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Malabar Red Stem Spinach

Planted🥬 Greens🌱 Babies later
🥬Main photo · Liz's Malabar Red Stem Spinach
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Quick grow facts

☀️

Sun

Full sun 6+ hrs

NCSU
🪴

Soil

No source found

📏

Pot size

No source found

💧

Water

Good Drainage, Moist

NCSU
🌿

Fertilizer

¼ cup per 10 ft row ~30 days after sprouting

AgriLife EHT-040
🐝

Pollination

No source found

✂️

Propagation

Seed, Stem Cutting

NCSU
🐛

Pests & diseases

Highly resistant to common pests; can get Cercospora leaf spot, snails and nematodes

UF/IFAS HS1371; Florida guide
📅

Houston planting window

Mar–Aug

Harris summer greens
⚠️

Look out for (Houston)

Good substitute for lettuce in hot summers; grow up a fence or trellis

ECHO

What it is

Basella alba , or Malabar Spinach, is a vigorous climbing vine, a frost-tender perennial grown as an annual, native to tropical regions in Asia. The plant typically grows to a six-foot vine, but can often reach 30 feet in length. (Species-level info; not specific to this variety.)

NC State Extension

Why grow/eat it

No source found

How to use it

Infusion of the leaves is a tea substitute. Fruit sap is used as a food coloring in pastries and sweets.

NC State Extension

Harvest in Houston

No source found

Container tips

Likes full sun. Wants well-drained soil, kept moist.

NC State Extension

Cautions

No known diseases or pests. Dry soil or extremely high temperatures will cause flowering, which leads to bitter leaves.

NC State Extension

Sources

  1. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/basella-alba/
  2. https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/09/EHT-040.pdf
  3. https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/vegetables/greens/
  4. https://echonet.org/regions/northamerica/edible-leaves-and-shoots/
  5. https://harris.agrilife.org/files/2019/03/Vegetable-Planting-Chart-2019.pdf