Vegetable · Amaranthaceae
When to plant orach
An old spinach substitute that stands heat without bolting, and comes in a deep red form that holds its colour when cooked.
Sow direct
2 weeks before
Counted from your last spring frost.
Days to maturity
40-60
From sowing to a first picking.
Frost tolerance
Hardy
How much cold the plant itself will take.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Seed packets rarely give calendar dates, because a date that suits one latitude is wrong at another. They give offsets from the last spring frost instead, and those offsets are what make orach plantable anywhere.
- Sow direct 2 weeks before the last frost.
- Expect 40–60 days to maturity, counted from sowing.
- Sow again every 21 days for a continuous supply.
Getting the timing right
Sow two weeks before the last frost and pinch the tips to keep it leafy. Left alone it reaches head height and goes to seed by midsummer.
Frost tolerance
Tolerates about -5C. Young plants take a spring frost without checking, which is why it can go in earlier than true spinach.
Classified as hardy, with damage expected below -5°C (23°F)23°F (-5°C).