The beautiful foliage and blooms of Red Garnet Amaranth will be a great addition to your garden! Green foliage shows its red highlights best in hot conditions. Delicately flavored sprouts can be used as a garnish for your salads.Young leaves can be cooked like spinach.Amaranth greens have a higher iron content than any other green vegetable except parsley, as well as containing many valuable vitamins and minerals. Sowing and Planting Sow the seeds directly in the ground in mild climates, after temperatures are reliably above 60 degrees Fahrenheit, or start it inside four to six weeks before the last expected frost.Germination should occur within 8-10 days. When you're ready to plant, choose a sunny location for it. This fast-growing plant needs at least six to eight hours of sunlight daily to perform well. Amend poor soils well with compost, manure or peat moss. Red Garnet amaranth needs moderately fertile, but consistently moist soil, and grows best with a soil pH between 6.5 and 7.5. Amend acidic soils with lime, or alkaline soils with sulfur, to adjust the soil pH. In dry conditions, water it two or three times weekly, or as needed to keep the soil moist 1 inch beneath the surface. Amaranth tolerates drought very well once established, but the greens will be more tender if the soil is kept moist. Fertilizing Red Garnet amaranth after planting and every six weeks with 2 tablespoons of granular 10-10-10 fertilizer per plant. Spread the fertilizer on the soil 6 inches from the plant and till it lightly. Harvesting The leaves will begin to mature in about 40 days after planting. Individual leaves can be lightly harvested from each plant even if the goal is to harvest the grain, which will mature about 120 days after planting.Amaranth greens can be harvested as soon as they grow big enough for eating, and continue producing well into late summer. For the best flavor,harvest the leaves before the plant flowers.To harvest the grain, remove the seed heads individually as they ripened or cut the whole plant and hang it to dry when most of the heads have ripened. Buy Seeds Online Organic Seeds Heirloom Seeds Non-GMO Seeds Vegetable Seeds Flower Seeds Herb Seeds Fruit Seeds Garden Seeds Seed Starter Kits Rare Seeds Bulk Seeds Indoor Gardening Seeds Seed Catalog Seed Packs for Sale Sustainable Seeds Greenhouse Seeds Seed Suppliers Planting Seeds Home Garden Seeds