

wifezilla · Feb 17, 2011

It might be but I don't care....LOL. I guess I'll find out soon because I have a packet of those golden giant amaranth seeds as well as a packet of burgundy amaranth I picked up at vitamin cottage. Edibles can be as invasive as they want in my yard. I am a practitioner of the ancient art of SUBTRACTIVE GARDENING. It's a method where you intentionally plant invasive species and just rip out what you don't want rather than trying to coax tender picky plants to grow.

I know.

I am not very helpful :gig

journey11 · Feb 17, 2011

LOL, yeah...if my chickens will eat it up, I might not have a problem. They'll eat the seeds on the wild weedy kind a little, but not enough to erradicate it from my garden. Maybe I'll just plant it on the back 40.

digitS' · Feb 17, 2011

I grew ornamental purple and green amaranth one year. Both from Johnny's, if I remember right.

The purple amaranth was wonderful

. . . beautiful, dramatic plants!

The difference between the green amaranth and common pigweed was minuscule! I mean, you could stand there in the ornamental garden with a pigweed, freshly pulled out of the sweet corn -- and hardly see how it was different from the green amaranth growing with TLC in the flower bed.

That year, DW was really quite impatient with me about that . . .

Now, what you and Wife' have - I'm not really sure.

Steve, who enjoys pigweed as a potherb.

journey11 · Feb 17, 2011

Well how about that...I didn't realize people could eat it. Maybe if I start harvesting it, I can wipe it out of the garden! :lol:

I'll also bear in mind that pigs will eat it, if I ever do decide to raise a couple.

Making a weed useful is about the quickest way to annihilate it. I harvest my dandelions for greens and tea and now they are getting hard to find in my yard. LOL

FarmerDenise · Feb 18, 2011

I grew amaranth for the first time last year. It grew much taller than pigweed. We harvested it before most of the seeds dropped out. But then it got moldy and I had to throw it all in the compost. I hope some of those seeds will sprout and spread in my garden :lol:

Oh and I love pigweed. It tastes a bit like spinach, but milder. SO always thinks I am trying to poison him when I cook it, but I grew up on it.

journey11 · Feb 18, 2011

I've been reading around on the internet about amaranth and I am sold on it. I am going to get some Golden Giant and some Hartman's Giant and plant it for a privacy screen/greens/grain/dye. Sounds like it will be very useful to me.

wifezilla · Feb 18, 2011

You might also want to try growing quinoa as well. I am going to plant it this year. My first try at both amaranth and quinoa.

Mattemma · Feb 19, 2011

I have grown the orange and red. Only had the red pop up in my compost last year,but I liked it. Mints are my most invasive plant.

hoodat · Feb 19, 2011

The wild amaranth is Amaranthus Palmeri and was once grown by American Indians for the seed. In high nitrogen soils it can pick up an excess of nitrates and be mildly poisonous to livestock. The one best grown in the garden is Amaranthus Caudatus and the leaves and seeds are edible by both livestock and humans. The flower garden form of Amaranthus Caudatus has a shorter stem and longer flowers that often trail onto the ground and bears the old fashioned nam,"Love Lies Bleeding".
As an aside the Amaranthus Palmeri is one of the weeds that has learned to tolerate glysophosphate and is very worrrisome to Monsanto, which may mean it has picked up some GMO genes.

Is Amaranth invasive?

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