Amaranth is known as an eternal, or unfading flower. In some ancient tribes of South America, he was even a cult plant, a symbol of immortality. Among the people, uncultured species of amaranth are called shiritsa. To date, amaranth, planting and care of which is carried out in many household plots, is a rather valuable culture that has a wide scope of application: agriculture, cooking, landscape design, floristry. What is the secret of this plant and what you need to know about it in order to successfully grow on its site?
Amaranth: general characteristic
Amaranth, planting and care of which is carried out on household plots of the Russian region, is an annual herbaceous plant capable of reaching 2 m in height, with numerous egg-shaped leaves arranged alternately on the trunk and luxurious panicle-shaped inflorescences. The color of the trunks, leaves and inflorescences can be yellowish-green or rich purple. In most varieties of amaranth, panicles, in which small nondescript flowers are collected, have a drooping appearance, but there are decorative species with upright inflorescences. Amaranth, properly managed, can produce up to 6 million seeds from each bush. These seeds are very small, can have a purple or green color, depending on what color the mother plant was. Their germination is maintained for several years. Amaranth root can deepen into the soil by 2.5 m and reach the level of groundwater, therefore, with excessive soil moisture in the area, shiritsa can be used as an excellent soil dehumidifier.
Amaranth: planting and care
Amaranth - unpretentious plant. It feels great on any soil, even saline, tolerates droughts and temperature extremes. Amaranth emerges excellently, the landing of which is carried out both self-seeding and purposefully in a greenhouse or in open beds. A lot of amaranth seedlings can sprout in the spring, so they can be thinned. In the first 2-3 weeks, the young bush of Shiritsa devotes all its strength to developing a powerful root system and only then builds up the aerial part, so you need to make sure that weeds and other plants growing around the plant simply do not crush amaranth. Very well, this culture responds to the introduction of organic and complex mineral fertilizers.
The use of amaranth in landscape design and floristry
In most cases, amaranth, planting and care of which is carried out on a personal plot, is used for decoration. At the same time, amaranth is planted both in large quantities, in the form of a hedge, and by standing plants to give a finished look to the beds.
There is some truth to the fact that amaranth is called an “eternal” flower, since its cut and dried panicles retain their decorative properties for a long time, therefore they are widely used in the composition of dried flowers.
Amaranth in cooking
From ancient times flour was made from amaranth seeds. Even today it is sometimes added to the dough for cookies, gingerbread, cakes and pies. Amaranth oil also has valuable properties, which is added to salads, taken before meals to strengthen immunity, and rubbed into the skin of hands and face. Fresh amaranth leaves are used for salads, cold summer soups, and also for salting vegetables.
Amaranth in agriculture
Amaranth stems and leaves make excellent compost and silage for animals.
In a word, amaranth is not only a beautiful ornamental plant, but also a valuable food, medicine and fodder crop, the value of which is often undeservedly underestimated.