Amaranth Test Plot - Planting

The seed heads on most plants are now bigger than footballs. I have lost almost two dozen plants that have simply fallen over. I was worried about cut worms or something like that, but the plant and stalk feel heathly and solid, without rot. I pulled the first half dozen up and they were still rooted and seemed strong, so I left the rest rooted, but laying down, just to see if they continue to grow. I grabbed on of the seed heads and pinched it pretty roughly to see if'n it would let go of anything and it was still extremely solid (felt like a pipe cleaner). I took some pictures but they didn't turn out very well because it was mid-afternoon and the sun made them really contrasty with lots of shadows so I won't post those images.

I am sorry to say that I had one plant that was entirely red and very dramatic that I lost to what may be wind. It just fell over and is one of the plants that I've left rooted. All of the other plants are red stalks with green leaves and red heads or greenyellowish stalks with green leaves and golden/yellow heads. All are attractive but the red one was just cool.

I still have lots of seed left over from the initial stock but I hope to harvest lots from this planting.

 

I pulled one of the seed fingers from one of the seed head and rubbed it between my hands yesterday afternoon. I was successful at dislodging a substantial amount of seeds from the finger. I feel like it's about time to begin to harvest the seeds and will be looking around the web to determine if I am correct. So far, I've not found any instructions to help me determine "when" but I have found a few videos as well as some instruction about how to thresh the seeds. Anyone have any advice on determining the correct "when?"

Additional searches suggest to wait for another month while watching to see if birds begin to peck at the seed heads. There seems to be some difference of opinion about threshing and winnowing directly from the plant or after drying the seed head. One source stated that if the head dries, the job of threshing is much more difficult and a second gardener confirmed that waiting too long may allow much of the seed to simply fall out of the seed head onto the ground and be lost.

I did find some excellent advice on equipment that may be used to thresh the seed head here. The article recommends a wire screen and block wooden handle to force the seed through the screen into a waiting recepticle like a tub or bin.

 

I also have heard a wide variety of opinions on harvesting. I harvested mine aroune 110 to 120 days from planting when I started to notice birds hanging around the garden and the seeds fell easily off with some rubbing/shaking. I suppose you just want to avoid excess loss of seed from simply falling off the plant. I think that harvesting too soon would prevent the top parts from fully maturing. The bottom of the seed heads mature earlier than the top. I didn't wait at all for my heads to dry. I just rubbed them between my fingers into a bin or bucket and didn't mess around with any screens or anything either. I think the easiest way for a large amount would be to cut the heads off, let them dry on a tarp, and then beat them with a flail. The winnowing is easy with a fan and two bowls even though the seeds and chaff are similar weight.

 

Well, we had a bit of a storm last night, so I guess I'll be harvesting this week. I'm planning on using a screen and scree to thresh the seed heads. I'm going to Lowe's tomorrrow for a piece of steel screen. I'll build a wooden frame from 2 X 4s and add the screen for threshing. I'll post pictures...

 

Damn, looks like a truck went through them. Definitely time to harvest.

 

Two inches of rain and 50mph winds in an hour, followed by light rain all night. Wet and messy. I'm sure it'll be fine for a few days while i gather my supplies. It was ready anyway. It's just sad to see it laid low after such a beautiful stand with some over ten feet tall.

 

Prop it back up !!! As it should of been in the first place !! 15 ' round !!!

 

Well, normally I'd agree with you, but the purpose of this test was to see what would happen with zero input following planting. Obviously, planting on a hill fully exposed to tough wind isn't a good idea, but then, it wasn't supposed to get that tall either. If this was the beginning of the growth cycle, I'd be worried, but it's the end and time to harvest anyway. I have my screen for threshing and will be building a smallish frame from 2 X 4s that will fit over a tin foil turkey roasting pan as a catch basin for the seed. I know that the plants will continue to grow for weeks, even laying down since a few had fallen over several weeks ago and I just left them to monitor their condition. I should have all the seed harvested this week.

 

How'd you end up?

 

Anything?

 

I loved this thread so much, I bought some seeds and am going to try this. Now I know that my growing conditions are quite different. It looks like @Elessar has better soil and more moisture. I am going to plant mine in partial shade and full sun. I will see which of the two areas does better.

 

I have a lot of "volunteers" coming up from seed that has germinated from last year's harvest.

 

I bought the seeds, amended soil prior to planting and it has been about 6-8 weeks since planting. My plants are only about an 1-1 1/2 inch high. I am not getting the burst of growth. The rest of my garden went nuts in the last week- basically doubled in size. I am going to transplant some of then plants today and hopefully the shock will not be as bad. This plant must be hardier then I thought. I didn't plant in full sun because many plants can't survive the full heat.

 

Update: We've moved to town but I'm going to try this again and see if I can do better with Amaranth instead of the Romain that's just not very heat tolerant. I thought I'd need some more seed because even though I still have some seed left from my original planting six years ago, most seeds do not work well after two or three years. I've proven this repeatedly so I haven't been very successful in saving seeds.

However, I found the seed packet from my 2013 test plot in a cool spot where I had stored it in the basement over three years ago when we moved to town. On a whim, I thought I'd plant it without any real hope of it germinating. My luck trying this with old seeds from tomatoes, peppers, etc has never worked well but I figured I had nothing to lose. If it didn't work I'd throw the seeds out and start again. If it worked, I feel like the boy with the magic beans that threw them out the window and they grew.

It's been eight days since I planted theses old seeds and they've come up! I can't believe it!!! It's been SIX YEARS that these seeds have been in a ziplock plastic bag in my basement or closet and they're still kicking!!!

Dr. toxophilus, YOUR SEEDS ARE AWESOME!!!

 

I have grown it and store seeds long term. The bugs loved mine. Nearly ate every leaf. It was hard to harvest, but I learned. It has great potential for yield per acre if I can get a handle on how to grow, protect and harvest it. It grows like crazy.

 

T. Riley,

We never had a single problem with bugs. I built a screen box to harvest the seed but I've never eaten those. The size of the seed seem so very small that it would seem that you'd need so many to have enough flour for one loaf of bread, etc. I'm optimistic about getting the plants again for the leaves that I can harvest all summer.

 

All of the seedlings in the row died. I think it was the heat of summer and that they couldn't sustain the roasting we've been subjected to in mid-summer. However, I have five volunteers that had washed from the rows into the aisleway and have grown to almost a foot tall. Unfortunately, the insects that have decimated my other greens have attacked the amaranth also and the leave have lost almost a third of their surface area. I don't think that these plants are going to make it.

I've decided that I want to rip out my original plot of greens and set another row of amaranth to see if I can carry it into the cool weather of fall. My wife has had very good luck with some Swiss Chard and I think I'll add a row of that beside a row of amaranth as a control for insect analysis. Stupid bugs!