Lamb's quarters
Chenopodium album
An upright herbaceous annual plant featuring alternate, rhombic-ovate leaves with wavy margins, often covered with a whitish, mealy powdery coating, and terminating in dense spikes of tiny greenish flowers.
- Light
- Full sun, requiring at least 6 hours of direct sunlight daily
- Water
- Moderate watering when soil feels dry to the touch; highly drought tolerant once established
- Growth
- Upright herbaceous annual growing from 1 to 5 feet tall with a branching habit and rapid growth rate
Care instructions
Prefers full sun exposures and well-draining soils. Water moderately during establishment, as it exhibits good drought tolerance once mature. Requires minimal fertilization and thrives in disturbed soils.
Growing details
Sunlight
Full sun, requiring at least 6 hours of direct sunlight daily
Watering
Moderate watering when soil feels dry to the touch; highly drought tolerant once established
Soil
Adaptable to a wide range of well-draining soil types, thriving best in nutrient-rich loams with a neutral to slightly alkaline pH
Hardiness zone
USDA zones 2 through 11, behaving as an annual across all zones
Growth habit
Upright herbaceous annual growing from 1 to 5 feet tall with a branching habit and rapid growth rate
Bloom season
Summer to early autumn, producing small, inconspicuous green flowers clustered in terminal and axillary spikes
Propagation
Propagated strictly by seeds, which drop profusely and germinate readily in disturbed soils
Common pests & issues
Generally resilient, though susceptible to occasional aphids and fungal leaf spots in overly humid conditions
Similar species
Can resemble other members of the Amaranthaceae family, such as Atriplex species (orach), but is distinguished by its specific leaf shape and mealy white coating on young shoots.