If you live in a hot climate that doesn’t have cold winters, you can plant callaloo any time of the year. Note that April or May is the best planting time in the northern hemisphere. If you live in the southern hemisphere, plant in October or November. Alternatively, start the seedlings indoors in seed starting pots before the last frost and transplant them into your garden bed in the early spring. You could do this in March in the northern hemisphere or September in the southern hemisphere, for example.

If your garden beds are partially sheltered, such as beds that are up against a wall, a south-facing or west-facing bed is ideal.

Compost isn’t a requirement because callaloo can grow in dry and clay-rich soils, but the extra nutrients will help the plants really thrive. The ideal soil pH for callaloo is 6. 0-7. 0, but it can still grow in soil with a pH range of 4. 0-8. 0. You can test the pH of soil with a pH soil test kit. If you choose to do so, do it after you add the compost.

Callaloo plants can have an ultimate spread of up to about 1. 5 ft (0. 46 m), so this row spacing allows them plenty of room to spread their foliage.

Callaloo plants can handle a little crowding, so don’t worry too much about getting the spacing exact. Use the same spacing if you’re transplanting seedlings that you started indoors.

The goal is to firm the soil up just enough to cover the seeds and keep them in place in their rows.

Avoid using a hard stream of water that could disturb the seeds. Water the plants the same way if you transplanted seedlings from indoors.

Callaloo plants are considered drought tolerant, so it’s fine for the soil to dry out between waterings. There’s no need to water callaloo unless the soil is totally dry. If you can feel any moisture in the soil at all, leave the plants be to avoid overwatering. You don’t have to fertilize callaloo for it to grow well.

Removing weeds lets the callaloo plants get all the nutrition out of the soil because there aren’t any other plants competing for it.

Callaloo is very disease tolerant, so you only really have to look out for pests, which can cause the plants to yield less foliage for harvesting. Identify the pest on your callaloo plant, then research what pest control spray that particular pest hates the most. In some instance, soap and water can be enough to kill unwanted pests.

You can harvest callaloo as soon as the leaves are big enough to handle, usually within the first couple of months after planting it.

You should be able to do this through late September if you live in a seasonal climate in the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere, you could do it until March or around then.