My seed may have been old then. I only got a small percentage and the plants croak when they went outside. Time for another try in about a month.

- Lisa

I'm contemplating growing Malabar spinach, but I wonder how it grows when planted outside in the north. I just read some reviews at Baker Creek where some people waited all season to harvest very few leaves..... Of course I would start it inside to give it a head start, but I wonder.......

Linda

[QUOTE=Labradors2;678718]I'm contemplating growing Malabar spinach, but I wonder how it grows when planted outside in the north. I just read some reviews at Baker Creek where some people waited all season to harvest very few leaves..... Of course I would start it inside to give it a head start, but I wonder.......

Linda[/QUOTE]

It did well in my greenhouse in hanging baskets but it did take a long time. It likes heat. To grow it outside I would grow it in a hot sheltered spot maybe against a wall. It is good, the leaves are thicker but it does taste just like garden spinach. Blooms are unusual too.
KarenO

Thanks Karen.

I have just the spot for it against the south facing stone wall of the house beside the hose pipe. (I understand that it likes moisture too!)

Linda

Yes, it’s pretty tropical I think. Fun to try, should like your wall in a trellis. I’ll look for a pic, not sure if I have one but I think I do somewhere on northern gardener
Karen

I get lots in my Detroit area garden and I didn't have too wait very long. Later in the season, it went into seed production mode, so less new leaf growth. If I had trimmed off some of those pretty flowers, that might not have happened as much.

My deck is pretty hot and bakes in the sun all day long. Do you think it would do well in a container? How good of a climber is it?

Has anyone tried oriental spinach? I just stumbled on these:
[url]http://www.evergreenseeds.com/orspin.html[/url]

Looks like it could be the answer to bolt resistance in a summer spinach?:?!?:

[QUOTE=bower;679255]Looks like it could be the answer to bolt resistance in a summer spinach?:?!?:[/QUOTE]
Probably not. From the description in the link: "...[FONT=helvetica][SIZE=2]very hardy vegetable. This vegetable grows very well in mild climates." This seems to suggest the same cool-weather preferences as regular spinach.
[/SIZE][/FONT]

How attractive to squirrels is Malabar spinach? I can put a small hex ring around the bottom to protect from rabbits, but a vine would be a challenge.

- Lisa

I still think malabar spinach isn't neutral enough to be close to spinach. I haven't seen squirrels eating any of my malabar spinach and don't think they would go for that stuff. In any case it grows so well so there would be plenty to share. Though even now in Florida the growth rate is somewhat reduced in the cooler months. You do want to prune the main stem for better production.

I need to try my hands at spinach because I bought bunches of huge spinach from the farmer market today, it turns out to be Bloomsdale in greenhouses, it amazed me if this size is possible down here in zone 10B. Too bad the cold spell passed just recently.

[QUOTE=jmsieglaff;678793]My deck is pretty hot and bakes in the sun all day long. Do you think it would do well in a container? How good of a climber is it?[/QUOTE]

It will do well in container and will wrap around anything without help. It does like high nitrogen soil and with good weather the leaves can get huge, as I have seen it grown in not fully rotten horse manure. Even though it does need the heat, it likes a lot of water too.

--

Also there is longevity and okinawa spinach, they have a different kind of taste not for everyone though.

All of my spinach and chard are grown in ground in soils which are enriched with horse manure in varying stages of decay. I mainly grow Space and Melody spinach and yellow stemmed chard. It got into the 50's today with rain and the snow cover is gone. I picked over a pound of spinach that has been under snow for most of the last month. Not as good as a May picking but close.

Speaking of Bloomsdale, a friend grows large quantities every year. I bring home many pounds. Almost all go into spinach pies. Nothing cooks beter than Bloomsdale.

My indoor dry run by the patio door is underway. Seeing if we like one better than the others and may plant more that outdoors in the spring.

Mustard greens or an early lettuce are good substitutes of spinach.
Russians also like early nettle leaves for the same purpose as spinach.

And don't forget that both spinach and radish are full of uriс acid which is responsible for a gout decease.

Malabar spinach is the closest taste to spinach, for me at least. It's tropical, totally opposite of spinach. Indoors it's a beautiful ornamental, also. It's an incredibly easy plant, as long as it's really warm. And while it likes a lot of water, I've found it to be extremely drought tolerant, more so than almost anything I've grown. Drought will speed up flowering, though. If you don't constantly pick it once it gets going, it will grow like crazy, bloom its beautiful flowers and reseed prolifically. You'll never have to buy the seeds again if you save some!