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Vine,
Vegetable (Warm Season) - Salad Greens
Also known as Indian spinach, Ceylon spinach, basella, vine spinach
Basella alba
Basellaceae Family
The leaves from this heat-loving vine have a mild flavor and are used
like spinach in salads and cooking. Extremely frost-sensitive. It
creeps when temperatures are cool, but leaps when the mercury hits 90
F.
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Site Characteristics
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Sunlight:
Part shade increases leaf size, but prefers hot weather and full sun.
Soil conditions:
Grows well in a wide range of soils, but prefers moist, fertile soils,
high in organic matter, pH 6.5 to 6.8. Requires consistent moisture to
keep from flowering, which causes leaves to turn bitter.
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Plant Traits
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Lifecycle:
annual
Grown as an annual, but is perennial in frost-free areas.
Ease-of-care:
moderately difficult
In most of New York, you must start plants inside and transplant after danger of frost has passed. Requires trellising.
Foliage color:
dark green
Foliage texture:
medium
Shape:
climbing / vine
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Special Considerations
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Special characteristics:
- not native to North America
- East Asia origins.
Special uses:
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Growing Information
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How to plant:
Propagate by
seed,
cuttings
Germination temperature: 65 F to 75 F
Days to emergence: 14 to 21
- Scarify seed to hasten germination.
Seed can be saved 4 years.
Maintenance and care:
In Zone 7 and warmer, direct seed 2 to 3 weeks after last frost date.
In colder areas or to get an earlier crop, start seeds inside about 6
weeks before last frost. Scarify
seed (use a file, sharp knife or sandpaper to carefully cut through the
tough seed coat) to speed germination, which may take 3 weeks or more. Wait
until soil has warmed and all danger of frost has passed before
transplanting -- at least 2 to 3 weeks after last frost date. Space
transplants about 12 inches apart. Well-adapted to high
temperatures, even into the 90s F. But growth is disappointing when
temperatures stay below 80 F. Requires consistent moisture to keep from
flowering, which causes bitterness in leaves. Requires trellis or other support for twining vine. Can follow peas up the same trellis.
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