Callaloo results (Red Amaranth)

Our experiment with growing hydroponic callaloo was a big success. This vegetable can replace spinach while growing in tropical climates and, using hydroponics, it can grow without soil aboard a sailboat.

These plants can grow very large when it isn’t topped and harvested regularly. We put four in a 1-liter container which was a mistake and next time will keep it to a single plant for each container. It’s amazing how a tiny seed can grow to a large plant so quickly, especially after a seemingly slow start.

The taste is very good. We did a direct comparison with water spinach (kangkung) and found that water spinach tastes very similar, maybe even better, but was growing so fast that it got out of hand so our callaloo harvest was much better. Next time we will grow them both again, adapting as we learn.

In the picture we’re trying how they do without a grow light. We can’t really put them outside as we have a lot of wildlife around that would eat it so it was behind a window and it worked very well. These are the kind of plants that you can keep harvesting from.