What is Orach? Learn how to grow ornamental plants in the garden.
If you like spinach but the plant tends to grow quickly in your area, try growing spinach plants. What is arroche? Read on for more information on how to grow orach and how to care for this plant.
What is Orach?
A cold-season plant, orachera is a warm-season alternative to spinach that is less likely to spoil. A member of the lamb’s-quarters family, the orca ( Atriplex hortensis ) is also known as garden orange, red orange, mountain spinach, French spinach and sea purslane. It is also sometimes called «salt bush» because of its tolerance to alkaline and saline soils. The name orach is derived from the Latin aurago which means golden grass.
Native to Europe and Siberia, orach is probably one of the oldest cultivated plants. It is cultivated in Europe and the northern plains of the United States as a substitute for spinach, fresh or cooked. The taste is reminiscent of spinach and is often combined with sorrel leaves. The seeds are also edible and are a source of vitamin A. They are ground into flour and mixed with flour to make bread. The seeds are also used to make a blue dye.
More information about the Orach Center
An annual herb, orach, comes in four common varieties, with white orach being the most common.
- The white orachito has lighter green to yellow leaves instead of white.
- There are also red oracheas with dark red stems and leaves. The red plume, which can reach a height of 1 to 2 metres, is a beautiful edible red ornament.
- The green orach, or giant Lee’s orach, is a vigorous variety with a branched and angular habit and dark green round leaves.
- Copper-coloured oracheas are less commonly cultivated.
In the most commonly cultivated white orachón, the leaves are arrow-shaped, soft and flexible with a slight indentation and measure 4-5 cm long by 2-3 cm wide. The white orachas that are cultivated reach a height of 5-6 feet with a seed stalk that can reach up to 8 feet in height. The flowers are petalless and are small, green or red, depending on the cultivar. A large number of flowers appear on top of the plant. The seeds are small, flat and reddish in colour, surrounded by a light yellow, leaf-like cover.
How to grow orach
Ortho is grown like spinach in USDA zones 4-8. Seeds should be sown in full sun and shade about 2-3 weeks after the last frost in your area. Sow seeds from ¼ to ½ to a depth of 2 cm, in rows 30 cm apart. With germination temperatures between 50-65 degrees F. (10 to 18 C.), seeds should germinate within 7 to 14 days. Thin out seedlings to 6-12 cm in the row. The tips can be eaten and mixed with salads like any other green plant.
Thereafter, there is little special care for orchids, except to keep the plants moist. Although the watering can tolerate drought, the leaves will taste better if they are kept watered. This delicious plant tolerates both alkaline soils and salt and is also frost resistant. Orach also adapts very well to potted plants.
Harvest the leaves and tender stems when the plants are 4-6 cm high, about 40-60 days after planting. Continue harvesting the young leaves as they mature, leaving the older leaves on the plant. Pinch the flower buds to encourage branching and continued production of new leaves. Successive plantings can be done until the weather warms up, and in cooler climates, plantings can be done in mid-summer for a fall harvest.
