Tree spinach

Choose by flavour, shape and use

Veelkleurig: Tree spinach combines green leaves with striking pink young tips. Despite 'tree', it is a tall annual leaf plant. Use small young tips as accents and cook larger leaves. Your own plant gives modest portions per meal.

The source gives no precise flavour profile for this colour form. The emphasis is on its use as a leafy vegetable and its young texture.

A tall annual leafy plant

Tree spinach is Chenopodium giganteum, an annual despite its name. The described selection has green leaves and striking pink-magenta young growth. Expect tall foliage, not a perennial woody trunk. Young leaves are the starting point for small kitchen trials.

A position with room for height

Reserve a light position at a bed's back or use a spacious tub. Tall plants should not obscure smaller vegetables. Check the harvest route before sowing too. Height is practical only if young shoots remain reachable.

Keep seed exposed to light

The producer calls tree spinach light-germinating: press seeds onto the surface rather than burying deeply. Keep moist and follow packet temperature and timing. Label the sowing. Striking tip colour need not appear on the first seed leaves.

Root space and drainage

Use moisture-retentive, draining soil. Large tubs help only if excess water escapes below. Check holes while filling and leave watering margins. Avoid crowding first trials: separate plants make branching and young-leaf quantities easier to assess.

The harvest guides the shape

Picking young tips can encourage branching. Follow how a few plants change shape afterwards rather than removing every shoot on the same day. On tall plants, also check whether they still fit their space. A container lets you choose a compact trial by deliberately maintaining the young harvest.

Bed at the back or large container

In beds, tree spinach can become a striking garden feature. Tubs suit smaller trials with easy tip access. Both follow the same species differently. Pink colour does not mean a tub plant is a separate variety.

Keep fresh green material separate

Take young leaves and shoots for the kitchen and leave enough green growth. Compare a tip with an older leaf before harvesting a large portion. This lets you decide which texture is useful. You can place a label beside the basket in the harvest photo so the date and plant name remain linked later.

Prepare as a leafy vegetable

Leaves are used as spinach-like vegetables, with blanching mentioned. Try a small simply prepared portion. Spinach compares use: tree spinach is not Spinacia oleracea. Keep names distinct when buying again to get the desired growth type.