How to Grow Strawberry Spinach in Australia

Strawberry spinach (Blitum virgatum, also listed as Chenopodium foliosum) is an annual of the amaranth family, Amaranthaceae. It is grown for its small, toothed, spinach-like leaves and the red, berry-like clusters that form all along its stems. It is also called leafy goosefoot or, like its relative Blitum capitatum, strawberry blite, but it is neither true spinach nor leaf amaranth. One patch makes a pretty edible border, and the thing most gardeners get wrong is letting every plant drop its seed.

Three mistakes that matter

1. Letting every plant set seed. Strawberry spinach self-seeds freely, and a single season can leave seedlings right through the bed. Cut most stems before the seed drops, or grow it in a pot.
2. Planting out before the frost is over. Mature plants survive a light frost, but young seedlings need protection until they establish. Keep seedlings under cover until frosts have passed, as When to plant explains.
3. Crowding the plants. Tightly packed plants stay damp, and downy mildew can spread through them. Thin or plant out at the spacing Sowing Seeds gives, and water the soil rather than the leaves.

When to plant

Sow once frosts are over and the soil holds 18°C to 22°C, where seed usually comes up in 7 to 14 days. Most zones have two windows, spring and late summer to early autumn. One sowing a season is usually enough, because plants keep producing leaves for weeks.

At the early edge of a window, start seed in trays under cover. At the late edge, sow promptly so plants establish before winter frost or summer heat.

Site, soil and setup

Give it an open, sunny spot: it tolerates part shade but grows weak in heavy shade.

Container growing

Strawberry spinach grows well in a pot, which also helps keep its seed out of the garden beds. Use a pot of at least 20 L, about 35 cm across, with drainage holes, and fill it with quality potting mix. Grow one plant per pot. Sow strawberry spinach seed in it directly or plant a seedling.

• Water: when the mix is dry a finger's depth down. See watering pots in summer.
• Feed: fish and seaweed blend at half strength, about 12 mL per 9 L, fortnightly once plants are growing strongly.
• Position: full sun or bright part shade.
• Handling mix: potting mix can carry Legionella bacteria, so wet it down first, wear gloves and a P2 mask, and wash your hands afterwards.

Sowing Seeds

Start strawberry spinach from seed in trays for the most even plants, or sow it where it is to grow.

Starting under cover

• Fill a tray or punnet with moist seed-raising mix. The seed is tiny, at about 1,250 to the gram, so sow it thinly, as sowing tiny seeds shows.
• Cover the seed with about 3 mm of fine mix.
• Keep the mix moist but never wet, at the warmth When to plant gives.
• Once seedlings are up, move the tray into full light, still sheltered from frost.
• Pot on or plant out once seedlings have their first true leaves and stand 5 to 10 cm tall.

Sowing direct

Rake the bed fine, sow the seed thinly about 3 mm deep and keep the surface damp until seedlings appear. Thin in stages until plants stand 30 to 50 cm apart, and move the spare seedlings elsewhere.

Planting out

Harden seedlings off (get them used to outdoor sun and wind a little more each day) for about a week, as hardening off seedlings describes. Plant them out after the last frost, 30 to 50 cm apart, and water them in. Western Australia admits seed only of plants its organism list names as permitted, and strawberry spinach is not listed. Due to quarantine restrictions and our shipping policy, we cannot send strawberry spinach seed to Western Australia.

Care by growth stage

Water deeply when the soil is dry about 5 cm down, in the morning or late afternoon.

If growth stalls in poor soil, a light dose of all-purpose controlled release granular (NPK around 14-5-10) scratched into the surface can help.

Companion planting

Pair it with plants that share its sunny, well-drained bed and do not shade it.

Grows well with

• Basil, another sun-loving herb for the same well-drained bed.
• Dwarf nasturtiums and onions, low growers that leave the upright stems in full light.

Keep apart

• Tall sweet corn, which shades a plant that needs several hours of direct sun.
• Mint, which spreads by creeping underground runners and would crowd out a small annual.

Harvesting Leaves and Fruit

Leaves are usually ready about 7 weeks from sowing, once they are big enough to eat, and the fruit is ready when it turns red.

• Pinch off outer leaves as needed, leaving plenty on the plant to keep growing.
• Cut red fruit clusters with snips or secateurs, or twist them from the stem.
• Pick fruit regularly so more keeps forming.
• Wash leaves and fruit well before eating, in case snails or slugs have been on them.

Keep leaves for a short time in a perforated plastic bag in the fridge. The fruit is best eaten soon after picking, and freezes for longer storage.

Cook the leaves like spinach, and use the mild, faintly sweet fruit raw in salads or to decorate fruit salads. Like other goosefoots, the leaves are likely to carry some oxalic acid and saponins, so eat raw leaves only in small amounts. Boiling lowers the oxalic acid, which leaches into the water, so pour the water away.

Common problems

Seedlings collapse at soil level. Damping off (a seedling rot caused by soil fungi) strikes seedlings in wet mix, most often when the temperature does not suit them. Use fresh seed-raising mix and keep it moist rather than wet. Read more

Few seedlings come up. Seed sown too deep or into cold soil often sits idle, so sow 3 mm deep into soil at the warmth When to plant gives.

No red fruit yet. The fruit forms only after plants flower, or bolt (run up to flower), so young leafy plants carry none; keep picking leaves and wait.

Thin, weak plants. Too little sun gives lanky growth, so move pots into more light or sow the next crop in a sunnier spot.

Pests and diseases

Australian growing advice for this crop names only downy mildew, and aphids, slugs and snails attack soft growth on most plants. Before any spray, read its label and use it only as directed.

Downy mildew (Peronospora species). Yellow to grey-brown patches appear on the leaves, especially underneath, where a downy growth forms in moist weather. Remove and bin affected leaves; Three mistakes that matter gives the spacing and watering that prevent it. Read more

Aphids (Aphididae). Clusters of small sap-sucking insects gather on soft new growth, leaving sticky honeydew. Squash them or hose them off; otherwise spray insecticidal soap late in the day, away from open flowers. Read more

Slugs and snails (Gastropoda). They chew young seedlings to the ground overnight and leave silver trails, most often after evening rain. Search with a torch about two hours after sunset, remove them, and wash your hands afterwards. Read more

Prevention first

• Keep the spacing and soil-level watering that Three mistakes that matter describes, so leaves dry quickly.
• Clear away spent plants at the end of the season, because downy mildew survives on crop residue and in soil.
• Keep mulch pulled back from young seedlings, because snails hide in mulch and under pots.
• Grow flowers nearby to keep aphid predators such as hoverflies in the garden.

Tips

1. Use it as an edible edging along a border or path, where the red-studded stems show off.
2. Move self-sown seedlings to where you want them while they are still small.
3. Leave one or two of the healthiest plants to seed in a spare corner, and next year's crop can come up by itself.