How to Grow Quinoa

Days to germination: 4 to 5 days
Days to harvest: 90 to 120 days
Light requirements: Full sun
Water requirements: Water occasionally during dry spells
Soil: Well-drained and fertile
Container: Not suitable for container growing

Introduction

First of all, the name of this grain plant is pronounced “keen-wa”, and its seeds are high in protein which makes it a nutritious grain to grow. The protein is considered a “complete” protein, a rarity in the plant world. This makes quinoa a popular food among vegans and vegetarians.

It’s not in the same family as the more traditional grasses we grow for grains (like wheat, oats or barley), but it is considered a grain nonetheless.

And unlike the grassy grains, quinoa will bloom with gorgeous flowers before going to seed. The flowers are usually deep red or purple, and look like a large spike of tiny clusters flowers at the top of the stalk.

Quinoa is an annual that prefers cooler weather, and is well-suited for more northern growing. Your summers should not get hotter than 90F or your plants will suffer. Your harvest of seeds can be used like many other grains, typically cooked and used alone as a rice-like side dish or incorporated into any number of recipes.

Starting from Seed

Quinoa isn’t usually started indoors for transplant, but rather just put out into the garden once the soil has warmed to around 60F. This usually makes for an early spring planting, around the time of your last frost.

Dig up your soil beforehand to loosen the earth and to kill any early weeds. Quinoa grows slowly and can have trouble competing with fast growing weeds, so it’s best to get rid of any other growth in the garden before planting.

Plant your seeds in rows, putting them no more than 1/4 inch deep. Your final plants should be 10 to 14 inches apart, so plant a few seeds at each location. If more than one sprouts, just thin down to one in each spot. While you can always sow along the entire row and thin out, it’s a bit of a waste of seed considering how quickly quinoa germinates. If any of your seeds don’t sprout, you can replant them almost within the week.

Growing Instructions

Quinoa is closely related to lamb’s-quarters, a common (but much smaller) garden weed. As a seedling, they look very similar. So take care to watch your rows when you are weeding to make sure you aren’t pulling up quinoa and leaving the weeds to thrive. And you will be doing weeding for the first several weeks. Quinoa is slow growing at first and will suffer if crowded by weeds. Once it reaches a foot high, it will start to grow much faster and should be self-sufficient.

You shouldn’t worry about watering unless your area has a longer dry spell. Quinoa is very adaptable to dry conditions and will do just fine with minimal water.

Containers

Quinoa plants are too large for container gardening, and it’s usually impractical to try and grow just a couple of plants because the harvest isn’t worth the effort.

Pests and Disease

The seeds are coated with a bitter substance called saponin, which will usually deter birds or other pests from getting into your developing seeds. The leaves on the other hand, are more vulnerable to damage from insects such as aphids and flea beetles. Regular pyrethrin-based insecticide sprays can help keep them away but a mature plant can usually withstand any damage from such small insects without much difficulty.

Various other leaf-eating caterpillars like cabbage loopers may be attracted to your quinoa, but usually not in great numbers. Pick them off when you find them, and you should be fine without additional measures.

Harvest and Storage

One of the great things about quinoa is that the leaves are edible too. Pick some of the young leaves and either steam them as a cooked green or just add them to a salad.

You’ll know when your quinoa is ready to harvest when the leaves have all dropped off, and your plants are just seed heads on a stalk. They are fine with a few light frosts, so you needn’t be worried about getting your harvest in before that strikes.

You want your seeds to be completely dry, so try to dent one with your fingernail. If you can put a slight dent into it, then they need more drying time. You can harvest them, and then just allow your grain to finish drying inside.

The dry quinoa seeds should come free from the seed heads with little trouble. A hard shaking should free the majority of seeds. There are no hulls to deal with. Use a fan or the wind to “winnow” your harvested grain to clean out the small pieces of leaves or dirt. In other words, Pour the seeds from one container down into another one, and let a breeze blow away the lighter pieces as it falls.

Once you have your seeds, you will have to wash them. This is one of the unique quirks with quinoa.

The saponin may keep the pests away, but it isn’t all that pleasant for humans either. So, prepare to wash.

Any washing technique will work, as long as the water no longer shows any evidence of foaming (saponin is quite soapy). You can mix the grain and water in a blender and spin on the lowest setting, or even put a mesh bag of quinoa in the washing machine and run the rinse cycle. After washing you will have to let the seed completely dry before storage.

You will get more or less a pound of finished grain for every 10 plants, but the yield will depend greatly on your local growing conditions.

Whole quinoa should be stored in a tight container away from any light, in a cool location. It should last for 6 months or more without any additional help.

22 Responses to “How to Grow Quinoa”

Joe Says:
December 22nd, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Sounds like good news. I live in South Dakota and am interested in knowing if this seed grows well in eastern south dakota or would it do better in a much different area such as western South Dakota. And also where do you get seeds?
Ika Says:
March 12th, 2011 at 5:43 pm
http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/VegetablesS-Z.htm

I will get my seeds from them!

They have 2 varieties of quinoa. I’m sure they can help with your questions.

Can’t wait! Good luck to you.
Chris Good Says:
April 11th, 2011 at 11:09 am
I got my seeds from Sustainable Sead Company http://www.sustainableseedco.com.
Janeen Salzgeber Says:
April 26th, 2011 at 6:47 am
Do you think that Quinoa will grow in Florida during the winter months? Say October to May?
Stanley Bhebhe Says:
May 22nd, 2011 at 9:02 am
Where can I buy quinoa seed?
Zena Montana Says:
May 24th, 2011 at 5:29 pm
Dear Chris,

Could you please let me know where I can purchase large quantities of Quinoa (like 5 gallon drums) not seed, but ready for cooking?

Also, would you know the shelf life before Quinoa expires and spoils?

Thank you kindly,
Zena
Lil Says:
June 15th, 2011 at 9:01 am
Hi Zena .. just came across your post here…I’m looking for organic quinoa in bulk quantity & a good price as well … found this one on ebay & there are others there:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ORGANIC-QUINOA-SEEDS-35-LB-SPROUTING-GRAIN-SEED-SPROUTS-/170267826474?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27a4c0d92a

Here’s another source site:

http://survivalacres.com/cgi-bin/quikstore.cgi?template=menu&search=yes&keywords=Quinoa

I don’t believe there’s any difference in quinoa seeds for growing, sprouting or cooking. If storage container is air-tight & the area is cool & dry, most info says the shelf life is several years with little loss in nutritional quality or taste. Frozen, though unnecessary (you’ll probably eat it before it goes bad) shelf life would be longer.

There’s lots of info available, try Google:)

Lil
ani Says:
June 23rd, 2011 at 6:11 am
having a real hard time telling quinoa from pigweed/lambs quarters in the plot I planted w/ quinoa…..help!
Linus Says:
June 25th, 2011 at 7:44 am
Quinoa, chia, stevia will grow just about anywhere and in most soils and under most conditions. There is no deep dark secret. I planted two ten foot rows of quinoa and chia in my clay soil in K.C. Ks from seed right out of the package ( this was seed packaged for consumpt, not as seed for planting). This was about May 10th. I just made shallow rows ( @ 1/4 deep)and walked the rows down. After germination I thined to about 1″ and let it go. Today, June 25th, both crops are over 3′ high and the quinoa is flowering. I will warn that the quinoa should be at least 18″ from the chia because the chia will put out a broad umbrella of leaves.

The stevia I planted from plants purchased and they are doing fine. I would advise staking the stevia because the stems are thin and woody and I lost one in high winds.

Abundant rain did not seem to harm any of the plants. We have had about 4″-6″ of rain since planting and the plantings just thrived so don’t believe the stories you read about these being ” desert ” plants. That is just not true.
Linus Says:
June 27th, 2011 at 8:30 am
We had a down pour this morning with high winds and my quinoa lodged. It may stand up later in the day or it may not. It is like wheat in this respect because the stems are thin and woody like wheat. The lesson here is that if you just have a few short rows you may want to want to provide some support for the plants. A taught twine line stretched between stakes may work.

My chia is now over 4′ high. And my staked stevia held up well in the blow.
Linus Says:
June 27th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
Well, most of the quinoa finally stood up but they still look kind of week. Next time, if there is a next time, I will build a low trellis about a foot high and tie the quinoa to it by bunches.
Hassan MALINGHA Says:
June 28th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
I want to grow quinoa in Uganda in the middle of Africa new the equator. Is it possible? Can we experiment.
Linus Says:
June 29th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
It has taken two full days but all my quinoa has finally stood up.

The next test will be to see if the quinoa and the chia produce seeds.

Hassan. All you can do is try. Just get a table spoon of seeds and try it. You have nothing to loose.
Linus Says:
August 14th, 2011 at 10:16 am
The chia is now nearly 6ft high. After weeks of no rain and temperatures into the hundreds the chia is green again and looks good. The literature says it will not flower until the nights are shorter. But they grow it in Canada and Australia so I remain hopeful.
Jeff Young Says:
September 13th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
is Quinoa something that can grow in the fall, as wheat?
murray Says:
September 25th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
go to a store that sells quinoa either in bulk or in packages. look for a color that you like if there is more than one variety. quinoa grows fine in 2 and a half gallon containers and you may want to do this if you are wanting to grow an acclimatized seed for the following year. i have a couple of small patches that have gone wild that keep coming back every year and needs no attention whatsoever. See if you can develope a consistent purple seed producing strain …thats the most pricy variety
jo tree Says:
November 28th, 2011 at 4:36 am
When people think of growing crops in the US, they think of the flat plains states, like Kansas, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota. Quinoa opens the door for the United States’ mountain regions to shine as a new source of farming income on land mostly used for grazing, growing minor amounts of fruits, or tree harvesting, if little else.

The natural growing environment for Quinoa is above 2000 meters, or roughly 7000 feet, in a temperate climate with 10 – 12 inches of rain per year. In other words, it thrives in seasonal mountain climates with light rainfall, which mostly occur in Montane regions. I should know, I live in Colorado where the first Quinoa plants were successfully planted and harvested outside South America. Specifically, the San Luis Valley of Colorado.

One person mentioned above they wanted to grow quinoa in Florida. Unfortunately, for some reason when quinoa is grown at low-lying elevations, it loses its flavor and becomes more bitter tasting. There is a particular variety of this quinoa which is called for its namesake, Sea Level Quinoa. Something about the high elevation makes quinoa a hardier, better tasting plant.

So, as far as the US is concerned, if you live in Northeast Utah, the foothills or Mountains of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, the Blue Mountain Range near Oregon, or pretty much anywhere along the Montane regions of the Rocky Mountain range that have temperate weather, you live in a good climate for growing Quinoa.

Quinoa may not be a dessert plant, as Linus mentioned above, but it doesn’t like excess rain. Quinoa is a drought resistant crop. There are documented instances in the Andes Mountains during droughts that other crops like wheat, corn, and potatoes failed while Quinoa flourished and actually produced bumper crops.

Keep in mind though, if you’re in a second or third world country wanting to grow this stuff, you might as well forget it if you live in a climate where the daily temperature during the the middle of growing season is above 95°F/35°C. Quinoa doesn’t like high temperatures.

Outside the US and South America, I suppose Quinoa could be grown in other Montane regions with light rainfall such as Northern India near the Himalayas and the Lower regions of the Tian Shan Mountains in Western China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Northern Pakistan. There are probably others, but I can’t think of them off the top of my head.
Missy Says:
December 19th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
You say that quinoa isn’t suitable for container growing, but the past couple of years I’ve been growing potatoes and indeterminate tomatoes in 5-gallon buckets and larger. Would this be enough root space for quinoa? How tall will the plant get? And about how many quinoa plants do you suggest growing to get an adequate amount of seed for a few meals for a small family?
Jo Tree Says:
January 15th, 2012 at 4:20 am
@Missy
Quinoa isn’t suitable for growing as a potted plant mainly because of yield, lighting and soil requirements. Quinoa needs direct sunlight, and prefers high UV conditions that only occur at high elevation or near the equator. If you do live at high elevation this would work in a small greenhouse, but would be difficult elsewhere.

The soil needs to be loamy, somewhat sandy, and drains easily. While you can duplicate this in a bucket, soil temperatures also effect quinoa. Quinoa will pretty much grow anywhere but will only flower and produce seeds if the soil temperature remains cool. This is difficult to maintain if your bucket is going to be outdoors in direct sunlight, which will heat the soil in a 5 gallon bucket pretty quickly regardless if its plastic, pottery, or especially metal.

As far a the yield is concerned, one quinoa plant will produce on average 1 to 2 ounces of seed. To grow enough for say 2 to 3 pounds, which is the average amount you would purchase at a grocery store to feed a family of four for about a two weeks, you would need at least 16 healthy plants, which would require a minimal of 4 to 9 cubic feet of space, or, about the amount a small garden would provide. A five gallon bucket would give you four plants at the most, yielding about 8 ounces of seed, which would hardly be worth the effort. One good thing is very little seed is needed to start a quinoa garden. 2 cups of quinoa will seed a full acre of land, so a tiny, tiny handful will seed a full garden if you have the space.
Deak Says:
January 18th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
Can you drill this seed in light soil with a heavy population to keep weeds to a minimum? And then, has anyone been able to harvest with a conventional combine?
Jo Tree Says:
January 27th, 2012 at 10:27 am
@Deak
I would recommend this site as a good set of general instructions:

http://corn.agronomy.wisc.edu/Crops/Quinoa.aspx

Here’s what the article says about harvesting:

“Plants have a sorghum-like seed head at maturity. Harvest usually begins when the seed can barely be dented with a fingernail and plants have dried, turned a pale yellow or red color, and leaves have dropped. The seed should thresh easily by hand at this time. Field dry down is usually acceptable and plants are harvested easily with a combine. A sorghum header attachment is recommended for quinoa, although platform headers can usually be used as well, without a large crop loss. Cylinder speed and air flow of combines are usually greatly reduced. Smaller screens are used than with cereal grains due to the small size and lighter weight of quinoa seed. A fanning mill and gravity separator is usually necessary to remove trash from the seed after combining. Grain must be dry before storage. Quinoa stover contains little fiber and subsequently provides little crop residue.
Rain during harvest will cause problems since mature seed will germinate within 24 hours after exposure to moisture.”
Des Says:
February 12th, 2012 at 12:34 am
This is a most interesting crop/food. I’d like as much information and help to add this to my ‘Poverty Alleviation’ activities in Zimbabwe.

Currently I’m collecting information and studying the following food crops and looking at introducing Chia (Salvia hispanica), Stevia (Stevia Rebaudiana)Flax seed (Linum usitatissimum)and Grain Amaranth to my student farmers and to the Zimbabwean community at large.
Amaranth is already grown in some areas and it is doing well with a ready market for its seed and a smaller market for its leaves.
Any help and information will be well used and appreciated
Des