Growing Orach (Mountain Spinach): A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 10, 2026
Orach, also called mountain spinach, is a heat-tolerant spinach substitute that keeps producing through summer weather that would send true spinach straight into bolting.
Unusually tolerant of both extremes
Direct-seed only, sown 1 to 2 inches apart and covered a quarter inch deep, in rows 18 to 30 inches apart, then thinned to 6 to 10 inches. Orach tolerates both hot and cold weather better than most greens, and is best planted from early spring through midsummer, a much wider planting window than a heat-sensitive crop would allow.
Keep picking to keep it producing
Pick leaves once plants reach about a foot tall. The plant continues sending up new young leaves after picking, so a single planting can supply a steady harvest rather than a one-time cut.
Orach has no recorded companions or antagonists in our data. See the full companion guide for orach for how it’s tracked. At 4 plants per square foot, it’s a good bridge crop in the Garden Designer for the gap between spring spinach bolting and fall spinach going back in.
Source: Orach (Mountain Spinach): Key Growing Information, Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Companion planting guide for Orach (Mountain Spinach) · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 2-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Method: Direct sow: Direct-sow outside. Orach (Mountain Spinach) doesn't transplant well, or doesn't need the extra time indoors.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Orach (Mountain Spinach) plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 4 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 3-5 ft.
Varieties worth considering
- 'Ruby Red' orach: Johnny's Selected Seeds' primary orach offering, a colorful red-leaved strain of the same heat-tolerant spinach alternative; the growing requirements are the same as the plain green form. (source)
- 'Copper Plume' orach (best for: cut-flower filler, texture): Johnny's Selected Seeds markets this as a productive filler that shimmers in arrangements, the same edible species as Ruby Red but grown and sold with cut-flower use in mind. (source)
Cited from the source shown next to each variety. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.
Where to buy orach seeds
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page also go to other retailers we may earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a genuine consensus of positive, independent reviews. See the sources cited on each item.
See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing orach (mountain spinach)" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Orach (Mountain Spinach): A heat-tolerant spinach substitute that keeps producing through summer weather that would bolt true spinach, unusually tolerant of both hot and cold.
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