How to grow spinach from seeds
Growing Spinach From Seed - The Complete How To Planting Guide
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Growing spinach from seed can be challenging for beginners, but it’s actually super easy! The key is knowing how and when to do it. So, in this post I will show you everything you need to know about how to grow spinach seeds, step by step.
Spinach is a fast, low maintenance vegetable that is actually very easy to grow from seed. But timing is everything!
The biggest mistake newbies make is sowing the seeds too late, only to watch the plants bolt right away. Another common mistake is using the wrong method for starting spinach seeds.
Don’t worry, I will break it all down, and make it simple for you! In this detailed guide, I’m going to cover everything from the best planting method, to when to start, and give you detailed sowing instructions.
I’ll also talk about germination time, seedling identification and care, fixing common problems, answer your FAQs, and much more! In the end, you’ll know everything about successfully growing spinach from seed.
Table of Contents
Growing Spinach From Seed
If you have ever tried starting spinach from seed, then you probably know first hand just how tricky it can be.
But don’t worry, once you learn the secrets for success, you’ll have a garden full of these yummy greens!
The best part is that these instructions work no matter what type of spinach seeds you want to grow. Woohoo!
Types Of Spinach Seeds To Grow
You may be surprised to learn that there are several varieties of spinach seeds that you could grow.
Some have slightly different flavors and textures, while others are slow bolting, or have larger leaves.
A few of my personal favorite varieties are Bloomsdale (bolt-resistant), Monstrueux Viroflay (large leaves), Lavewa (heat tolerant), Butterflay (large leaves), and Matador (slow to bolt).
Spinach seeds in my handRecommended Method For Sowing Spinach Seeds
Spinach doesn’t like to be transplanted, and doing so can trigger it to bolt prematurely.
So, it’s best to direct sow the seeds, rather than starting them indoors or winter sowing them.
In fact, I don’t even recommend trying to start them indoors – it’s a recipe for failure.
It’s actually really nice, because that means you don’t have to worry about buying any equipment or caring for the seedlings!
Related Post: 3 Seed Starting Methods That Every Gardener Should Try
Planting Spinach Seeds
It’s very important to plant spinach seeds using the best method, and at the right time. In this section, I’ll talk about how to get it right every time.
When To Plant Spinach Seeds
Like I mentioned above, growing spinach from seed is all about timing. The key to success is planting it during the cooler months of the year.
If you plant them too late, the seeds may not germinate because it’s too warm. And even if they do end up germinating, the heat will trigger the plants to bolt right away.
Since it prefers the cold, plant spinach seeds directly into the garden 4-6 weeks before your average last frost date, or as soon as your soil is workable in early spring.
You could also plant the seeds in late summer for a fall harvest, since it’s such a fast crop. It is cold hardy, so it won’t be killed off by spring or fall frosts.
If you live in a warmer climate with mild winters, sow the seeds once the weather cools down in the fall, and enjoy it through the winter.
You can stagger your harvests by sowing the seeds intermittently throughout the spring and/or fall, so the plants mature at different times.
Preparing Spinach Seeds For Planting
There’s nothing fancy you need to do before planting spinach seeds, no soaking nicking, or cold stratification is necessary.
If you want to try it, soaking spinach seeds before planting can help to speed up germination time.
But, since you’ll be sowing them directly into your garden, pre-soaking is not necessary.
Related Post: How To Grow Seeds: The Ultimate Seed Starting Guide
Spinach Germination Time
When planted in the right soil, spinach seeds germinate very quickly.
It only takes about 5-10 days for the seedlings to start emerging.
If the soil it too warm or too wet, it will inhibit germination. So, if your spinach seeds aren’t growing, then it could be too warm or soggy for them.
What Do Spinach Seedlings Look Like?
When they first pop out of the soil, baby spinach seedlings will have two long, narrow leaves. These are called the “seed leaves”. All of the ones that form after that are called “true leaves”.
The true leaves look like tiny spinach leaves, and it only takes a couple of days for those to start forming after the seed leaves unfurl.
Spinach seeds germinatingHow To Care For Spinach Seedlings
Since it’s best to direct sow them, you don’t need to worry too much about caring for the seedlings. Woohoo!
But below are a few tips to get them off on the right foot, you can read my complete care guide here.
Water
One of the reasons it’s so low maintenance is that, since it’s usually cool and wet in the spring, I rarely need to worry about watering my spinach plants.
Spinach likes a lot of water, but it doesn’t like wet or saturated soil. Make sure to sow the seeds in a spot in your garden that has fast draining soil, and never allow it to dry out completely.
Fertilizer
I like to top-dress my soil with a granular fertilizer before I plant the seeds to give them the extra nutrients they need.
As soon as spinach seedlings begin growing their first true leaves, you can start using liquid fertilizer on them. You can buy compost tea concentrate, or get tea bags and brew your own from scratch.
Spinach seedlings also love being fed with fish emulsion or liquid kelp, which are two of my favorites to use in my garden.
Baby spinach seedlingThinning Spinach Seedlings
If you planted more than one seed per hole, or sowed them too close together, then you’ll need to thin the seedlings.
Once they get to be about 2″ tall with a few true leaves, thin them out so they are about 4-6″ apart. Simply choose the healthiest one to keep, and then remove the rest.
Don’t pull them out though, or you could damage the shallow roots of the one you want to keep. Instead, cut them off at the base using a sharp pair of micro-tip snips or bonsai shears.
First true leaves on spinach plant seedlingHow Long From Seed To Harvest
As I’ve already mentioned a few times, spinach if very fast. So it will be one of the first things you harvest from your garden in the spring.
It takes about 45 days to grow spinach from seed to harvest. Some of the leaves may be large enough to pick before then, which is great.
But make sure you don’t remove all of the leaves when you harvest. They need to have some of them in order to stay alive and keep producing.
Related Post: Freezing Spinach With Or Without Blanching
Mature spinach plants in the gardenTroubleshooting Common Problems
There’s nothing worse than taking the time to plant all those seeds, only to have problems that you don’t know how to fix.
So, below I will list a couple of the most common problems you may have when growing spinach seeds, and how to fix them…
Spinach Seeds Not Germinating
If your seeds never germinated, then it was either too wet, too warm, or the seeds were old, and no longer viable.
Always plant fresh spinach seeds in well draining, cool soil for best results.
Seedlings Aren’t Growing
If your seedlings aren’t growing any larger, it could be because it’s too shady, the soil is either too wet or dry, or the weather is too hot for them.
Keep the soil evenly moist, and try feeding them to see if that helps to trigger new growth. Otherwise, next time adjust your placement and/or planting schedule.
Spinach Seedlings Bolting
There are two things that trigger spinach seedlings to bolt right away. They were either transplanted, or the temperature is too hot.
To avoid this next time, never transplant the seedlings, and always either plant the seeds in very early spring, or in the fall for a winter crop.
FAQS About Growing Spinach Seeds
In this section, I will answer some of the most frequently asked questions about growing spinach from seed. If you have a question that you can’t find the answer to, ask it in the comments below.
How many spinach seeds per hole?
How many spinach seeds you plant per hole depends on their age. If they’re brand new, then you only need to plant one per hole. Otherwise, if they are old or have a low viability rate, then sow 2-3 seeds per hole.
How deep do you plant spinach seeds?
The general rule of thumb is to plant a seed twice as deep as it is wide. So, spinach seeds should be planted about 1/2″ deep.
What is the best temperature to grow spinach seeds?
The best temperature to grow spinach seeds is between 50-70°F. They germinate more successfully when the soil is cool.
How long does it take to grow spinach from seeds?
On average, it takes about 45 days to grow spinach seeds from planting to harvest time.
Some varieties are faster than others, so check the packet for exact timing.
Do spinach seeds need light to germinate?
No, spinach seeds do not need light to germinate.
Should spinach seeds be soaked before planting?
Soaking spinach seeds before planting is optional. It can help to speed up germination, but it’s not necessary.
Why are my spinach seedlings dying?
The most common reasons why spinach seedlings die is improper watering (either too much or not enough), too much sun and heat, transplanting, or fertilizer burn.
They do best in cold weather and will start to die as soon as it gets hot, so plant them as early as possible.
They prefer the shade rather than full sun, and like evenly moist soil – never soggy or completely dried out.
Also, sow the seeds directly into the ground, because the seedlings do not transplant well.
How do you grow spinach seeds indoors?
I do not recommend growing spinach seeds indoors.
Transplanting the seedlings will trigger them to bolt. Instead, you should direct sow them right into your garden.
Growing spinach from seed can be tricky if you’ve never tried it before. Just remember, timing is everything. The secret to success is planting spinach seeds as soon as you possibly can, before the weather starts to warm up in the spring.
If you want to learn more about growing your garden from seeds using any method you want, check out my online Seed Starting Course! It’s a comprehensive online course that you can take at your own pace (and from anywhere in the world!), with lifetime access, and step-by-step guidance! Sign up and get started today!
Or do you just need a refresher or quick-start guide to get going? Then my Starting Seeds Indoors eBook is just what you need!
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Share you tips for growing spinach from seed in the comments section below!
Steps For Planting Spinach Seeds
It’s easy to plant spinach seeds indoors or outside.
Simply follow these step-by-step instructions.
Materials
- Spinach seeds
- Water
Tools
- Hand trowel
- Soil thermometer (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare the soil - Loosen up the soil, and remove any weeds, or large rocks and sticks. Amend poor soil with compost or worm castings, and then mix an organic granular fertilizer into it before sowing the seeds.
- Figure out the spacing - You can either space the seeds 2" apart, and then thin them later. Or space them 4-6" apart if you don't want to thin the seedlings.
- Plant the seeds - Spinach seeds should be planted 1/2" deep. If you're using fresh seeds, then you only need to plant one per hole. Otherwise, if they are old, then plant 2-3 per hole. You can either lay the seeds on top of the soil, and gently push them down, or make holes first and drop them in.
- Cover the seeds - Once you're done sowing the seeds, cover them with soil, and gently press it down. Don't pack it tight, but just enough so that the soil will come in contact with the seeds.
- Water - Use a low setting on your garden hose so you don't displace the seeds, then water the bed until the soil is evenly moist. Don't overdo it though, the soil should not be completely saturated or soggy.
How Do I Grow Spinach? | Planting & Harvesting Guide
Spinach is a cool-season plant that’s one of the first crops of spring and a great fall crop as well. You’ll enjoy growing this undemanding plant and will enjoy eating it even more. Harvest spinach any time to enjoy raw in salads or cook it up in seconds for a delicious side dish that’s loaded with vitamins and minerals. If you want to grow spinach in your garden, here’s everything you need to know.
You can also download my How Do I Grow Spinach? one-sheet and keep the free resource handy for your reference.
Spinach is an undemanding plant that’s a joy to grow and even more of a joy to eat.
When, Where and How to Plant Spinach
Spinach can be either sown directly into the garden or started from seeds indoors. For the least work and the most convenience, seedlings can also be purchased from a nursery in spring.
To give spinach a head start, plant seeds in sterile seed-starting mix indoors about six weeks before the last expected frost date. The seeds will germinate one to two weeks later in soil that is between 60 and 68 degrees. If growing in a room that stays cool, consider using a seed-starting mat that will raise the temperature of the soil.
Spinach is frost tolerant, so it can go in the ground long before many other crops. When spinach seedlings have two true leaves and when there are four or fewer weeks remaining until your last frost date, the seedlings may be transplanted outdoors.
Seeds can be planted outdoors as soon as the soil is workable in spring — about six weeks before the last expected frost — and they will germinate as the days warm.
To germinate seeds faster and more reliably, there is a process called “priming.” A week before sowing spinach seeds indoors or out, soak seeds in room temperature water overnight or up to 24 hours. Next, place the seeds on a paper towel to air dry for one or two days. Once the seeds appear dry, place them in an airtight container and store the container in a cool place. The seeds will have soaked up and retained enough water to stimulate the first stages of germination. Wait at least five days, but no more than seven, and sow the seeds.
Primed spinach seeds will germinate both faster and more uniformly: In about five days, the grass-like seedlings will emerge.
Spinach seeds last up to three years in storage. If in doubt about the age or viability of spinach seeds, prime and sow a few seeds early to test the batch. If the test seeds don’t germinate, it’s time for a new packet.
For a steady harvest over several weeks, a good strategy is to plant a new crop every 10 days.
Each crop can be sown directly, or you can stagger plantings of both seeds and seedlings. Continue these succession plantings until it’s time for summer crops to go in. When late summer comes, start up again for fall crops.
Spinach grows well in a wide variety of soils, but like most crops, it does best when the soil is well amended with lots of organic matter, especially compost. The ideal pH range for spinach, like many common vegetable crops, is 6.5 to 7.0. A soil test can tell you if you are near the target and, if not, what amendments can be added to the soil.
Spinach will grow best in full sun — six to eight hours of direct sunlight — or partial shade.
Follow the spacing instructions that come on the seed packets for the variety you have, or plant just a little denser with a plan to later eat the baby spinach that you will remove while thinning the crop.
Spinach can be planted outdoors before most crops can because it is frost-tolerant.
Types & Varieties of Spinach
There are two main types of spinach: Savoy and smooth-leafed.
Savoy spinach and semi-savoyed spinach have dark green leaves characterized by their wavy or puckered leaves, and they include some of the best varieties for growing in cold weather. And yet, some savoy spinach varieties are adapted to withstand heat, offering the best of both worlds.
Smooth-leafed spinach, also called flat-leaf spinach, is the kind you often see in salads. It can be harvested as baby greens for sweeter, more tender leaves, or allowed to grow.
Auroch is a fast-growing smooth-leafed spinach that performs best in fall, winter and early spring, with a high resistance to downy mildew. It’s ready for harvest in 24 days.
Bloomsdale is a classic variety of savoy spinach that withstands heat better than others, so it offers the best of both worlds, and it’s renowned for its garden-fresh flavor. In 50 days, it produces thick, succulent, dark-green leaves that are very sweet in salads.
When planted in autumn, Bloomsdale will overwinter and mature in the early spring, though it’s best sown in early spring for late spring and early summer harvests.
Gazelle is a smooth-leafed spinach with uniform leaves and bunches that make it perfect for baby leaf harvest. It’s also highly downy mildew resistant and ready for harvest in just 26 days.
Palco matures in 38 days and is adaptable as both a cool-season or warm-season crop. It is a flat-leaf spinach that may be harvested as baby greens or enjoyed after attaining its full size. It is both bolt and mildew resistant.
Red Tabby is a red-veined smooth-leafed spinach with angular leaves in an upright growing habit. It matures in a month and is downy mildew resistant.
Renegade has fleshy, round, smooth, dark green leaves and sweet, tender stems. It’s a flat-leaf spinach that matures in 42 days.
Space is a slightly savoyed spinach with medium green leaves that are highly resistant to downy mildew and mature in just 25 days.
It is versatile — grow it in all seasons.
Spinach comes in a wide variety of shapes, textures growing habits and even colors.
Watering Spinach
Spinach is a thirsty crop that enjoys up to 1.5 inches of water a week. If it hasn’t rained that much in a week, make up the difference with supplemental irrigation. Water under the foliage, right at ground level, to avoid wetting the leaves, which invites plant diseases. When growing spinach, it’s really nice to have a drip irrigation system for a slow and consistent application of water — but it’s not necessary as long as you keep on top of watering the garden when Mother Nature fails to.
A 2-inch layer of organic mulch such as shredded leaves, pine bark or straw will help keep the soil cool and moist between waterings.
Organic mulch around spinach plants will keep the soil moist between waterings.
Fertilizing Spinach
As long as you have good rich soil, spinach isn’t a demanding plant.
But it can help to add some organic nitrogen-based fertilizer — like alfalfa, soybean meal or blood meal — at planting time. Adding compost before planting will also help the plants along, and balancing the pH will ensure the nutrients in the soil are readily available to the plants.
Spinach Pests & Diseases
When it comes to pests and diseases, spinach is a gardener’s dream since it rarely succumbs to any serious problems.
Provide adequate spacing to allow for good air circulation to avoid mildew. If downy mildew does become a problem, practice crop rotation or choose resistant varieties.
Proactively check for slugs, which are easily controlled with a number of environmentally-friendly options, including handpicking, placing bowls of beer near the plants at soil level, or using a pet-safe iron phosphate bait like Sluggo.
Spacing spinach adequately at planting time can reduce instances of mildew later.
Harvesting Spinach
And of course, the best part of spinach is eating it.
You can harvest spinach whenever you want. This is one of those cut-and-come-again plants that I love so much since new leaves will resprout to replace the ones you cut. Simply snip away individual leaves as soon as they’re big enough to use. Or you can cut the entire plant about an inch above the soil level. Cutting encourages new growth and another crop of leaves and that makes me a very happy and healthy gardener!
When spinach bolts — that means it has sent up a flower stalk and “gone to seed” — it becomes bitter. This happens when the weather heats up in summer. At this point, the plant is done. Pull it out and add it to the compost pile, and plant your next crop in its place.
To harvest spinach, snip away individual leaves as soon as they’re big enough to use, or cut the entire plant about an inch above the soil level. Cutting encourages new growth and another crop of leaves.
What are your secrets to growing spinach successfully? Let us know in the comments below.
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Links & Resources
Some product links in this guide are affiliate links. See full disclosure below.
Episode 045: Succession Planting: Practical Tips for Growing More Food
Episode 094: How to Start and Care for Seedlings Indoors: My Steps for Success
Episode 122: Fall Vegetable Garden Success: Best Plants and Tips for Cool-Season Growing
Episode 179: Plant Partners: The Science-based Benefits of Companion Planting, with Jessica Walliser
joegardener blog: How Do I Grow Herbs?
joegardener blog: How Do I Grow Strawberries?
joegardener blog: How Do I Grow Cabbage?
joegardener blog: How Do I Grow Onions?
joegardener blog: How Do I Grow Artichokes?
Joegardener blog: How Do I Grow Brussels Sprouts?
Joegardener blog: How Do I Grow Peppers?
Joegardener blog: How Do I Grow Peas?
How Do I Grow Spinach? one-sheet
joegardenerTV YouTube: Best Mulch for a Vegetable Garden
joegardenerTV YouTube: Seed Germination – Easy Tricks for More Success
joegardener blog: Powdery Mildew Prevention & Control
joegardener Online Gardening Academy™: Three popular courses on gardening fundamentals; managing pests, diseases & weeds; and seed starting.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Beginning Gardener Fundamentals: Essential principles to know to create a thriving garden.
joegardener Online Gardening Academy Growing Epic Tomatoes: Tomato expert Craig LeHoullier joins me in leading this course on how to grow healthier, productive tomato plants and how to overcome tomato-growing challenges. You can sign up to be notified when enrollment opens.
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Sluggo
Disclosure: Some product links in this guide are affiliate links, which means we would get a commission if you purchase. However, none of the prices of these resources have been increased to compensate us. None of the items included in this list have any bearing on any compensation being an influencing factor on their inclusion here.
The selection of all items featured in this post and podcast were based solely on merit and in no way influenced by any affiliate or financial incentive, or contractual relationship. At the time of this writing, Joe Lamp’l has professional relationships with the following companies who may have products included in this post and podcast: Rain Bird, Corona Tools, Milorganite, Soil3, Exmark, Greenhouse Megastore, High Mowing Organic Seeds, Territorial Seed Company, Wild Alaskan Seafood Box and TerraThrive. These companies are either Brand Partners of joegardener.com and/or advertise on our website. However, we receive no additional compensation from the sales or promotion of their product through this guide. The inclusion of any products mentioned within this post is entirely independent and exclusive of any relationship.
growing from seeds in open ground and at home, harm and benefits, photo
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Content
- Planting and care for spinach
- Plant Spinach - Description
- Spinach sowing
- When to plant spinach
- Growing spinach from seeds
- Growing spinach on the windowsill
- How to grow spinach at home
- Growing spinach in open ground
- when
- Planting spinach in soil spinat Spinach nutrition
- What to plant after spinach
- Spinach pests and diseases
- Spinach diseases
- Spinach pests
In the middle of the 7th century, along the Great Silk Road, spinach came to China, where it was called the “Persian vegetable”.
In Christian Europe - first in Sicily and Spain - spinach became known around the 13th century, but then a form of the plant was cultivated that is now forgotten. In Italy of the 15th century, green spinach was eaten during Lent, and in France, the Italian Catherine de Medici introduced the fashion to serve spinach at the table. Since the middle of the 16th century, spinach of the modern type has already been grown in Europe: broad-leaved, without bitterness and with round seeds. In the first third of the 20th century, spinach boomed in popularity in the United States and Western countries because it was mistakenly believed to contain an incredible amount of iron. Remember cartoons about the sailor Popeye? However, later it turned out that there is 10 times less iron in spinach: the researcher simply forgot to put a comma in the number ... The excitement around spinach gradually subsided, but nevertheless, its producers erected a monument to the sailor Popeye in Texas in gratitude for popularizing the vegetable.
In Russia, spinach began to be eaten in the middle of the 18th century, but until the end of the next century it remained a little-known "master's" vegetable, which was served at the table with croutons and an egg, and even then spinach in Russia failed to gain wide popularity.
Currently, this crop is most in demand in China and the United States, and in America, three-quarters of the spinach crop is sold fresh. Spinach consumption in the United States has almost returned to the levels of the middle of the 20th century. Today, young spinach, the so-called baby spinach, with tender leaves up to 5 cm long, is gaining ground on the market.
Planting and caring for spinach soil - in the second half of May. Sowing seeds of early varieties directly into the ground - at the end of April, after which seeds can be sown by the conveyor method every two weeks: from sowing to harvesting - 5 weeks. Late varieties can be sown until mid-August to harvest in 6-7 weeks. Before winter, spinach seeds can be sown 6-8 weeks before the first frost - in mid-October.
- Lighting: bright sunlight, partial shade and even shade.
- Soil: well-drained, slightly acidic loam, pH 6.5-7.0.
- Watering: for each m² of garden watering can with a sprinkler or a hose with a sprinkler head, a bucket of water is poured. In heat and drought, spinach is watered three times a week.
- Top dressing: if spinach growth is slow, apply nitrogen fertilizer to the soil, but if the soil was fertilized before sowing, top dressing is unlikely to be needed.
- Propagation: seed - seedling and non-seedling.
- Pests: mining and beet flies, gamma cutworm caterpillars, aphids, common mole crickets and boletus flies.
- Diseases: fusarium, peronosporosis, anthracnose, curliness, viral mosaic, ascochitosis, cercosporosis and ramulariasis.
- Properties: Spinach is the most valuable dietary product with a laxative, diuretic, anti-inflammatory and tonic effect.
Read more about growing spinach below
Spinach plant - description
What does spinach look like? The height of the plant is from 25 to 50 cm or more. Its stems are bare, simple and branched. The lower basal leaves of spinach are petiolate, triangular-lanceolate, often with elongated lateral ears, or oval, oblong-ovate, entire, contracted into a petiole. The upper, and often the middle leaves are oblong, pointed, with a wedge-shaped base. Anther flowers with four stamens form a spike-paniculate inflorescence, and pistillate flowers are in dense glomeruli located in the axils of the leaves. The fruits of spinach are spherical or two-horned, sometimes soldered together, but, nevertheless, do not form seed.
Rosettes of spinach leaves, which form at the very beginning of the growing season, are used as food.
Sowing spinach for seedlings
When to plant spinach
Spinach, like any other herb, can be grown in a greenhouse, at home or in open ground.
You can get the earliest greens if you pre-grow spinach seedlings. To do this, in late March or early April, spinach seeds are sown in boxes, paper or plastic cups filled with a moist, loose, disinfected substrate consisting of biohumus (1 part) and coconut fiber (2 parts). A layer of expanded clay 2-3 cm thick is placed under the substrate. Stubborn spinach seeds with a dense shell are soaked in water for two days before sowing, changing it every 6-8 hours. Then they are placed for disinfection for several hours in a pink solution of potassium permanganate, after which they are dried to flowability.
- Succinic acid as a guarantee of abundant flowering and productivity - we begin to use even on seedlings
Growing spinach from seeds
Spinach is sown to a depth of 1-1.5 cm, then the surface is slightly compacted, the crops are covered with film or glass and kept in a warm place until germination. As soon as the seeds begin to germinate, the film is removed, and the container is moved to the southeast or south window sill - the seedlings that have appeared will need a lot of light.
But spinach seedlings are undemanding to warmth: it can be grown even on an unheated loggia. Another condition for the successful development of seedlings, in addition to good lighting, is to keep the substrate slightly moist. Spinach is planted outdoors when the soil is warm. After transplanting, install metal arcs above the bed at a height of about 20 cm and cover the seedlings with agrofibre in case of night frosts and intense spring sun.
Growing spinach on the windowsill
How to grow spinach at home
If you want to grow spinach on the windowsill, keep in mind that the life of the bush is no more than two months: after a few cuts, the spinach releases a flower arrow, and its leaves lose their necessary for food quality. How to grow spinach at home? When growing a crop in the spring-summer period, the seedlings do not require supplementary lighting, but if spinach is grown from seeds in the autumn or winter, it can give a good harvest only if you organize daily additional lighting for it for 2-3 hours after the Sunset.
Sowing of prepared spinach seeds is carried out to a depth of 1-1.5 cm in the same substrate in which spinach seedlings are grown. Under the substrate, a layer of drainage 2-3 cm high is laid in the dishes. Spinach can be sown in boxes or containers at least 15 cm deep or in 1-2-liter pots, or you can grow seedlings in small cups, and in the development stage of seedlings 2- 4 real leaves, pick them into a permanent dish. Crops are covered with a film until germination.
Growing and caring for spinach at home is very easy. The optimum temperature for the development of spinach seedlings is 15 to 18 ºC, watering should be regular and sufficient, especially in summer, as drying out of the substrate provokes premature bolting. In addition, you will need to spray your spinach daily in the early morning or after sunset. As for dressings, when sowing spinach in fertile soil, they are not needed. Spinach greens for cutting will ripen, depending on the variety, 3-5 weeks after sowing, but after 1-2 months the bush will go into the arrow and new greens will stop growing.
Growing spinach outdoors
When to sow spinach outdoors
Since spinach is a hardy plant, it can be grown outdoors without the seedling stage. For a spring harvest, spinach is sown 4-6 weeks after the last spring frosts, and for an autumn harvest, 6-8 weeks before the first autumn cold. In the spring, as soon as it warms up and the sun shines for 14 hours a day, small flowers will appear on the spinach - a process called flowering or shooting, and it makes the leaves of the plant unfit for consumption. Therefore, many gardeners prefer to sow spinach in the fall. In the spring, at the end of April, early varieties of spinach are sown. You can sow the plant several times every 15-20 days. No more than 5 weeks pass from sowing to harvesting. Late varieties are sown until mid-August - they give a harvest in 6-7 weeks.
You can also sow spinach before winter - in mid-October. Before the onset of winter, the plant manages to form small rosettes, and in the spring, spinach left to winter in the ground will sprout very early, and in a couple of weeks you can include it in your diet.
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Planting spinach in the ground
Planting and caring for spinach in the field is quick and easy. The site for the plant should be sunny, and although the plant will also grow well in the shade, its productivity will be lower than when grown in the sun. Spinach prefers drained slightly acidic loamy soils with a pH of 6.5-7.0. You can adjust the acidity of the soil by adding limestone to it: dolomitic limestone is added to soil that contains little magnesium, and calcite limestone is added to soil with a high magnesium content. Do this in the fall or at least 2-3 months before sowing.
Since the soil for spinach needs to be rich in organic matter, alfalfa, soybean or blood meal is added to the soil for deep digging. Or they dig up a site with mineral fertilizers from the following calculation: 30 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium chloride per 1 m². Before spring sowing, urea is introduced into the soil - 20 g per 1 m².
Spinach is sown in rows to a depth of 2 cm with row spacing of 20-30 cm, placing the seeds at a distance of 5-8 cm from each other. After planting the seeds, the surface is slightly compacted with the back of the rake, watered, covered with burlap for 3-4 days, and a plastic film is thrown onto the arched supports installed in advance at a height of about 20 cm. Seeds germinate at a temperature of 2 to 5 ºC in about 10-14 days.
When the seedlings have formed a rosette of 2-3 leaves, thin out the spinach - ideally the bushes should grow at such a distance from each other that they barely touch the leaves. Spinach care consists of regular watering, weeding, loosening the soil around the plants and protecting the spinach from the sun with a shade net when the air temperature rises to 26 ºC.
Watering spinach
Spinach is very moisture-loving. For watering it, it is better to use a hose with a sprinkler nozzle or a garden watering can with a splitter, but remember that with strong pressure you can wash away fragile shoots.
Approximately one bucket of water is consumed per m² of beds. In dry, hot weather, watering is carried out at least three times a week, and in order to prevent water from spreading, make a furrow around the perimeter of the beds. After watering, when the water is absorbed and the surface of the soil is slightly dry, loosen the soil around the plants and remove the weeds. If you notice flower arrows on spinach, break them off. Fertilizing spinach
If spinach grows well in the field, then it has enough nutrients in the soil, but if spinach grows slowly, feed it with a nitrogen fertilizer: cudweed meal or blood meal. Fertilizers are applied to a depth of several centimeters, after which the site is watered. In general, spinach needs top dressing only if the area was not fertilized before sowing or planting seedlings.
What to plant after spinach
To prevent soil depletion, spinach can be grown on one plot with a break of 3-4 years. According to the laws of crop rotation, roots are usually grown after tops, that is, after spinach, you can plant Jerusalem artichoke, swede, radish, radish, daikon, katran, turnip and other tuberous or root plants.
- Illumination for seedlings - how can you get by with inexpensive fluorescent lamps?
Pests and diseases of spinach
Diseases of spinach
The most harmful diseases of spinach are fusarium, downy mildew, anthracnose, curl and viral mosaic. Spinach can also be affected by diseases such as ascochitosis, cercosporosis and ramulariasis.
Fusarium wilt, or root rot is a dangerous fungal disease that affects seedlings and young plants. In specimens affected by Fusarium, the color becomes dull, they begin to lag behind in growth, their leaves lose turgor, turn yellow, and the plants die. The process begins with the lower leaves, and when the plant is dug up, its roots are found to be rotten. You will not succeed in curing spinach from fusarium, especially if the process has covered the entire plant, so the affected bushes must be removed from the garden. As a preventive measure, you need to grow disease-resistant varieties of spinach, make sure that the bushes do not grow too close to each other, regularly loosen the soil around them and remove weeds, and the seeds must be disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate before sowing.
Downy mildew, or Downy mildew is a fungal disease that appears as yellowish spots on the upper side of spinach leaves, while a grayish coating forms on their underside. Then the spots acquire a brown-brown hue, the leaves droop, wrinkle, dry out and crumble. The disease progresses in cool damp weather. Ways to protect against peronosporosis, as well as from root rot, are mainly preventive, since when using chemical preparations, the toxic substances contained in them, accumulating in the leaves, will make them unsuitable for food. Folk remedies for fighting fungal diseases can come to the rescue:
- treatment of plants with a solution of 10 drops of 5% pharmacy iodine in 1 liter of milk, which is then mixed with 9 liters of water;
- treatment of spinach with an ash solution: 2 cups of ash are brewed with three liters of boiling water, allowed to cool, filtered through a triple layer of gauze, diluted with 10 liters of water and spinach is treated with this solution;
- 200-300 g of onion peel are poured into 10 liters of water, brought to a boil, allowed to infuse for 1-2 days, filtered and treated with infusion of the plant;
- 1-1.
5 g of potassium permanganate is diluted in 10 liters of water and sprayed with a solution of spinach.
Anthracnose covers the leaves and their petioles with rounded dark spots, in the center of which there are black raised pads.
Cercosporosis also affects the leaves and stems of spinach. First, rounded spots with a diameter of 2-4 mm are formed on them - red-brown with an ashy middle. Then the spots grow, merge with each other, the tissue inside the spots becomes thinner, dries and spills out, leaving holes in the leaf plates.
With ascochitosis , spots also appear on leaves and stems: convex, of various shapes and colors, but most often brown with a dark border. Affected tissues gradually dry out.
Ramularia blight, or leaf spot covers spinach leaves with grey-brown spots with dark edges. With the development of the disease, the leaves die.
Cucumber mosaic viruses and can be stored in soil, on seeds and plant debris and transmitted by sucking insects.
Viruses penetrate the plant through damaged tissues, their presence is manifested by the formation of yellow or light green strokes and star-shaped spots on spinach leaves, which gradually merge with each other. The leaves are deformed, stunted, become dwarfed. Leaf curl results in thickening and uneven growth of the leaf tissue, causing the leaf to curl, become wavy and blistered. Curly hair is often accompanied by necrosis, spinach leaves dry up and fall off.
Curly and Mosaic are viral diseases and there is no way to cure them - the plants must be destroyed. And with fungal diseases, you can fight with preventive methods and folk remedies, which we have already described to you.
Spinach pests
Spinach pests are also numerous. Among them are mining and beet flies, gamma scoop caterpillars, aphids, common bears and babanukhs.
Miner fly lays its eggs in the leaves of the plant, and the larvae that appear in June eat their flesh, which kills the spinach.
You can scare away the pest by alternating rows of spinach with rows of beets, which the fly does not tolerate. However, do not sow spinach in an area where the beets have just been harvested, as it can get root rot. Green or brown cutworm is one of the worst leaf-destroying pests of spinach. You can fight caterpillars by treating bushes with tobacco or pepper infusion, as well as infusion of tomato tops. And don't forget to weed the garden regularly.
Beet fly also lays eggs on spinach leaves. Destroy it by treating the plant with a two percent solution of Phosphamide.
Aphid is a sucking insect that makes punctures in young leaves of plants, sucking juice out of them, and often infecting them with viral diseases. Processing spinach with an ash-soap solution will help you cope with aphids: 200-300 g of ash should be boiled in a bucket of water for 30 minutes, then cool, strain and add 40 g of grated soap or liquid dishwashing detergent.
Most likely, you will not be able to get rid of aphids at once, but if you spray the spinach with an ash-soap solution 4-5 times with an interval of several days, the aphids will disappear. Medvedka is a large and dangerous pest that feeds not only on plants, but also on small insects. She can move underground, on the ground and even through the air, which makes it very difficult to fight her. Nevertheless, it must be destroyed, since not only spinach, but also other garden and garden plants can suffer from this pest. The main thing is to find its nest and all the passages to it in the footsteps of the bear, and the tracks are best seen after rain. The discovered nest must be very carefully dug out so as not to frighten away the insect in it, put into a bucket and burned, and a drug to destroy the bear or pour soapy water into each passage in case there is no pest in the nest.
Babanukha is a cabbage or horseradish leaf beetle that also eats spinach leaves with pleasure.
These bugs are best picked by hand and destroyed, and after harvesting, it is advisable to dust the spinach with a mixture of wood ash with hot red pepper powder and dry mustard. Types and varieties of spinach
According to the maturation period, garden spinach varieties are divided into early-ripening, mid-ripening and late-ripening. The best early maturing varieties include the following:
- Gaudry is a variety ripening for food in 2-3 weeks. It can be sown both in early spring and late autumn, both in open and closed ground. The diameter of the rosette of leaves of the Gaudri variety is about 23 cm;
- Gigantic is one of the most well-known cultivars producing leaves two weeks after sowing. This variety is one of the best for canning. Rosette of elongated fleshy leaves sometimes reaches a diameter of 50 cm;
- Virofle - an early maturing French variety, prone to the early formation of a flower arrow.
The rosette of oval, fleshy, tender and smooth, greenish-yellow leaves reaches a diameter of 30 cm. The plant is resistant to cold, so it can be sown in early spring; - Stick is a high-yielding variety cultivated in our country since 1995, used both for fresh consumption and for canning. The rosette of leaves up to 19 cm long and up to 14 cm wide is half raised and reaches a diameter of 30 cm.
Of the mid-season varieties most often grown:
- Matador - frost-resistant and moisture-loving, as well as not prone to early bolting, a productive variety of Czech selection, which gives leaves already three weeks after sowing. The plant has a medium-sized compact semi-vertical rosette consisting of smooth, glossy oval grey-green leaves;
- Bloomsdalesky is a new variety of Dutch selection, resistant to bolting, with a high rosette with a diameter of about 25 cm. Leaves of deep dark green color, smooth, juicy and fleshy, in slightly pronounced bubbles;
- Krepysh is a high-yielding frost-resistant variety, not prone to early bolting, with a rosette of about 25 cm in diameter of semi-raised, glossy, obovate green leaves with slight vesicles.
Late-ripening varieties of spinach include:
- Victoria is a moisture-loving and high-yielding variety with resistance to peronosporosis and bolting, which gives foliage 30-35 days after sowing. This plant has a compact rosette with a diameter of 14-19cm with dark green with a bluish tinge, strongly bubbly leaves up to 10 long and up to 7 cm wide;
- Spokane is a high yielding hybrid dutch variety that is resistant to flowering and is recommended for both fresh consumption and canning. It has rounded, wavy, wrinkled-bubbly dark green leaves 10-14 cm long and 6-11 cm wide, collected in a compact medium-sized rosette;
- Varyag – a variety with an elevated compact rosette of large green oval medium-bubbly leaves of a slightly sour taste with medium-length petioles. The variety is suitable for salads and soups.
In addition to those described, spinach varieties such as Khorovod, Povar, Zhirnolistny, Popeye, Nikitos, Normal, Prima, Casta, Melodiya, Mazurka, Virtuoso, Tarantella, Ladya and Dolphin, Puma, Space, Emerald hybrids have proven themselves well.
Also known in cultivation is the so-called New Zealand spinach, or tetragonia, an annual plant of the Aizaceae family. This plant is not related to spinach, although the nutritional value and taste characteristics of these plants are very similar, and in some respects tetragonia even surpasses spinach.
But many-leaved spinach, or zhminda, or spinach-raspberry is a relative of garden spinach and is valuable not only for tasty and healthy leaves that are added to soups and salads, but also for berries similar to mulberry, from which jelly, compote and jam are cooked.
Malabra or Ceylon spinach, or Basella, from the Basella family, is a herbaceous plant, a creeper whose fleshy leaves are tasty both raw and cooked. A refreshing drink is obtained from the infusion of the leaves. In nature, Basella grows in the tropics and subtropics of Africa and America, and in our climate it can be grown in the garden as an annual plant.
Benefits and harms of spinach
Medicinal properties of spinach
Spinach has many medicinal properties.
Why is spinach useful? What valuable substances are contained in its leaves? They include carbohydrates, proteins and fats, fiber, organic, unsaturated and saturated acids, sugars, starch, vitamins A, C, H, E, PP, K, B vitamins, sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, copper , iodine, zinc, potassium, selenium and manganese. It is important that vitamins C and A contained in spinach are retained even after cooking. And the iron in spinach is in a form that is easily absorbed by humans and prevents the formation of cellulite. Due to the fiber contained in spinach, the intestines are cleansed, which helps to get rid of excess weight. Spinach normalizes peristalsis and eliminates constipation.
Spinach is recommended for diseases of the nervous system, anemia, malnutrition, diabetes, enterocolitis, gastritis, hypertension and anemia. Since the plant has a laxative, diuretic, anti-inflammatory and tonic effect and is perfectly absorbed by the body, it is useful for those recovering from a serious illness, pregnant women and children.
Spinach strengthens the heart muscle and relieves insomnia, and due to the lutein contained in the leaves, it clarifies vision, reduces fatigue and increases efficiency.
Fresh spinach juice helps cleanse the body, replenishes energy reserves, stimulates the functioning of organs - the liver, intestines, kidneys. With inflammation of the gums, they rinse their mouth, and with sore throats - the throat. Fresh chopped spinach leaves are applied externally for abscesses and stings of bees, wasps and other insects, and a paste of spinach leaves boiled in olive oil treats eczema and burns, removes freckles and whitens the skin of the face.
Spinach is eaten fresh, boiled or baked and is used in many complex dishes, snacks and sauces.
Spinach - contraindications
Spinach contains high amounts of oxalic acid, therefore it is contraindicated for people with problems with the urinary tract, suffering from urolithiasis, nephritis and similar diseases. Spinach is not useful for gout, diseases of the duodenum, liver, biliary tract and rheumatism.
It should be said that there is not so much oxalic acid in young leaves - it accumulates in mature leaves, so you can avoid problems by eating only young leaves of the plant, that is, the so-called baby spinach.
Literature
- Read related topics on Wikipedia
- Peculiarities and other plants of the family Amaranthaceae
- List of all species on The Plant List
- More information on World Flora Online
For large garlic: what fertilizer is important at this stage?
Sorrel: growing in the garden, propertiesSections: Garden plants Amaranth (Schiritsaceae) Plants on Ø Leaf
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planting and care in the apartment
As a rule, spinach is grown in the open field , but in order to get useful macro- and microelements even in the middle of winter, many people 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 don't like 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
- 1 What varieties of spinach are suitable for growing on a windowsill
- 2 How to plant spinach on the windowsill: Features, conditions and step -by -step instructions
- 2.1 Capacity for growing
- 2.2 In what soil to plant
- 2.3 Pre -preparation of seeds
- 2.4 Direct landing
- 3 Cross -poll pot for growing in an apartment
- 4 How to care for spinach on the windowsill at home
- 4.
1 What should be the place for growing: light and temperature - 4.2 Watering
- 4.
- 5 Emergence and Harvest Timing of Homemade Spinach
Which Spinach Varieties Are Suitable for Windowsill GrowingAnd 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:
- Fat-leaved.
- Gigantic .
- Matador.
- And also many others, for example, Krepysh, Virofle, Stoik, Victoria, Ilya Muromets. There is even a very interesting strawberry spinach .
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 instructionsAfter choosing the desired variety, you should start sowing work, namely: preparing the container, growing soil, 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 containerThe 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 inSpinach 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 preparationIt 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 plantingStep-by-step instructions for sowing spinach seeds for further cultivation at home:
- Drainage and soil are poured into the planting container.
- Barbs are made 1.5-3 cm deep.
- Sowing seeds at a distance of 2-3 centimeters from each other.
- Next, you need to fill the rows with soil.
- Spend it (soil) moistening. For example, you can spray from a spray bottle.
- To create greenhouse conditions, the container is covered with film or glass.
- The pot is placed in a warm (+18..+20 degrees) and dark place.
- When shoots appear, the shelter (greenhouse) is removed, and the container itself is moved to a bright place - on the windowsill.
Please note! In the next video, the author uses unsuitable soil to grow spinach (wrong acidity).
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 apartmentBy 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 homeSpinach 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 temperatureSpinach 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 generally does not like direct sunlight 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.
In too warm conditions, spinach stalks will quickly wither, so it is recommended to maintain an optimal cool temperature.
WateringWatering 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.
The 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 energy.
Spinach does not require any special feeding.
Germination and harvesting time of domestic spinachAfter 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 gently breaking the stem or cutting with scissors.
Do not pull or pluck the foliage as this may damage the root system.
