Lambsquarters
Chenopodium album
Also known as: Lamb's quarters, White goosefoot, Fat hen, Pigweed, Bathua, Wild spinach, Melde
Quick facts
- Category
- leafy greens
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Days to harvest
- 40 to 60 days
- Harvest type
- cut leaves, plant regrows for repeated harvests
- Spacing
- 20 cm between plants
Environment
- Temperature
- 10–28°C
- pH
- 5.5 to 7.5
- EC (hydroponic)
- 1 to 1.8 mS/cm
- Daily light
- 14 to 22 mol/m²/day
Climate and zones
- USDA zones
- 3 to 10 (winter low around -40°C or warmer)
- Frost tolerance
- tolerates light frost
- Season
- warm (summer crops, frost-sensitive)
Viable growing environments:
- outdoor year-round (in zone)
- outdoor in growing season (annual)
- unheated greenhouse / hoop house
USDA zone bounds reflect outdoor year-round survival. Anywhere outside the bounded zone range, this crop still grows as an annual in the warm months (outdoor_seasonal), under cover (greenhouse), or indoors under lights.
Growing systems
Lambsquarters works in:
- media bed (ebb and flow)
- wicking bed
- soil bed
Growing media
The substrate the roots sit in. Choice depends on the system (clay pebbles don't fit NFT channels; rockwool isn't used in media beds) and the crop (lambsquarters works in the media listed below).
| Medium | pH effect | Water retention | Bacterial surface |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soil-based mix (Potting soil) | varies by source | high | high |
| Coco coir (Coconut coir) | slightly acidic | high | moderate |
Bacterial surface area matters for aquaponics: clay pebbles, lava rock, and pumice double as biofilter substrate. Low-surface media (rockwool, perlite, pea gravel) work in hydroponics but need a separate biofilter in aquaponics.
Nutrient demand by stage
NPK ratios are relative weights at each growth stage; the nutrient mix calculator scales them to absolute grams or ml. EC targets shift through the plant's life: seedlings need a much lighter solution than fruiting adults.
| Stage | N | P | K | EC target (mS/cm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| seedling | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.6 |
| vegetative | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1.4 |
Aquaponics suitability
Compatible with typical aquaponics nutrient profiles. Fish waste provides enough nitrogen for healthy growth; supplemental potassium, calcium, and iron may still be needed depending on fish stocking density.
Care notes
An easy, fast, and nearly foolproof hydroponic green. EC 1.0-2.0 mS/cm. pH 6.0-7.5 (extremely adaptable). Temperature: 10–32°C (grows in both cool and warm conditions). Low to high light (DLI 10-22 mol/m2/day). Any hydroponic system works. From seed to baby leaf harvest: 3-4 weeks. Full-sized harvest: 5-7 weeks. The plant grows vigorously and can be harvested cut-and-come-again by taking stem tips and upper leaves. Very high yield per square meter when succession planted. The main limitation is market perception: most Western consumers don't know lambsquarters as a food crop and may resist buying what they consider a weed. For personal use and for Indian food preparation, lambsquarters is one of the most productive and nutritious leafy greens available. The seeds germinate in 3-5 days with near-100% germination rates, and the plants are pest-resistant and disease-free. For aquaponics growers, lambsquarters thrives on the nutrient-rich water and produces continuously.
Notable varieties
A starting shortlist of cultivars worth knowing about. Not exhaustive: the seed catalogs list hundreds of named varieties. These are the ones home growers commonly choose between.
| Cultivar | Type | Days | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magentaspreen | open-pollinated | 45 | Selected cultivated form (sometimes called C. giganteum or magenta lambsquarters) with vivid pink-magenta new growth at the leaf crowns. Larger and more tender than the wild type. The seed-catalog standard for people who want lambsquarters deliberately rather than as a weed. |
| Cultivated bathua | open-pollinated | 50 | Northern Indian selections grown commercially around Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, broader leaves and slower bolting than the European wild type. Sold through South Asian seed houses; less available in Western catalogs. |
Plan a setup with Lambsquarters
Verified against: rhs-uk, indian-council-of-agricultural-research, u-of-minnesota-extension. Last reviewed 2026-05-15.