If I remember the story right, someone posted on here some time ago about their malabar spinach, which liked their living room? so well it grew up the stair case, around the curtains rods, and in general had a great time in their house until they finally cut it down some months later. They enjoyed picking the leaves for supper immensely. Presumably the room the malabar spinach lived in was fairly sunny. Don't know about humidity levels.

I'll be trying this myself, in my irritatingly dim living room with southern windows supplemented by grow lights.

Please tell us how your malabar spinach does.

I'm not positive, but I think I've read that you can root stem cuttings of this plant in water as you would do coleus or other similar plants.

Yes, you can propagate by cuttings. I am wondering about minimum temps for survival outside. Can it be overwintered in mild temperate climates? Will it survive a frost? I assume it would die back, but would the plant survive?

The seeds of Malabar spinach survive winter temps. down to 15 degrees F.here in central Virginia. Seeds may be saved very easily simply by harvesting the flower head when it becomes shriviled and almost black. Many persons also grow the red species of this tasty vegetable. The botanical name is Basella rubra;it is quite colorful. The other species is B. alba

My malabar spinach is a weed. It reseeds itself happily wherever it grows. I am doing my best to kill the stuff - it keeps sprouting in prepared garlic and onion beds, aisles between my raised beds, even in the lawn!

Cindy

Just wanted to update. Malabar spinach vine is growing quite well indoor. I frequently pluck these leaves and use them. It has plenty of seeds. Couple of seeds have turned black in color.
Question is--Is this the right time to remove these seeds and plant them in the soil.

Thanks in advance.
Anna

One out of 3 of my green malabar spinach seemed to survived the Florida winter. These are in small containers on my patio, which faces north and east, and quite shady during winter. It was cold here with a couple of light frosts. Anyway, 2 appear dead but the other had a thicker stem which appears to have survived and is now putting out its first leaf of spring. I was able to save about 15 fruits, but they are already promised to a few folks.

I would love to trade anything on my page for Red Malabar Spinach, does anyone have any for trading?

nailah_h@hotmail.com

Hi nailah,

Easier way to grow malabar spinach is to get a stem from your local Indian grocery stores. Get a shoot with a strong stem and plant it in the soil. Within weeks it will start growing new leaves.

I did this and got leaves even in deep winter in NJ.

Hope this helps.

Anna

Alas, mine survived, and not very well, until february and then croaked. :-(

will b. rubra cross-pollinate with b. alba so i can save pure seed from both?

I really miss having the zones next to our names! I like the above woman's idea of putting the zone and geographical area after her name.

Awesome ! I'll try to tuck them in a sheltered spot next to a foundation wall to help them out a bit. I think it is a beautiful pant.