[–] i_yam_wat_i_yam 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Is this Amaranthus Caudatus, 'Love-lies-bleeding'? I tried growing it once but it gets too hot here to bloom well.
[–] ScannerDarkly [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I think it’s a cruentus, but not positive on that. It’s a red amaranth obviously but it’s definitely not love lies bleeding. They have much more droopy hanging flowers.
I really like the Golden giant variety. One year I had a mix of seeds that gave me flowers just like this one but also had golden giant and a nearly white flowered variety as well. Absolutely gorgeous.
[–] Nadeshda 0 points 5 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago
Beautiful! Did you have to stake them? May I ask what Zone you are in? When are you planning to harvest the grain? :) I planted some in my neighbors garden but strong winds and heavy rains really damaged mine as babies :/ have to try growing them again. I heard staking them between corn works wonders... yours looks mature, how old are they? They do grow fast right, mine were just caught in a freak storm and way to young to stomach it.
[–] ScannerDarkly [S] 0 points 5 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago (edited ago)
It’s in a 3 gallon pot on my deck. I did have a stake with it for a little while but that became unnecessary.
I’m in zone 8a, I get them started from seed late May, and then transplanted a few to pots since I don’t have space for a real garden. They seem pretty hardy and transplant easy. I kept this one well fertilized. They will grow fast if they have enough soil space.
It hasn’t started dropping seed yet, maybe by the end of the month. I really just grow them because they are spectacularly beautiful. Would need quite a few plants to get any reasonable amount of grain, however they thresh really easy! This particular one is close to 6’tall