Amaranth is an annual herbaceous plant from the Amaranth family. Its homeland is the vastness of South America, from where the plant has spread almost throughout the world. Even 8 millennia ago, the Indians brewed from it a "drink of the gods", giving immortality. Krupa, along with corn, served as a source of energy, and unfading flowers were used to decorate the garden and arrange bouquets. Amaranth translates as "unfading." Burgundy panicles are equally beautiful in summer and winter. Also, the plant is called "shiritsa", "cat or fox tail", "cockscombs" and "oxamite". Despite all the benefits, some wild species are considered weeds and mercilessly destroyed.
Botanical Description
Amaranth is an annual or juvenile grass with a powerful rod rhizome that penetrates deep into the soil. Erect, branched stems form a dense, slender shoot with an average height of about 1.5 m. Some species grow by 30-300 cm. Stems with vertical grooves have a gray-green glandular surface.
Regular petiole leaves of a plain green or purple color are quite large. Their matte surface has decorative properties due to coloring and embossed veins. The foliage is characterized by a rhomboid, ovoid or oval shape. In the upper part in front of the pointed edge there is a notch.
Amaranth blooms in early summer. Small dense spikelets are formed on the top of the stem in the axils of the leaves, which are combined into a complex panicle. Especially long ears can grow not only vertically, but also hang down. Soft, like velvet, twigs are painted in burgundy, purple, yellow or greenish. Species are dioecious or monoecious. Corollas are so small that it is very difficult to distinguish a single flower in an inflorescence. It is devoid of petals or consists of five pointed bracts and short stamens. Beautiful panicles are preserved until frost.
After pollination, the fruits ripen - nuts or seed boxes. Ripening, the seeds spill out on the ground on their own. Each plant can produce up to 500 thousand fruits. Small rounded grains are cream or light yellow. In 1 g of seeds, there are up to 2500 units.
Types and varieties of amaranth
The genus Amaranth unites more than 100 species. Some of them are cultivated as fodder and vegetable crops.
Amaranth vegetable. The plant contains the maximum amount of nutrients. It has a short growing season and builds up a large amount of green mass. They eat not only grains, but also leaves and young shoots. Greens are ready for use after 70-120 days after sowing. Popular varieties:
- Fortified - early ripening variety up to 1.4 m high with brown inflorescences;
- Opopeo - green-bronze leaves are used in salads and first dishes, red flowers;
- White leaf - a plant up to 20 cm in height with pale green leaves is convenient for growing on a windowsill.
Amaranth is tailed. Annual with straight, slightly branched stems grows 1-1.5 m in height. Large ovoid leaves are colored green or purplish green. Raspberry flowers are collected in complex hanging brushes. They show off on bushes from June to October. Varieties:
- Albiflorus - dissolves white inflorescences;
- Grunschwanz - a plant up to 75 cm tall is covered with scarlet inflorescences.
Amaranth is thrown back. Annuals up to 1 m high have a rod root and a slightly branched stem. There is a short pile on the reddish or light green shoot. The ovoid foliage is narrowed to the petiole. Its length is 4-14 cm, and its width is 2-6 cm. Flowering occurs in June-August. Cylindrical inflorescences in the axils of the leaves are colored green.
Amaranth is three-colored. The decorative-deciduous annual of 0.7-1.5 m high is distinguished by a straight, slightly branched stem. The growth of the pyramidal shape consists of elongated leaves with an elongated and narrowed edge. Several colors are combined on a sheet plate. The green surface with a large yellow-orange spot at the base is mottled with raspberry veins. In June, large yellow-red inflorescences appear. The variety is very fertile. Varieties:
- Amaranth loosestrife - the pyramidal crown is covered with elongated bronze-green foliage up to 6 mm wide and up to 20 cm long;
- Illumination - 50-70 cm tall shoot is covered with large leaves of variegated color with orange, red, bronze stains.
Seed cultivation and planting
For annuals, seed propagation is the only available. In a temperate climate, it is more convenient to pre-grow seedlings. At the end of March, plates with sand and peat soil are being prepared. Seeds are evenly distributed to a depth of 1.5-2 cm. The earth is sprayed from the spray gun and covered with a transparent film. The greenhouse is placed in a lit place with an air temperature of + 20 ... + 22 ° C. The first shoots can be detected after 4-6 days. Shelter is removed, but continue to regularly spray plants. Thickened places are thinned out so that the roots do not tangle, and the seedlings do not interfere with each other. Seedlings with three real leaves are dived in separate pots.
Seedlings are planted in open ground at the end of May, when the earth warms up well and the danger of frost disappears. Amaranth is planted in rows with a distance of 45-70 cm. The distance between individual bushes depends on the height of the variety and is 10-30 cm. The rhizome is deepened to the level of the root neck. Within 1-2 weeks after planting, plants need abundant watering. In case of night cooling, the beds are covered with a film.
In southern areas, amaranth can be immediately planted in open ground. Planting is carried out in the spring, when the earth warms up to a depth of 5 cm. The earth is sown with mineral fertilizers before sowing. It is necessary to choose complexes with a minimum nitrogen content. Seeds are distributed along the grooves to a depth of about 15 mm. The distance between the rows should be 40-45 cm. Shoots appear after 7-9 days. They are thinned out so that the distance is 7-10 cm. With an early planting (early April), seedlings have time to grow before weeds appear and weeding will not be needed. At a later planting, amaranth must be weeded so that weeds do not interfere with its development.
Outdoor Care Secrets
Amaranth is quite unpretentious. With the right location, plant care is practically unnecessary. The most capricious seedlings in the first month after planting. The plot of Shiritsa needs open and sunny. The soil should be drained and loose. Soils with a slightly alkaline reaction are desirable. A week before planting, nitroammophoskos and slaked lime are introduced into the ground.
Watering a young plant should be moderate so that the water does not stagnate in the soil. Waterlogging during cooling is especially undesirable. After watering, the surface of the earth near the bushes is loosened and weeds are removed. Adult specimens with powerful rhizomes are able to extract water from the deep layers of the soil and need irrigation only with prolonged and severe drought.
2 weeks after planting the seedlings carry out the first top dressing. Alternate solution of the mineral complex, mullein and wood ash. In total, fertilizer is applied up to four times during the season. Do this in the morning after a little watering. Then the root and stems will not be affected.
When the lower leaves on the stem begin to turn red and dry, the time has come to collect the seeds. Inflorescences begin to cut from below. They are laid out in the shade to dry. After 12-16 days, the seeds are collected. To do this, they are rubbed between the palms and release the seeds. Then they are sieved through a fine sieve and put into a fabric or paper bag.
The immunity of amaranth is strong, it is not for nothing that an adult plant is compared with a tenacious weed. With moisture stagnation in the soil, the fungus quickly develops, it leads to diseases such as root rot and powdery mildew. For treatment, the bushes are treated with Bordeaux liquid, vitriol or colloidal sulfur.
Aphids and weevils settle on succulent leaves. They do not bother the plant too much and can be harmful only at an early stage of development. Insecticides (Karbofos, Actellik) help cope with parasites.
Useful properties of amaranth
Amaranth is justifiably considered a source of health. He is a real storehouse of useful substances. The following substances are contained in the root, leaves and fruits:
- vitamins (C, PP, E, group B);
- macroelements (Ca, K, Na, Mg, Se, Mn, Cu, Zn, Fe);
- protein;
- polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Juice of fresh leaves, decoctions, water and alcohol infusions are used internally and externally. They strengthen the immune system, help protect against colds, or rather get rid of unpleasant symptoms. Compresses facilitate the treatment of fungal infections, herpes, psoriasis, eczema, burns, acne, and also increase the regenerative properties of the skin. Active substances counteract the formation of tumors in the body, and also fight the consequences of radiation therapy. Drugs also help with heart failure, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and diabetes. Even in case of insomnia, stress or neurosis, a healing infusion can not be dispensed with.
Contraindications for use are allergies, individual intolerance, a tendency to hypotension, cholecystitis, pancreatitis, cholelithiasis.
