Malabar Spinach / Chettu Bachali Seeds

Plant Name: Malabar Spinach/Bachali Kura Seeds.  

Sowing Season:

• Malabar Spinach is summer-loving spinach as it’s a warm-weather crop; in fact, it is one of the best leafy vegetables for summer; unlike conventional spinach varieties that grow better in the cooler season.

Soil requirements: 

• The right type of soil is very important as nutrition is required for the growth of the plant. 
• A mix of soil requires Red soil, Vermicompost, and Coco peat in respective ratios (40: 40: 20). Also, add a handful of Neem cake to each pot to keep the soil pest-free.

Container Specification:

• Can be grown in a container or can also be grown directly to the soil.
• Preferably 12X12 Or 15X15 Or 12X15 inch Grow bags or even bigger as per requirement

Sowing:

• It is advisable to sow the seeds half an inch deep into the soil with at least 3” - 4” of space between each seed. This will give the plants room to grow and expand their roots.
   
• Keep soil moist to speed germination and encourage quick growth.
• Press the soil over the seeds and cover with the half-inch layer of fine coco peat/potting soil.
  
• Water regularly/Water the plants in dry periods. Be sure to not over-water the plant to avoid root rot. Good soil drainage is essential to ensure healthy root health as coriander has deep taproots.
• Germination Temperature 10-22°C.
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Plants Caring:

• Avoid transplanting or repotting the germinated seeds and prefer starting from the seeds straight.
• Malabar Spinach needs at least 4 to 6 hours of sun each day. The plant can grow very well in full sunlight.
  
• The key to growing healthy spinach is regular and steady watering. Remember water just to keep the soil surface cool, do not overwater.
• Check the plants regularly and spray neem oil and Panchagavya to keep the insects away. Add a handful of compost/organic manure every 10-15 days for each pot to make sure the soil has enough nutrition to grow plants.

Harvest: You can start harvesting leaves from your Malabar Spinach plant quite early in the growing season as and when you need them. You can also harvest by trimming down the vine and use all the leaves that are growing along with it. That way you can keep plants down to sizable proportions as well. After about 100 days at the end of growing season, the white flowers of Malabar Spinach will turn into small berries. The black seeds will fall and produce even more plants. You can harvest seeds, dry them and plant them in the next season.

Common problems/diseases:

Watch out for slugs and snails that like to consume Malabar Spinach leaves at night. You will have to remove them physically from your garden.

Benefits of  Malabar Spinach:

• Leaves of Malabar spinach are chewed raw to treat mouth ulcers.
  
• Decoction of leaves helps to relieve constipation.
• Leaves are used to treat hypertension.
• Cooked roots are used to treat diarrhea.