If you’re looking for a leafy vegetable that thrives in heat, grows quickly, and looks beautiful while doing so, Malabar spinach (Basella alba) is an excellent choice. Unlike traditional spinach (Spinacia oleracea), which prefers cool weather and wilts in warm climates, Malabar spinach flourishes in tropical heat and humidity.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to plant and care for Malabar spinach (also known as Indian spinach) in containers in small spaces.
Why Grow Malabar Spinach at Home?
Malabar spinach isn’t just a practical vegetable; it’s a beautiful, vining plant with large, thick, glossy, heart-shaped, green leaves. The stems may be green, as in Basella alba or red, as in Basella rubra.
It is:
- Ideal for container gardening, especially in small spaces
- Heat-loving and grows best in warm, tropical weather
- Nutritious, packed with vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium
- Versatile in the kitchen – it can be used in soups, stews, stir-fries, or even taken raw in salads and smoothies
- Fast-growing and productive throughout the rainy season
What You’ll Need to Grow Malabar Spinach in a Container
Growing Malabar spinach in containers is simple. To get started, you will need:
- Malabar spinach seeds or cuttings
- A container (at least 30 cm deep and 30 cm across) with drainage holes
- Rich, well-draining soil (mix compost or manure with garden soil)
- A trellis, fence or vertical support like bamboo sticks or garden mesh
- A sunny location, such as a porch, balcony, or a corner in the garden
How to Plant Malabar Spinach in Containers
You can easily grow Malabar spinach from cuttings or seeds. I like the cuttings method because you’ll see your plants established sooner than when you grow from seeds.
From Cuttings:
- Take a healthy vine cutting with three or more leaves or leaf nodes (a leaf node is where a leaf meets the vine).
- Deep the cut end of the vine in water to a depth of about 3 cm (remove leaves below the water level).
- Expect the cutting to develop white roots in about 10 days.
- Plant the rooted cutting in a container filled with soil.
- You can also plant unrooted cuttings directly in soil. The roots will grow underground.
- Keep the soil moist until new leaves appear, and then water as needed.
- Keep the container in a sunny spot.
Tip: After harvesting and using the leaves, you can plant the leafless vines.
From Seeds:
- Soak seeds overnight to speed up germination.
- Plant 1 cm deep in moist soil.
- Place your pot in a warm, sunny spot.
- Water gently and keep the soil moist.
- Germination takes place within two weeks.
Best Time to Plant Malabar Spinach in the Tropics
Malabar spinach grows best in the rainy season. In Nigeria, that’s from May through November. You can plant seeds as early as April, though. Warm temperatures and steady rain encourage lush growth.
While Malabar spinach can grow all year round in tropical climates, it needs regular watering during the dry season. It might not look its best then, but it will pick up when the rains come and after you refresh the soil.
Care Tips for Healthy Malabar Spinach
- Water regularly: Malabar spinach loves moisture. Keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged. The leaves wilt when the plant is dry.
- Sunlight: Place your container where it receives at least 6 hours of direct sunlight daily.
- Soil: Refresh the soil in the container every year. Malabar spinach is a heavy feeder that needs nutrients from the soil to grow large leaves.
- Feed: Feed with compost or aged manure every few weeks, and after harvesting.
- Trellising: As a vine, Malabar spinach needs vertical support to stay upright. Train the young vines to wrap around a stick, mesh, or railing and watch the plant take off.
- Harvest for Growth: Regularly prune your spinach to encourage branching and more leaves.
- Watch for Pests: Snails could be a problem. Check often and pick them out of your container. Aphids and other sap-sucking or chewing insects might appear. Spray neem oil on the plant to discourage insects from feeding and breeding.
When and How to Harvest Malabar Spinach
You can begin harvesting your Malabar spinach about 6 weeks after planting. Harvest young leaves and tender shoots by cutting the vine with a pair of scissors or a knife. The more you harvest, the more it grows, but don’t take off too much at once.
Use the leaves in:
- Stews and sauces (with eggs)
- Stir-fries with peppers and onions
- Smoothies or green juices
- Nigerian dishes like afang and egusi soup
Should You Cut Off Malabar Spinach Flowers?
After a few months of growth, Malabar spinach produces an inflorescence of white flowers. You should cut off the flowers to keep the plant growing and producing more leaves. I’ve heard the flowers are edible, too, but I haven’t tried them.
If you do not cut off the flowers, your Malabar spinach will produce seeds, which signal the end of its life cycle. The plant will slowly decline and die.
Collect the black seeds for the next batch of planting, or let them fall into the soil to start new plants.
Finally…
Malabar spinach is an easy and rewarding leafy green for tropical container gardens. It is pretty to look at, highly nutritious, and quite forgiving if neglected. So, if you’re ready to grow your vegetables at home, this fast-growing plant is a great way to get started.
Happy gardening!
