Divisi
How to grow Amaranth
Amaranthus spp. · Amaranthaceae
Photo: Earl Benton · CC BY-SA 4.0
Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) is a fast, heat-loving plant that gives you two harvests from one crop — tender leaves and tiny grain. You may know it as African spinach, callaloo, mchicha, terere, imbuya, ododo or efo tete. It is a C4 plant (built to keep growing hard in full sun and heat), so it thrives in the hot months when cooler greens wilt. Its seed is as fine as dust — a thousand seeds weigh less than a gram — so it is sown shallow and barely covered. Grow it as a cut-and-come-again leaf crop (cut the tender shoots young and they push out again), with your first pickings in just 3–4 weeks; or let it run up tall flower heads for grain (a pseudocereal — a grain-like seed from a broadleaf plant, not a true cereal). For both leaf and grain from the same plants, A. cruentus is the safest all-rounder.
Senator BNB · CC BY-SA 4.0 
Wee Hong · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Days to maturity
- 30–150 days
- Row spacing
- 10 cm
- Plant spacing in the row
- 10 cm
- Sowing depth
- 0.5–1 cm
These are general figures for the crop, compiled from published agronomic references including FAO and CABI. The right choice for your field depends on your soil, rainfall and the yield you are aiming for.
Will amaranth actually do well on your land? Check your field against every crop in the catalogue — free, no signup. Run the free crop check →
Other names for Amaranth
misbredie · amaranth · African spinach · callaloo · amarante · alayyafu · terere · imbuya · bonongwe · mowa · theepe · mchicha · thepe · efo tete · bondwe · ododo
Working in buckets, bags or paces? The farming glossary turns the measures growers actually use into kilograms and hectares — what a 20 litre bucket of each crop really weighs, and how to size a field by walking it — alongside the Shona, Swahili, Ndebele and Yoruba words used in the field. Open the glossary →
Growing amaranth, stage by stage
Your amaranth season, step by step — from a fine, rich seedbed and dust-fine seed, through fast, tender leaf you cut again and again, to (for grain) cutting the heads at just the right moment, before they drop their tiny seed.
- Get ready before sowing
- Sowing & establishment
- Vegetative / leaf growth & harvest
- Flowering & grain fill (grain types)
- Grain harvest
- Post-harvest
12 step-by-step tasks in the app
Every task for amaranth — what to do, when to do it and why it matters — with the amounts worked out for your own field, reminders as each one falls due, and warnings before extreme weather.
Pests and diseases that attack amaranth
Divisi tells you which of these is a risk on your amaranth right now, when to walk the field looking for it, and what to do the moment you find it.
Frequently asked questions
How long does amaranth take to grow?
Amaranth takes about 30–150 days from sowing to maturity, though the exact length varies with variety, temperature and how the season runs.
What spacing should I use for amaranth?
Space amaranth rows about 10 cm apart, with roughly 10 cm between plants within the row.
How deep should amaranth be planted?
Sow amaranth at about 0.5–1 cm deep. Shallower risks drying out; deeper wastes seed energy before the shoot reaches light.
What pests and diseases attack amaranth?
The ones covered in this guide are Amaranth leaf webber, Flea beetles. Each has its own page explaining how to identify, scout for and control it.
Grow amaranth with a plan, not a guess
Divisi turns this guide into a dated plan for your own field — what to do each week, reminders as tasks fall due, and warnings before extreme weather. Free for farmers, works offline.
Or check your field first