People on this forum and elsewhere have noted that getting consistent germination and stand establishment of quinoa is difficult. It seems like quinoa needs specific conditions to germinate strongly, and it is known that it prefers a pretty narrow soil temperature range. At the same time, it is also reported that it can become a problematic weedy volunteer in subsequent field crops.
The combination of these traits suggests that some form of winter planting would be helpful; planting in late fall or early winter and allowing the seeds to decide when to emerge.
If anyone wants to join in the experiment, now would be a good time to plant some seeds. There are a number of ways this could be done. Seeds could be planted in rows/hills or broadcast, or for small plantings, “winter sown” in containers for later transplant. (Look up “winter sowing” online for more on this.) It might be possible to use “snow seeding”, broadcasting seed on top of a melting layer of snow.
Whatever method you try, make sure the soil is prepared ahead of time. Quinoa does not compete well with other vegetation. If lanbsquarters or other chenopod weeds are common in your growing area, rows might be better than broadcast, to ensure that you can distinguish the plants. Mulch should be raked back or removed; quinoa seems to prefer bare soil for germination.
I wouldn’t advise risking your whole crop on this method; make sure you save enough seed for more conventional planting later this spring, both to lower the risk of total failure, and to provide a comparison to see if winter sowing really helps.
Document your progress and results on this thread!
It’s my understanding that quinoa is so closely related to lambs quarters that the two can cross. If so, the cross would likely be well adapted. I already grow lambs quarters as an intentional crop, though i generally refer to it as “ goosefoot” ( or “red goosefoot,” since mine has a nice reddish coloration to it) to keep people off my back. I haven’t had a chance to acquire Midwest adapted quinoa seed yet, would be very interested to try it though.
Hello Malcolm,
thank you for sharing your thoughts
I will consider starting an experimental winter sowing following your guidelines, because I had a very good harvest in 2025 , way enough to spend on trials.
My seeds are the european adaptation of the GTS mix, dated 2023 (I think you sent it to me) with some additions of my own.
I had a hard slugh predation on the young ones , and had to resow 2 times. The last time only a small patch (3sqm) escaped predation but this patch did extremely well, with hughe stems and enormous flowers.
I will keep you posted on my trials.
happy end of year celebrations to all !
@YrtheArts I’ve heard a lot of discussion around crossing quinoa with various wild chenopods, but haven’t yet actually seen it done. In theory, it should happen spontaneously if the plants are really close enough. I’ve got quite a bit of lambsquarters around, as well as magentaspreen that I introduced.
Today I planted a roughly 100 foot row with quinoa. I used a hoe to create a moderately deep furrow, and then every three feet I pulled the soil back into the furrow to create a small mound. I sprinkled a pinch of seed across each of these, such that seeds ended up both in the furrow and across the top of the mound. (See photos). This allow seeds in each furrow to experience a bunch of different microclimates, maximizing my chance of getting successful germination no matter how the weather turns out this winter. (So far, it has been very warm and dry for the time of year.)
The quinoa seeds planted were a mix which included:
Left over GtS mix from 2024
A mix of quinoa I grew out in 2023
From Wild Garden Seeds:
Cherry Vanilla
Breeder’s Mix
Peppermint
Ivory
Incred White
White Spike
From Nick Routledge
Biobio
Rogue Red
A grow-out of the Wild Garden mix
The second row from the right in this picture is the one planted; I will plant more rows in the months to come, to compare a range of planting dates.
sowed my firts row of quinoa today. Much earlier than last years (april) .
over the row of quinoa , covered with a thin layer of soil, I broadsowed some sacrificial mustard seeds to attract the slugs in case they come.
Let’s wait and see now.
I’ve noticed the same thing with Grocery Store Quinoa, they germinate & sprout tails but grow weakly compared to Lambsquaters, hybrid between the 2 should be a no brainier for adaptability.
However I haven’t tried Huauzontle (A Broccoli form of Quinoa (Chenopodium nuttalliae or Chenopodium quinoa var. nuttalliae) but I’ve heard it’s more wilder form of Quinoa & may adapt better (as good as weedy lambsquaters idk but better than grocery store quinoa at least).
Indeed! Hybrids between both are absolutely possible! I was hoping the GTS community growing Quinoa would come to the same conclusion so I’m glad to see it here.
Ah so you are growing both common white crystal type (Chenopodium album) & the purple crystal type (Chenopodium giganteum) of lambsquaters right? The purple type is apparently also known as Tree Spinach?
If anyone’s curious, Lambsquaters (Chenopodium album) really is a species complex.
Indeed! But are the flowering times for both species in sync with each other? Most Chenopodium species are short day plants where shorter days trigger flowering. Maybe quinoa is less sensative & Lambsquaters are more sensative?
It might also help growing Quinoa & Lambsquaters in a pot like this
Since both plants are wind pollinated, this can help make sure they cross. However the tricky part is actually telling them apart to see if you actually achieved a cross, since both species are very similar (Quinoa just has bigger seeds & more clustered fruit + colors!).
I also wondered why not just graft swap scions of Lambsquaters & Quinoa? This way you can get Quinoa as close as possible to lambsquater flowers + benefit from potential horizontal gene transfer (Altho maybe grafting seedlings may have a better result)!
Or… why not graft quinoa seedlings into a mature lambsquaters plant? & vice versa?
I think grocery store quinoa germinates weakly because it has had the outer saponin coating removed, either through washing or polishing; that is found to have some effect on the seed itself.
Yes, home grown quinoa needs to be washed before eating, to remove the soapy saponins; commercial suppliers generally do that before packaging. (Not that there aren’t other reasons for quinoa failing to germinate; it does genuinely seem to be fussy about conditions . . . or rather, it seems to have a bit of a “wild type” germination pattern, waiting for ideal conditions to come up.)
hmm… that differs greatly from Harvesting Lambsquater seeds, which when fully dried, the saponin fruit-coating easily rubs off & blows away with the wind, leaving clean seeds that look like grocery store quinoa but smaller & black.
You can do the same with quinoa right? Dry them off the plant, rub & winnow the fruits so you are left with clean seeds. Then for eating them, you would soak these seeds overnight (Like with beans), discarding the soak water & boil them?
Also does presoaking the quinoa seeds help germination? but I’m not sure if this is a trait to select for when breeding quinoa. Altho I remember some people can do a pre-select for seeds that germinat faster based on which ones soak up water first (Which in turn means selecting the ones with reliable germination). - not sure if this makes sense with quinoa.
