Love-Lies-Bleeding Amaranth: How to Grow (UK)
On this page
- Love-Lies-Bleeding Amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus)
- Regional Planting Calendar
- Quick Facts
- At a Glance
- Soil & Growing Conditions
- Growth Stages
- Harvest & Storage
- Diseases
- Pests
- Love-Lies-Bleeding, Habit to Harvest
- Plan your Love-Lies-Bleeding Amaranth planting
- Growing Love-Lies-Bleeding Amaranth in another region
- References
- Frequently Asked Questions
In the UK, love-lies-bleeding amaranth goes in the ground early April to early May, and is ready to harvest 90–100 days after planting.
Timing is the decision that matters most in the UK: there are 4 separate regional sowing windows, ranging from early April in Southern England to mid April in Scotland.
The short answer
- Plant
- Early April to early May
- Ready in
- 90–100 days
- Site
- soil pH 5.5–7.5
- Biggest risk
- Damping-off
Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.
Love-Lies-Bleeding Amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus)
Also known as: Amaranth, Love-lies-bleeding · 13 sources cited · Verified
Regional Planting Calendar
| Region | Sow |
|---|---|
| Southern England | early April to early May |
| Midlands derived | early April to mid May |
| Northern England | mid April to mid May |
| Scotland | mid April to late May |
Rows marked derived are interpolated between regions our sources do state, because no source we consulted gives a figure for that region specifically. They are deliberately wider to reflect that uncertainty.
Southern England - detail & sources
RHS: sow in-situ in mid-spring. In southern England the frost-free window opens earliest -- Met Office notes the average last air frost in southern and coastal regions tends to occur before April ends, so sowing can begin close to the start of April and continue through to early May.
Midlands - detail & sources
DERIVED, NOT DIRECTLY SOURCED: no source states a Midlands-specific window. Interpolated a week later than southern England and a week earlier than northern England, following RHS's mid-spring in-situ sowing guidance and the Met Office's documented south-to-north frost gradient.
Northern England - detail & sources
RHS: sow in-situ in mid-spring. Met Office notes that further north the average last air frost often extends well into May, so sowing is pushed later than in the south to avoid frost damage to this frost-tender (H2) species.
Scotland - detail & sources
RHS: sow in-situ in mid-spring. Met Office notes that over higher ground and further north the average last air frost can extend into June in places, so Scotland gets the latest sowing window in the UK for this frost-tender (H2) species.
Quick Facts
| Factor | Value |
|---|---|
| Soil pH | 5.5 - 7.5 |
| Germination temp | 21°C |
| Optimal growing temp | 21-28°C |
| Minimum survivable temp | 0°C |
| Time to harvest | 90-100 days |
| Soil texture | Chalk, clay, loam, sand (unfussy) |
| Drainage | Moist but well-drained, or well-drained |
| Lifecycle | Annual. |
| Edible parts | seeds, leaves |
At a Glance
Soil & Growing Conditions
Growth Stages
| Stage | BBCH | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Establishment | 0 | Grown from very small seed — sow no more than ¼–½in (0.5–1cm) deep, in-situ in mid-spring once the danger of frost has passed. Amaranth germinates best at soil temperatures of 18–24°C (65–75°F) (UIC Heritage Garden). RHS advises propagating by seed sown in-situ in mid-spring, thinning seedlings to 60cm apart; for grain-scale culture UIC gives rows 45–60cm apart. Choose a warm, sheltered, full-sun site with moist but well-drained soil. This species is frost-tender (RHS hardiness H2) and will not survive freezing, so do not sow until frost has passed. |
| Vegetative Growth | 3 | Plants grow quickly into upright, bushy annuals, typically 1–1.5m tall with a 0.5–1m spread, carrying large ovate leaves (RHS). Grow in full sun; keep the soil moist during dry spells — the plant is drought-resistant once established but crops best with steady moisture — and work in organic matter to promote strong leafy growth. |
| Flowering | 6 | From midsummer into autumn the plants produce long, drooping, crimson, tassel-like flower racemes made up of thousands of tiny flowers (RHS). Each amaranth flower head can carry up to 60,000 seeds (UIC Heritage Garden). |
| Fruit Development | 7 | Seed heads develop from the drooping racemes after flowering (RHS); amaranth seed typically ripens about three months after sowing (UIC Heritage Garden). |
| Ripening / Harvest | 8 | For ornamental use, cut the flower spikes fresh or hang them to dry for arrangements as their colour develops (RHS). For grain, wait until the seed heads are dry, then gently but briskly rub or shake a head between your hands to check the seed falls readily (UIC Heritage Garden); seed heads left standing are attractive to birds (RHS). Grain amaranth generally is left until a killing frost and a week of dry weather, then stored at about 11% moisture (Purdue NewCROP). |
| Senescence / Dormancy | 9 | A frost-tender annual (RHS hardiness H2), the plant dies back after seeding or is killed by the first hard frost and does not survive freezing (RHS). It self-seeds readily; save clean, dry seed to sow again the following spring. |
Harvest & Storage
Diseases
Pests
Love-Lies-Bleeding, Habit to Harvest
Plan your Love-Lies-Bleeding Amaranth planting
When to sow and plant Love-Lies-Bleeding Amaranth depends on your own frost dates. Check the UK vegetable planting calendar. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.
Growing Love-Lies-Bleeding Amaranth in another region
Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.
References
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States Amaranth = Amaranthus caudatus, common name "Pigweed", cited to an RHS URL. That URL was checked this session and returns empty/dead -- citation hygiene issue, matches Phase 0's general finding about this document. Preserved for provenance of the dispute, not counted as an independent verification source.
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Annual, blooming from summer until frost, 3-5ft tall and 1-2ft wide. Full sun or partial shade. Wants well-drained soil kept moist, yet is particularly drought-resistant once established. Set plants out after the last frost; note it does not flower until three months after sowing. Both seed and leaves are edible, traditionally used as both a grain crop and a leaf vegetable. Pests: aphids on flowers and foliage. Diseases: Phytophthora blight and root rot, bacterial leaf spot.
-
General fungal/oomycete seedling-disease mechanism (Pythium, Rhizoctonia spp.), not amaranth-specific; used as a reusable cross-crop disease reference.
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Short-season field study, the closest published analogue to Prairie conditions: amaranth sown at Prosper, North Dakota in the first week of June; first seed shatter 15 September (1993) and 14 October (1994); harvest before a killing frost was not feasible because of high moisture in the sample; grain yield decreased as harvest was delayed beyond first seed shatter, especially after a killing frost; amaranth should be harvested as soon as possible after a killing frost to reduce yield loss and maximise seed germination; the cooler 1993 season yielded 20-40% of 1994 at the same harvest dates.
13 independent sources are cited for this crop. Where they disagree - soil pH is the clearest case - every figure is preserved rather than averaged into false precision.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I sow love-lies-bleeding amaranth in the UK?
In Southern England, from early April. In Scotland, wait until mid April. Treat these as a guide rather than a fixed date — the governing rule is to sow only once frost risk has passed and temperatures are reliably warm enough.
When do I sow love-lies-bleeding amaranth?
Sow early April to late May, at around 21°C for germination.
How long does love-lies-bleeding amaranth take to grow?
Typically 90–100 days, depending on cultivar and growing conditions.
What soil pH does love-lies-bleeding amaranth need?
A pH of about 5.5–7.5. That span reflects genuine variation between the authorities we cite rather than a single agreed figure — the References section lists each source's exact range.
What problems affect love-lies-bleeding amaranth?
Our data links 1 disease and 1 pest to this crop. See the sections above for each one and how to manage it.
Plan next season before the problems start
Most of the advice on this page comes down to timing and spacing — sowing at the right moment, rotating beds, and giving plants enough airflow. The UK Garden Planner lays your plot out month by month so those decisions are already made before the season starts.
Get the UK Garden Planner →Instant PDF download · Written for UK growing conditions
How this guide is put together
The growing data on this page — sowing windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against RHS and Met Office guidance. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.
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Last verified 2026-09-03
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