A very easily grown plant, it succeeds in sun or light shade in moist soils but prefers a rich well-drained light neutral to alkaline soil. Beets grow well in a variety of soils, growing best in a deep, friable well-drained soil abundant with organic matter, but doing poorly on clay. They prefer an open position and a light well-drained soil. The optimum pH is 6.0 - 6.8, but neutral and alkaline soils are tolerated in some areas. Some salinity may be tolerated after the seedling stage. Beets are notable for their tolerance to manganese toxicity. Beet is reported to tolerate an annual precipitation of 23 to 315cm, an average annual temperature range of 5.0 to 26.6°C and a pH of 4.2 to 8.2. Plants are tolerant of saline soils and respond positively if salt is added to non-saline soils at a rate of about 30g per square metre. Spinach beet is often cultivated by gardeners for its edible leaves, it does not make a very good commercial crop since the leaves quickly droop after being harvested and so do not stand the journey to market. This plant is a good hot weather substitute for spinach. The leaves are available all year round from successional sowings if the winters are not too severe. In severe winters it is possible to dig up some plants and move them to a protected area such as a greenhouse in order to produce fresh leaves. Plants usually self-sow freely if they are well-sited and the ground is disturbed by hoeing etc. A good companion for dwarf beans, onions and kohl rabi, though the growth of spinach beet is inhibited by runner beans, charlock and field mustard.

Leaves and leaf stems - raw or cooked like spinach. A very good spinach substitute, the leaves are large and easily harvested, yields are high. Some people dislike the raw leaves since they can leave an unpleasant taste in the mouth. Flowering stem - cooked. A broccoli substitute.

Seed - sow in situ in early April for the summer crop and again in early July to August for the winter and spring crop. It is also possible to obtain an earlier crop by sowing the seed in a tray in a greenhouse in March and planting out in April/May.

Not known in a truly wild situation.