My Malabar spinach plant has been one of the more successful plants that has been growing in my garden. I found out about Malabar spinach sometime in early February this year (it is now June 2023). And finally, after trying a few times, one of my Malabar spinach seeds successfully germinated.
My Malabar spinach plant has been one of the more successful plants that has been growing in my garden. I badly wanted to have a perennial vine growing in my corridor garden (that consisted of mainly indirect bright light). After considering other edible vines like butterfly pea (too weedy looking), grapes (too complicated for a newbie like me), sweet potatoes (I tried but unfortunately it seems like they need bright direct sunlight), one day while browing around online, I discovered Malabar Spinach. I especially love how Red Malabar Spinach looks and I love that it is a perennial vegetable. I also do enjoy eating spinach in general and can definitely see myself eating Malabar Spinach often.
I found out about Malabar spinach sometime in early February this year (it is now June 2023). And finally, after trying a few times, one of my Malabar spinach seeds successfully germinated.
I will now cover the process of of sowing my Malabar Spinach from seed all the way to my first Malabar Spinach harvest.
First Step – Germinating Malabar Spinach Seeds
I did try placing the Malabar Spinach seed directly into the soil a few times but the seeds always did not germinate. I decided to try the method of placing the seeds in a slightly damp tissue paper and then placed that tissue paper in a plastic sealer. After that I placed them out in an indoor space that had direct west-facing sunlight. After a few days, a number of my seeds started to germinate.
Second Step – Sow Malabar Spinach Seedlings in Soil
I then placed the mini malabar spinach seedling into a recycled egg tray filled with 1/2 compost and 1/2 potting soil, watered it and then placed the egg tray in a plant pot under indirect sunlight. Note that since Malabar Spinach is a tropical plant, it loves sunlight and lots of water. However, my corridor garden only consists of indirect bright light for most of the day, but this did not stop me from trying to grow Malabar Spinach.
3rd Step – Transplant the seedling once it has gotten too big for the container
Once the Malabar spinach reached a certain height where it seemed too big for the egg tray, I decided that it was time to take it out of the egg tray slot and place it in an even larger pot.
Watch the video below to see how to properly transplant a malabar spinach seedling.
Video: How to transplant a malabar spinach seedling properly
Items you see in photos and videos
- Polysterene plant pot from Daiso
- Recycled Egg tray
- Soil – 1/2 compost 1/2 potting mix
- 1x Malabar Spinach seed
Equipment used to film
- iPhone