Quinoa
Chenopodium quinoa
Also called Quinua and Inca wheat
Garden plant · Herbs, veg & fruitRINSE THE SEED HARD BEFORE COOKING. The coating is bitter saponin and home-grown quinoa has far more of it than the washed grain in a packet — rub it under running water until the froth stops. The young leaves are also worth eating.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Medium
- Water
- Once a weekWater the ground — water at the base, in the morning, not over the leaves.
- Light
- Full sun
- Feed
- Every 21 days
- Humidity
- Low
- Hardiness
- Half-hardy — a light frost RHS H3, to -5°C
- Size
- 1.5 m tall · 0.4 m across
- Lifecycle
- Annual
- Origin
- The Andes
Is it safe for pets and people?
Affects dogs, cats, horses. Signs: vomiting, diarrhoea and drooling. Not listed under its own name — this follows Chenopodium ambrosioides, which is.
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
ASPCA does not name quinoa. It lists two other Chenopodium — Jerusalem oak and epazote — as toxic to dogs, cats and horses, and none of the genus as safe, so the warning is carried across from them rather than dropped.
Checked against ASPCA on 2026-09-22.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- Cooked grain that tastes soapy and bitter. The saponin coating has not been washed off — rub it under running water until the froth stops, which takes longer with home-grown than with a packet.Bitter grain · disorder
- Green shoots coming out of the seed head on the plant after a wet spell near harvest. Cut and dry it under cover as soon as the leaves have dropped; a week of rain at the wrong moment costs the crop.Sprouting in the head · disorder