Malabar Spinach

Pests & beneficial insects

🐛 Prone to: Aphids

Aphids

Aphididae

Curled leaves, sticky honeydew and ants on patrol — usually with something already eating them.

.

Attract Hoverflies

Hoverflies

Syrphidae

The adults only drink nectar. It is the larvae that eat the aphids.

, Lacewings

Lacewings

Chrysopidae

Golden-eyed adults that mostly drink; larvae that hunt like small alligators.

, Ladybugs

Ladybugs

Coccinellidae

The one predator here where the adults hunt as hard as the larvae do.

, Parasitic wasps

Parasitic wasps

Braconidae, Ichneumonidae and relatives

Pinhead-sized, stingless, and lethal to aphids and caterpillars from the inside.

to keep them in check — plant Belgian EndiveGreat, LungwortGreat and CeleriacGood nearby.

Growing from seed

Start Malabar Spinach indoors about 6 weeks before your last frost, keeping seeds in warm soil (around 20–25 °C). Seeds usually come up in around 14 days. Move seedlings out once the danger of frost has passed, in full sun, spaced about 30 cm apart. Expect to harvest in roughly 70 days.

Keep track of the seeds you own.

Companion Planting

• 
  Red Mustard
  

  Red MustardGreat pair

  • ❧Red Mustard attracts Hoverflies and Parasitic wasps, which prey on the Aphids that attack Malabar Spinach
  • ❧Red Mustard suppresses pests that trouble Malabar Spinach
  • ❧Red Mustard acts as living mulch, keeping soil moist and weeds down around Malabar Spinach
• 
  Wasabina
  

  WasabinaGreat pair

  • ❧Wasabina attracts Hoverflies and Parasitic wasps, which prey on the Aphids that attack Malabar Spinach
  • ❧Wasabina suppresses pests that trouble Malabar Spinach
  • ❧Wasabina acts as living mulch, keeping soil moist and weeds down around Malabar Spinach
• 
  Belgian Endive
  

  Belgian EndiveGreat pair

  • ❧Belgian Endive attracts Hoverflies and Lacewings and more, which prey on the Aphids that attack Malabar Spinach
  • ❧Belgian Endive roots deep while Malabar Spinach feeds near the surface — no competition
  • ❧Belgian Endive acts as living mulch, keeping soil moist and weeds down around Malabar Spinach

How to grow Malabar Spinach

1. Sow6 weeks before frost
2. Germinates14 days
3. Space30 cm apart
4. GrowFull sun
5. Harvest~70 days

Water: Medium · Height: 300 cm · Soil: Moist, fertile — heat-loving