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Growing baby spinach indoors


How To Grow Spinach Indoors

Spinach is a healthy and tasty vegetable and contains many nutrients that can help treat various diseases and health conditions, such as improving cognitive functions and fatigue. 

It will also increase your choice of leafy greens in the winter months. You can use and prepare it in different ways; young fresh leaves are mostly used for salads, the older and bigger leaves are usually cooked, and the excess leaves can be blanched and frozen, and saved for later. 

And the best part is you don’t need a garden to grow this healthy vegetable. Growing spinach indoors is easy; all you need is a window ledge or balcony. 

Table of Contents

Can You Grow Spinach Indoors Year-Round? 

The best part about growing spinach indoors is that you can grow it all year round, and not only that, spinach plants grow indoors very well.  

All you will need is water, potting soil/potting mix, and seeds. Also, containers, or a small pot or two that are at least 6–12-inches deep. 

Since growing spinach indoors in pots doesn’t need much care, you can grow spinach indoors with little to no experience in gardening and enjoy its health benefits. You just have to provide the right soil or potting mix and fertilizer; also, make sure your spinach plants receive regular water. 

Here are the steps for growing spinach indoors:

Different Types of Spinach That You Can Grow Indoors

First, you should know the three types of spinach plants; you can choose depending on your taste.

When choosing between different varieties of spinach you want to grow indoors, you have to consider how much sunlight you can provide and in what type of climate you live in. 

For a tropical climate, it’s best to choose varieties that perform well in hot and humid weather, such as Catalina, Indian Summer, Bloomsdale longstanding, and Malabar. 

For a more cold climate, it’s better to choose varieties that perform well in cold and winter tolerant types of spinach. These include Winter Bloomsdale and Tyee.

Growing Spinach in Pots

Choose a pot that’s about 6 to 10 inches deep, you don’t need very deep pots, but you’ll need wide pots to give enough room for the spinach plants to continue to grow and spread. 

You should sow spinach seeds about half an inch deep. Spinach seeds will germinate in around 7–14 days. Remember to keep the soil moist and cool during germination; the recommended temperature during germination is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. 

The key to fast-growing spinach is soil rich in organic matter with compost or fertilizer added to aid water retention. 

Seeds and Planting

If you’re planting spinach for the first time, it’s best to use seeds of different varieties. A week before planting, soak the spinach seeds in warm water for one day. This will increase the chance of seed germination. When you remove them from the water, gently dry them with a paper towel. 

After soaking the seeds in the water, place them in an airtight container and make sure they’re kept in a cool place for a week. This will retain enough moisture for the seeds to complete the first two stages of germination. When your spinach seeds are ready to plant, scatter the seeds around the pot and cover them with half an inch of soil. 

Growing Spinach Seedlings

You’ll need a seed tray or container with cells and universal soil to grow seedlings. Place a seed in each of the cells, at a depth of about half an inch into the soil. Moisten the soil and cover the crops with a film. Keep at the temperature from 65 degrees Fahrenheit to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. After 10 days, remove the film. When you see that your seeds are growing nicely and need additional space, transplant them into pots.

Spacing

You should provide enough space for spinach to grow. If you want to harvest young spinach leaves, then 3 inches will be enough. If you want to pick larger leaves, then give the plants more space, at least 5 to 6 inches.

Soil

When you’re growing spinach in pots or containers, use a loamy soil rich in organic matter. The soil pH should be neutral, and you should avoid soil that clogs the drainage holes; well-draining soil is the best choice to grow spinach indoors. 

Temperature and Light

Spinach is a cool-season crop, so optimal growing conditions should be between 50 degrees Fahrenheit to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Mature plants can even tolerate lower temperatures, down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit, but young spinach will bolt when exposed to temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Generally, the best temperature for growth is from 60 degrees Fahrenheit to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you grow spinach on a window sill or balcony, you should expose the plant to direct sunlight for at least 4 to 6 hours per day, depending on the spinach type. Although direct sunlight is best for growing spinach, it will also grow in partial shade. 

If you’re growing spinach indoors without access to sunlight, then LED lights are the best choice. In the early stages, seedlings will require between 14 and 15 hours of light per day, and between 8 and 10 hours of light is recommended for adult spinach plants. 

Watering and Care

Water spinach regularly and avoid exposing it to extreme heat. Try not to wet the foliage and keep the soil moist and not too soggy. Pots with drainage holes are vital for preventing this problem.

Growing spinach indoors doesn’t require any special care; all you need to do is water it regularly and, of course, don’t forget to fertilize to make the spinach grow faster. 

Fertilizing and Mulching

Nitrogen-based fertilizers are best for growing spinach. You can also use a balanced liquid fertilizer or even manure. Fish emulsion, manure tea, or compost will also provide your plant with the needed nutrients and promote growth. Keep in mind that you should apply fertilizers when the spinach has sprouted and not after it’s almost fully grown.

You should also mulch even if you grow spinach in pots; it will help retain moisture and improve the fertility of the soil. But be careful as over mulching can bury and suffocate the plant. 

Pests and Diseases

Since you’ll be growing spinach indoors, you don’t need to worry too much about pests. Still, keep an eye on leaf-eating insects such as Aphids and Leaf miners. 

You can avoid this problem by planting basilic, chamomile, or dill beside your spinach or in between spinach. These are known to keep pests away and manage the problem organically with no need for chemical sprays. 

Harvesting

Spinach leaves are ready for harvest when the plant has grown at least 5 or 6 leaves, and they’re 3 to 4 inches long. 

You can harvest small spinach leaves simply by cutting them with scissors at the stem. It’s best to start harvesting the outer, older leaves and working your way into the center of the plant. Leave the new inner leaves so they can continue to grow, and you can harvest them later. 

If the temperature is too humid or hot, you’ll see small yellow or green flowers developing on the plant pretty fast, so it’s important to keep cool growing conditions.

The flowering and bolting of the plant thicken the foliage, and the taste of spinach becomes more bitter. So for a better taste, it’s best to harvest the spinach before it starts flowering. 

Usage and Storage of Spinach

Spinach grows very quickly, so you’ll have to cut it regularly to keep it fresh. Newly harvested spinach juice is very refreshing, and young leaves can also be used for salads. If you cannot use it immediately, it can be blanched and frozen.

For older and larger spinach leaves, remove the stalks as they contain harmful and toxic substances. This is especially important if you feed small children spinach, as they can be more sensitive to poisoning.

Since spinach is rich in nitrates, reheating will make it toxic as it releases lutein, which poses a risk of poisoning. Don’t store the spinach for the next meal and don’t reheat it; it’s best to throw the leftovers away or eat them cold. 

5 Health Benefits of Spinach

  1. Spinach contains more than 15 different vitamins and minerals that are crucial for your health.
  2. It’s a rich source of antioxidants.
  3. It strengthens the immune system and helps with constipation.
  4. There’s more potassium in spinach than in bananas, and it’s a great source of vitamin A, so it’s good for eye health.
  5.  It also contains a lot of calcium and magnesium, which reduces the risk of developing diabetes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Long Does Spinach Take to Grow Indoors?

Spinach is a fast-growing plant. The time of growth varies depending on the type of spinach, but usually, it takes 6–8 weeks after you plant spinach to harvest.

Will Spinach Regrow After Cutting?

The answer is yes; you can cut the plant with scissors or a knife at the base of the leaf, and spinach will sprout again. As long as the growth point is not damaged and you keep the temperature cool enough, it will most likely regrow again for two or more harvests.

What Grows Well With Spinach?

If you’re thinking of expanding your small indoor garden, it’s good to know which vegetables you can and can’t plant next to your spinach. It will grow well together with lettuce, peas, and radish. But avoid planting it with potatoes or brassicas.

What if You Live in a Tropic Climate?

Spinach is a cool-season crop and tends to bolt in warmer climates, but growing it in tropical climates isn’t as hard as you might think. As mentioned above, you can grow a variety that does well in hot and humid climates. These include Catalina, Indian Summer, and Malabar.

You’ll need to provide shade and a cool temperature for indoors growing. In this case, it’s better if you grow spinach indoors, away from the window, and not on the balcony. You’ll also need to water more often to keep the soil moist and cool.  

Can You Eat Spinach That Has Bolted?

Bolting is a process that cannot be avoided with leafy greens such as cabbage, lettuce, and spinach. Once it starts to bolt, the leaves become tasteless or bitter, so they are no longer edible. 

You can try and pinch off the flower buds once it starts bolting, but this will only stop the process for a short time. All you can do is let the flowering process reach its end and then collect the seeds for next season’s harvest.

Final Words

Growing spinach indoors is very simple, and you don’t need to be an experienced gardener to grow spinach at home. It’s a fast-growing plant that can be used for several different kinds of food and preparation. You can steam and saute the leafy greens or make a salad or healthy juice from young leaves. 

It’s also rich in vitamin C and E; contains vitamin A, B1, B2, and B6, and many minerals such as magnesium, sodium, and calcium. It strengthens the immune system, eliminates constipation, speeds up carbohydrate metabolism, cares for your beautiful skin, hair, and nails, and has many more health benefits.

So if you live in an apartment and don’t have an outdoor garden, you can easily grow spinach inside. It’s beginner-friendly, and doesn’t need much additional care.

Once you discover the joys of gardening and preparing food with your homegrown spinach, you might want to “branch out” and expand your indoor home garden.

How to Grow Spinach Indoors

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Spinach is an ideal crop to grow indoors in containers. The spinach plants stay small and continue to grow and produce numerous harvests. Learn how to setup your containers and grow spinach indoors.

Spinach is a cool season crop that adapts well to indoor growing conditions, including cooler winters, and air-conditioned summers. Given its compact size, and love of cooler temperatures, spinach is a great choice for indoor gardening. Learn how you can grow spinach indoors all year.

Growing Spinach Indoors

We have a glorious sunroom on the second level of our house. It faces southward and has big old windows all the way around.

In the summer time I grow a lot of our potted edible plants in this sunroom. They love the bright light and lack of leaf eating insects.

In the winter this room gets plenty of light, but there is no insulation, so it is mighty chilly. Most of our plants move downstairs for the winter months.

In late autumn, I started wondering if I could grow cold weather crops in the sunroom and have fresh produce in winter. I grabbed an old window box from our shed and dumped some soil and compost inside. Tiny little spinach seeds were carefully poked into the soil. I moved it into the sunroom and waited.

Nothing happened.

The soil was a bit dry so I watered it and waited again. Still nothing. Then a light bulb went off. Literally! I realized I needed to warm the soil in order for the seeds to germinate. Our handy dandy heat lamp came to the rescue! I clipped it to the box, turned it on and waited once again. Victory!! After a few days, tiny little seedlings were popping up out of the soil.

I took care of the little babies for weeks, they grew and they grew. They were at baby spinach size in a few short weeks. Finally, they were ready to harvest. So, it’s official, you really can grow spinach in a window box!

Those of you who follow these posts know that we’ve had our fair share of garden failures so it’s nice to have something work out right once in a while.

How to Grow Spinach Indoors

Growing leafy green edibles indoors is very similar to growing houseplants. All they need is good quality soil, water, and sunlight.

What You’ll Need to Grow Spinach Indoors:

How to Plant Spinach in a Container:

  1. Fill the window box with potting mix.
  2. If using slow release fertilizer, follow the directions for the amount to use for your container. Add and mix to combine with the potting mix.
  3. Pre-moisten the potting mix before sowing your seeds. Add warm water into the window box and let it drain. You will want the soil mix slightly damp, but not soaking wet.
  4. Sow your spinach seeds. Go ahead and sow your seeds heavily and plant them about 2 inches apart. Push them slightly into the soil about 1/8-inch deep, cover, and mist with water.
  5. Place the window box on a heat mat.
  6. Check the window box every few days for germination, mist with water if the soil surface has dried out, and wait for seeds to emerge from the soil. Once the seeds sprout, remove the container from the heat mat and place in a sunny window.
  7. Water when the soil feels dry at the surface. You want to keep the soil moist but not waterlogged.
  8. Harvest baby spinach by snipping individual leaves from the outside of the plants. The center of the plant will continue to grow and produce more foliage.
  9. As the spinach plants get crowded, thin them to about 6 inches apart by cutting the entire plant right below its crown. This will give the remaining plants room to grow larger.

Spinach is finished growing when the plant bolts, or sends up a seed stalk. Since spinach is a cool season crop, hot weather and increased daylight naturally triggers spinach to bolt. Pull the plants, compost them, and try growing something else.

I hope our experience will encourage you to try growing spinach indoors in containers.

Do you want to experiment with growing other edibles indoors? Check out this article at Grow a Good Life: How to Grow an Indoor Garden.

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planting and care in the apartment

As a rule, spinach is grown in open ground , but in order to get useful macro- and microelements even in the middle of winter, many sow spinach seeds at home and grow them on the windowsill. If you can follow the simple rules of sowing and maintenance (create the necessary light and temperature conditions), you will have fresh and juicy greenery all year round, even if you do not have a summer house.

How to grow spinach at home on the windowsill will be described in detail below.

By the way! Many people dislike spinach because it tastes like “grass with grass” (not sour like sorrel). Indeed, this is a tasteless plant. But the neutral taste is great, you can make such delicious dressings! For example, the Caesar salad with spinach is very unusual.

Contents

Which varieties of spinach are suitable for growing on the windowsill

Before you start growing spinach on the windowsill, you should purchase quality planting material. And for this, first of all, carefully study the instructions on the package - familiarize yourself with the characteristics of the varieties in order to choose the most suitable for indoor cultivation.

As a rule, the following varieties of spinach are used for sowing, which tolerate greenhouse conditions well and give a bountiful harvest:

To determine the most suitable variety, it is worth planting several packages of seeds in different containers. Only after that you can understand which kind of spinach will suit you the most according to all criteria.

How to plant spinach on the windowsill: features, conditions and step-by-step instructions

After choosing the desired variety, you should start sowing work, namely: preparing the container, soil for growing, soaking the seeds. To do this, planting spinach at home requires approaching with skill and performing all stages of cultivation according to certain rules.

Growing container

The root system of spinach, for example, unlike sorrel, is quite shallow, so the container requires a small depth (12-15 cm).

Naturally, the pot must have drainage holes to drain excess moisture.

In addition, you can add a small layer of expanded clay or foam to the bottom of the planting container as drainage.

What soil to plant in

Spinach will grow well only in neutral soil.

In other words, spinach loves soil with an acidity level of around 6-7 pH!

You can purchase ready soil for growing vegetables such as cabbage, pumpkin, beans, peas.

Or make your own. To do this, take a neutral garden soil and mix it with compost or humus, as well as river sand.

Tip! It is recommended to decontaminate any soil, even purchased soil, in advance using one of the methods, for example, by steaming the oven so that all soil pests die under the influence of high temperatures. Then additionally shed with a solution of Fitosporin .

Seed preparation

It is not recommended to plant spinach with dry, unprepared seeds (unless it is pelleted, i.e. already processed seeds). The seeds have a dense external structure, so they should be pre-soaked for a day or two in water at room temperature (above 18 degrees).

And then (optional) hold for another 20-30 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate to disinfect seedlings from diseases.

Direct planting

Step-by-step instructions for sowing spinach seeds for further cultivation at home:

Please note! In the next video, the author uses unsuitable soil to grow spinach (wrong acidity). But in general, everything is shown very well and clearly.

Video: sowing spinach seeds for growing on the windowsill

Transplanting spinach from the open field into a pot for growing in the apartment

By the way! It is not necessary to grow spinach from seeds, it is much easier to take and transplant it from the garden.

All you need is to dig up the bushes in autumn and transplant them into a pot.

Further care and cultivation are carried out similarly to those sown with seeds (more on this later).

How to care for spinach on the windowsill at home

Spinach care is quite simple - maintain optimal light and temperature conditions, as well as water on time.

What should be the place to grow: light and temperature

Spinach is a relatively light-loving plant. For him, it is recommended to choose a well-lit southern window sill (either western or eastern, but better at least southwestern or southeastern) .

Optimum day length is 12-14 hours.

But in order for the sun to not burn too much on especially hot days, burning tender leaves, it is recommended to shade it.

By the way! Spinach does not like direct sunlight at all and a lot of sunlight, besides, it becomes bitter . ..

In late autumn, winter and early spring days, the shrub does not have enough daylight hours, especially when it is raining or just overcast outside. Therefore, for growing spinach indoors, it is recommended to additionally install phytolamps or full-spectrum LED lamps.

Spinach does not require very warm conditions. At a temperature regime of +15..+18 degrees , the leaves of the plant quickly gain strength and grow to optimal sizes.

A grown plant with 4-5 leaf blades can be grown at a lower temperature of +10..+14 degrees, but in this situation the growth of leaf blades will be somewhat slowed down.

Therefore, an insulated balcony or loggia, where the temperature is slightly lower than room temperature, is quite suitable for growing.

If conditions are too warm, spinach will wilt quickly, so it is recommended to keep the optimum cool temperature.

Watering

Watering should be carried out quite often and plentifully, spinach does not tolerate drying out of the soil.

It is strongly recommended to periodically spray overgrown leaf blades. This will saturate them with nutrient moisture and improve their appearance.

A low level of humidity provokes bolting, spinach throws out flower stalks, which should be promptly disposed of so that the plant does not waste extra strength.

Spinach does not require any special feeding.

Sowing and harvesting dates for domestic spinach

After sowing spinach, you can see its first shoots, even with pre-treatment (soaking), in about a week (sometimes earlier).

And the actual cutting of foliage (harvesting) will begin only when the plants have fully formed succulent leaves. There will be 5-8 pieces, 8-10 centimeters long. In early ripening varieties, this moment occurs approximately 30 days after the first shoots.

Tip! In order not to interrupt the process of constantly obtaining useful spinach foliage, you can regularly make new crops.

At harvest time, the leaves can be cut off completely, leaving only the outermost young leaves.

Harvest by carefully breaking the stem or cutting with scissors.

Do not pull or pluck the foliage as this may damage the root system.

Thus, you can grow spinach at home, on the windowsill, at any time: in spring, and in autumn, and even in winter. The main thing is to create optimal conditions for the plant and properly care for it (periodically water it). Growing spinach in an apartment will allow you to feast on healthy leaves at any time, adding them to soups or salads.

How to grow spinach on a windowsill, growing spinach from seeds

Spinach is an annual vegetable plant that resembles quinoa in its beneficial properties. Due to the high content of vitamins, protein, fiber and other trace elements, it is widely used in cooking. Many gourmets prefer this dietary product. Fresh leaves can be eaten, canned or boiled. Spinach is very popular in Western countries, it is used to prepare dishes for children. Spinach puree is a source of recovery of physical strength and has a healing effect on the body. Today, spinach is often consumed by many vegetarians and supporters of a healthy diet in Russia.

1 Features of growth and development

2 Preparation of the soil and utensils

3 Growing spinach from seeds

4 Growing spinach on the windowsill (video)

Features of growth and development

Spinach belongs to the group of long-day plants. This means that it needs long and intensive lighting for full development and flowering.

He can easily endure low temperatures. Seeds are able to germinate already at a temperature of 4 degrees. In a hot climate, the plant enters the flowering phase. Overripe leaves have already unpleasant taste properties.

Spinach has a high yield, which is achieved in a short period of time. 40 days after the appearance of the first shoots, you can get a batch of finished quality products.

Good yields are obtained when the crop is grown in fertile soil that has a slightly alkaline or neutral environment.

This plant needs constant soil moisture, but too much water can be detrimental. When growing spinach at home, certain parameters of indoor air humidity must be observed.

Preparing the soil and utensils

An excellent place to grow spinach in the room is the windowsill. Housewives do not have to spend a lot of time and effort to grow it.

In the summer and spring months, when planting seeds, you can not resort to an artificial light source, but in the autumn-winter period, additional lamps must be turned on. The duration of daylight hours in the cold season should be at least 10 hours. On cloudy days, it is also required to turn on artificial light for the growth of young shoots.

Plastic or wooden flowerpots 15-20 cm high can be used as a container for sowing seeds. Seeds must be planted at some distance from each other. In the prepared soil, shallow furrows are made and watered with water.

Ready-made soil mixtures used for flower crops can act as a nutrient substrate. They do not contain peat, which oxidizes the soil. However, the best option would be self-preparation of the soil. To do this, you need to mix one part of biohumus and two parts of coconut fiber, which protects the soil from drying out and prevents stagnant water. It is necessary to pour a small layer of expanded clay into the planting container, which will act as a kind of drainage. If there are difficulties with the acquisition of coconut fiber, then only biohumus can be used. It is periodically necessary to pour 1-2 teaspoons of perlite or vermiculite into it, which have the same properties as coconut fiber. These additives ensure the preservation of the soil mixture and protect it from decay.

Growing spinach from seeds

Seeds must be soaked in water at room temperature for a day before planting. Unlike lettuce, spinach seeds look slightly larger. The sowing depth is 10-15 mm. Prepared flowerpots are covered with plastic wrap on top so that the soil does not dry out. A week later, the first green shoots appear.

Glazed balconies or loggias are considered the ideal place to grow spinach. In such rooms, a constant humidity of the air is maintained. If it is not possible to place a container with seedlings on the balcony, then a window sill can be used for this purpose. However, one should remember the fact that spinach is a moisture-loving plant, and in winter the apartment air is extremely dry. Therefore, it is required to carry out regular spraying of young leaves from a spray bottle. Above the flowerpots, you can install a structure like a greenhouse, which will be a frame with a stretched plastic film and will make it possible to maintain a constant microclimate in the room.

Spinach is harvested for 2-3 months, and then the plant undergoes morphological changes and enters the shooting phase. With proper organization of planting and harvesting, this green crop can be eaten all year round.

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