Brazilian spinach Alternanthera sissoo

Over the years I have heard a lot of great things about Brazilian spinach.  Brazilian spinach is a perennial leaf vegetable that is commonly grown in the tropics.  It has many common names, including Sissoo Spinach, Samba Lettuce, Sambu Lettuce, and Poor Man's Spinach. 

I am a little confused over the taxonomy of this plant.  It carries the binomial name of Alternanthera sissoo, but is thought to be the domesticated form of Alternanthera sessilis.  

Brazilian spinach produces small uninteresting spiky white flowers that look suspiciously like khaki weed.  For some reason this vegetable never produces any seed.  

It is meant to be propagated rather simply by cuttings.  It is said to grow fast, and develop into an edible ground cover in the right conditions. 

Brazillian spinach getting large before winter

I have been looking for a spinach alternative that performs well in the heat.  True spinach (Spinacia oleracea) does not do well in the heat over summer here, yet frustratingly summertime is when we tend to eat spinach.  

Brazilian spinach is used as a warm season alternative to true spinach, and is grown in tropical places where true spinach does not cope.  

From what I am told, this plant likes heat, does not cope with frosts, it spreads outwards and forms a mound, and it is said to thrive in part shade.  This is meant to grow best in tropical and sub-tropical places, and not do so well in temperate climates such as the one I am in.

Brazilian spinach plant

A year or so ago I got a small and healthy Brazilian spinach plant.  I tried to grow this in my greenhouse and placed it where it would receive a lot of light.  It never really grew lager over summer, and then it died over winter.  The plant was certainly healthy when it arrived, so the problem must have been how I attempted to grow it.  Had it been larger once winter hit I think this possibly would have survived as it had a fair bit of protection.

This year I decided to give Brazilian spinach another try, and I got another small plant in spring.  

This was smaller than the first, but looked just as healthy.  I planted it in a large pot of soil, and this time I kept it in shade.  From there I largely forgot about it, I kept watering it but paid it little attention.  

While I was not watching, this plant put on a lot of growth.  The leaves are far larger, the stems are longer, and it is looking pretty healthy. 

The plant did not grow as much as I had hoped, but it was certainly growing.  I had not rotated the pot, so the growth was uneven.  Still, it was a lot larger than when it arrived. 

I had hoped this plant would have grown longer, and branched a bit more by now.  Perhaps this is one of those plants that needs to be harvested in order to put on more growth.  To be fair, it is a lot larger, and is growing quite well, I just hoped it would have spread a lot more than it has. 

Large crinkly edible leaves

True spinach does fine here over cooler months, and performs poorly over summer when I want to eat spinach.  I really want to grow a spinach substitute over summer, and prefer to grow somethingperennial so I don't have to bother with seedlings.  

Things commonly grown as spinach substitutes such as silverbeet don't tend to be overly substitutable, and often have too much of a distinct flavour, other things have a weird texture.  I want something that lacks any real flavour of its own.  

I have eaten Brazillian leaves raw a few times, they taste ok and weren't fibrous.  I tried them cooked once, they were much like real spinach, didn't have much taste of their own and weren't slimy or weird.  This is exactly what I was hoping for from this leaf vegetable. 

I am told that this plant is simple to grow from cuttings.  I took a small cutting, and planted this in soil in a small pot of soil in the greenhouse.  This had a lot of shade and was near the parent plant.  It did not take this cutting long before it wilted badly.  From there the cutting lost all its leaves and then died.  

I took another cutting and put it on the kitchen window sill. This looked ok for a day, then wilted badly.  Perhaps it would have performed better had I removed some of the leaves.  The leaves picked up the following day.  It kind of started to grow roots, got little bumps on the stem, then stopped.  

This cutting has been sitting in water for a few months now, the leaves are far larger, but other than that it is not doing much.  I should plant it in soil and see if it survives.

Brazil spinach cutting in water

While the photo looks dark, it does get some light here

I took another cutting in late summer and planted this in soil.  After my first failed attempt I had low hopes.  This cutting has been there for about a month, and looks much the same.  I have this cutting in a pot of soil with a tomato cutting that I am planning on over wintering.  Sometimes I group things to overwinter, then in spring I divide the survivors. 

Presumably the Brazillian spinach cutting is doing well.  I am guessing it should have died by now if it wasn't growing roots.  Then again, perhaps the soil is damp enough that it is able to survive.  Only time will tell.

I don't rotate the pot so it grew unevenly

Winter and frosts are just around the corner.  I would really like to over winter this plant so I am trying to let it grow large and not mess with it too much.  

Larger plants tend to insulate themselves and have a better chance of surviving the cold than tiny plants.  I am well outside its preferred climate, and I expect it to get damage from the cold, but really hope to keep it alive.  

Brazilian spinach is a perennial vegetable that I think would be perfect in places with milder winters.  My winters are a bit harsh, and get down to -10C most years, and I am not yet sure what my chances are of overwintering this successfully.  If I can get it through winter, I would like to grow more of it.  

If I do grow more Brazilian spinach I will try to list extra plants for sale.  Given how this does not love frosts I am guessing I would only be selling over warmer months.