Soil for spinach
Spinach Planting & Spinach Growing
Spinach is a fast-growing plant, yielding many leaves in a short time in the mild weather of spring and fall. Get expert tips for growing spinach.
Spinach is a cool-weather vegetable related to beets and Swiss chard. A fast-growing plant, it yields many leaves in a short time in the mild weather of spring and fall. When growing spinach, the trick lies in making it last as long as possible, especially in the spring, when lengthening days shorten its life. One great way to do that is to start with vigorous young Bonnie Plants® spinach plants, which are already well on their way to maturity when you put them in your garden. Although it prefers full sun, spinach will still produce a respectable harvest in partial shade.
Quick Guide to Growing Spinach
- Plant spinach during the cool weather of spring and fall.
- Space spinach plants 12 inches apart in fertile, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.5 to 7.0.
- Start off the growing season right by mixing in several inches of aged compost or other rich organic matter into your native soil.
- Check soil moisture often or consider using a soaker hose to keep moisture levels consistent.
- For tender and rapid leaf production, feed regularly with a water-soluble plant food.
- Harvest spinach starting with the outermost leaves once leaves are large enough to eat.
Soil, Planting, and Care
Spinach grows most quickly in well-drained soil rich in organic matter such as compost or composted manure and with a pH of 6.5 to 7. A simple way to improve your existing soil is to mix 3 inches of aged compost-enriched Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® All Purpose In-Ground Soil with the top 6 inches of existing soil. In order to grow spinach twice a year, plant it about 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost in the spring, and again 6 to 8 weeks before the first frost in the fall. Space plants 12 inches apart; this gives leaves room to reach full size. Perhaps the easiest growing option is to plant spinach in pots filled with premium quality potting mix, such as Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® All Purpose Container Mix which will provide roots with just the right environment for strong growth.
For the most tender leaves, encourage spinach to grow fast and without interruption by fertilizing regularly with a water-soluble fertilizer like Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® Edibles Plant Nutrition that feeds the soil along with the plants for better growth. (Be sure to follow directions.) This plant food works in tandem with great soil to help you achieve the best possible spinach harvest.
In the spring, plants will grow tall and bloom (called bolting) as soon as the days are longer than 14 hours. Heat also speeds up bolting, since spinach prefers temperatures between 35 and 75 degrees. Our variety is slow to bolt, which is a real bonus for gardeners who don't have the luxury of long stretches of mild weather.
Because it bolts in the lengthening days of spring, spinach is an especially popular crop for fall, when days are short and cool. Plants are very cold-hardy, tolerating temperatures as cold as the teens to low 20s once they are well established. This quality makes them great for overwintering over in zones 8 and southward.
In cold climates, some gardeners plant spinach in a cold frame or cover plants with hay and leave them all winter; they'll be first to produce a very early spring harvest.
Troubleshooting
Heat and long days will end your crop, so plant as mentioned above. Pests that enjoy spinach include flea beetles, spider mites, and aphids, which feed on the leaves. Diseases that attack plants are downy mildew (a mildew that may appear during cool, moist weather) and white rust (which causes white spots on the leaves). For instructions on how to fight back against these pests and diseases, contact your local Extension agency.
Harvest and Storage
Spinach leaves are ready to harvest as soon as they are big enough to eat. Harvest by removing only the outer leaves and allowing the center leaves to grow larger; this will allow the plant to keep producing. Picking the outer leaves also gives the advantage of briefly delaying bolting. In spring, when plants are about to bolt, pull the entire plant at once to enjoy the leaves before they become bitter.
FAQs
When is the best time to plant spinach?
In late winter or early spring for a fast crop and again in late summer or early fall, after the hottest temperatures have passed. Spinach is a cool-weather vegetable.
How can I know when my spinach is ready for harvest? What is the method of harvesting?
When the outer leaves are about 6 inches long, they're ready to be harvested. Or, if it is spring and plants are near the end of the season where they will soon bolt (bloom), you can pull up or cut the entire plant.
My spinach bolted, and I cut the plants just above the soil line.
Will I get another crop from them? No, they are finished. It is time to pull them up and replace them with a warm-weather crop. You can plant spinach again in late summer for a fall harvest.
Container Gardening Cool Season Gardening Fall Gardening Frost Growing Techniques Spinach Vegetables
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.
terms of sowing and rules for growing in the garden
Spinach is a vegetable crop that contains in its leaves a lot of useful vitamins that are indispensable for the functioning of the human body.
Therefore, gardeners who decide to switch to a healthy diet sooner or later ask themselves how to plant a plant. In order for the planting of spinach to be successful, and the bed soon covered with juicy rosettes, you need to know everything about the specifics of growing vegetables in the garden.
Well, here's how and when to plant spinach outdoors in spring and autumn. nine0003
Content
- How to choose a planting site
- 2.2 What soil is needed and how to prepare it
- 2.3 How to prepare seeds
- 2.4 Direct planting
- 3.1 Watering
- 3.2 Feeding
- 3.3 Weeding and loosening
- 3.4 Shelter in the heat
- 3.5 Spinach Diseases
in the regions and according to the lunar calendar
Since spinach is a cold-resistant plant, spring planting in open ground is carried out immediately after the ground thaws .
As regards temperature , the spinach sowing starts when it gets warmer outside to +5 degrees and further increase is predicted.
In the Middle lane (Moscow region) this time falls on the second half of April .
And in autumn, spinach is planted before winter , similarly to winter garlic or onions , i.e. from end of September to November (depending on the region). nine0003
Lunar calendar 2022
Many gardeners often refer to Lunar calendar for specific dates for greater discipline.
According to the lunar calendar in 2022 favorable days for planting spinach in open ground are:
Unfavorable days according to the lunar calendar for 2022 for sowing spinach are the following dates (Full Moon days and New Moon , as well as the period when the Moon is in Aquarius, because it is a barren and dry sign - is italicized ) :
- in March - 1 (Aquarius ), 2 , 18, 27-28 (Aquarius) ;
- in April - 1 , 16, 23-24 (Aquarius) , 30 ;
- in May - 16, 20-22 (Aquarius) , 30 .
How to plant spinach outdoors: preparation and planting
The desire to get spinach in the garden can simply disappear after a few unsuccessful plantings. To prevent this from happening, you need to know all the requirements for growing this vegetable crop.
How to choose a planting site
It is better to plant spinach in well-lit areas where water does not stagnate. To harvest as early as possible, the plant is placed on the southern slopes, which are protected from cold winds. nine0003
If there is nowhere to plant bushes except for a lowland, the crop is sown on ridges, which are fenced with hard rock boards. Due to the fact that the root system of the plant is short, the mound may be small.
Since spinach is compatible with most horticultural crops, there is practically no need to consider predecessors and neighbors when choosing. The only thing worth paying attention to is how the previous crop was fertilized - the more top dressing was made last year, the better for spinach.
These rules apply to all cultivated plants, except beets, since plants are subject to the same diseases and pests. nine0003
What kind of soil is needed and how to prepare it
Spinach likes to grow on nutritious and loose soils (sandy or loamy), neutral acidity (pH 6-7).
If the soil in the area is excessively acidic, dolomite flour is added to the soil in advance (in autumn).
In autumn phosphorus - potash fertilizers are applied to the soil ( superphosphate and potassium sulfate or wood ash and bone meal ), as well as organic matter (compost, humus). And in the spring they add nitrogen ( urea or ammonium nitrate ).
To improve the structure of heavy clay soils, additional peat and sand can be added.
How to prepare the seeds
Soak the seedlings in warm water to speed up germination.
If the seeds of many crops need several hours of soaking, then spinach seeds are kept in water for 24-48 hours. This feature is due to the fact that the planting material is covered with a hard shell through which moisture is difficult to absorb. Place the container for germination in a warm place and periodically change the water. At the end of the period, the spinach seeds taken out of the water are slightly dried and sown in open ground. nine0003
Direct planting
The first thing to do before planting spinach seeds outdoors is to loosen the soil with a rake and then level it. If the landing will be made on the ridges, an embankment is created at the chosen place and fenced with improvised materials. On a prepared bed, rows are made with a wooden plank 2 cm deep. The optimal distance between rows is 15-20 cm, and between plants - 7-10 cm. Seed consumption for sowing 1 sq.m. area - 4-5 g.
If the bushes are planted too densely, the plants will develop more slowly.
In order to be sure that enough plants will grow in the garden and the place will not be empty, you can reduce the step between the bushes in the rows. However, if the seed germination is 100%, the plantings will have to be thinned out. The soil in the recess is watered with warm water, the seeds are laid out. Then the crops are carefully covered with a rake, while slightly crushing the soil.
To reduce the evaporation of moisture and slow down the growth of weeds, the bed is mulched with hay, dry leaves, chopped straw. If the landing is done correctly, and the weather turned out to be favorable, the first shoots will appear after 2 weeks. nine0003
Video: how to sow spinach - timing
How to care for spinach after planting
In order for plants to give a good harvest, they need to provide comfortable conditions for growth.
What is the care of spinach after planting?
Watering
The soil on which the greenery grows must be constantly moist, but in no case swampy. Due to the constant overflow, the plants do not grow well and after a while they are affected by root rot. nine0003
It is especially important to water the spinach during hot weather, as stemming begins due to insufficient moisture. Water the bushes 2-3 times a week. Water consumption per 1 sq. m beds - 3 l.
Top dressing
During the growing season, it is not recommended to feed greens with fertilizers that contain a large amount of phosphorus and potassium.
Leaves of plants that are deficient in chemical elements gradually turn into a different color or die. nine0003
The fertilizers selected for feeding spinach must be applied strictly at the dose recommended by the manufacturer, otherwise excess nutrients will provoke premature bolting.
Important! It is impossible to feed greens during growth with fresh organic matter, as it distorts the taste of the leaves.
Weeding and loosening
To grow even the most unpretentious crop, you need to pull out weeds as needed. As you know, these plants suck out a lot of nutrients from the soil and compact the soil, which adversely affects the state of the crop, and, accordingly, the yield. In the case when the distance between shoots is much less than 7-10 cm, the extra bushes are removed. To reduce stress on surrounding bushes, water the bed sparingly after thinning. nine0003
The first time the soil is loosened when the seedlings are 2-3 days old. To do this, gently destroy the formed crust with a rake, thereby improving soil aeration. In the future, loosening is carried out after each watering or rain.
Shelter in the heat
Since spinach does not tolerate summer heat, in July, when the air temperature often exceeds +26 C, plantings need to be shaded. To cool the soil and bushes from overheating, a small tent is installed over the spinach plantation or the bed is covered with a special shading net.
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Important! It is impossible to grow succulent leaves without abundant watering and building a shelter. Under the influence of high temperature and lack of water, the leaves become hard and tasteless.
Pests and diseases of spinach
The tender leaves are enjoyed by aphids, leafminers and naked slugs. Do not mind eating greens and snails. Spinach growing in a thickened state suffers from downy mildew. Bushes become infected with spotting and root rot. nine0003
Since it is impossible to treat greens with chemicals, it is better to try to prevent the appearance of pathogenic microorganisms. To protect plantings from damage, you need to properly care for them: water, loosen, weed. In order to prevent powdery mildew, bushes are planted at a sufficient distance. Also, for planting, it is recommended to choose spinach varieties with high immunity to all kinds of diseases.
When to harvest and how to store
In order for spinach leaves to be tender and tasty, they need to be harvested in time.
If you delay the recommended time, the leaves will become stiff and lose their taste. Spinach harvest begins 8-10 weeks after germination.
You can determine whether spinach is ready for harvesting by the type of bush - you can harvest greens immediately after the formation of 5-6 leaves on the plant.
Spinach is harvested by cutting individual leaves or a whole rosette. The plant is also uprooted. Before putting the uprooted plants into containers, the rhizome is washed, trying not to splatter the leaves. Then the washed part is blotted with a paper towel and placed root down in the box. nine0003
Important! Spinach should not be harvested immediately after watering or rain: wet leaves rot shortly after cutting.
Store the spinach in the top section of the refrigerator. Since fresh leaves are stored on average for 1-2 weeks, they are dried, frozen or canned for the winter.
Thus, if you carefully understand the agrotechnical requirements, planting spinach will not cause difficulties even for an amateur gardener.
All that an unpretentious culture needs for normal growth is a sufficient amount of moisture and fertile soil. nine0003
growing from seeds in open ground and at home, harm and benefits, photo
Author: Elena N. https://floristics.info/en/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=19 Category: Garden plants Reissued: Last edited:
Contents
- Planting and caring for spinach
- Spinach plant - description
- planting spinach0011 When to plant spinach
- Growing spinach from seeds
- Growing spinach on the windowsill
- How to grow spinach at home
- Growing spinach
- Spinach watering
- Spinach nutrition
- What to plant after spinach
- Spinach pests and diseases
- Spinach diseases
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. nine0003 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 incredible amounts 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. nine0003
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 delicate 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. nine0014 - Lighting: bright sunlight, partial shade and even shade.
- Soil: well-drained, slightly acidic loam, pH 6.5-7.0.
- Watering: for every m² of garden watering can with a sprinkler or a hose with a sprinkler nozzle, a bucket of water is poured. In heat and drought, spinach is watered three times a week.
- Fertilizers: if spinach growth is retarded, apply nitrogen fertilizer to the soil, but if the soil was fertilized before planting, fertilization is unlikely to be needed. nine0014
- Propagation: seed - seedlings and non-seedlings.
- Pests: mining and beet flies, gamma cutworm caterpillars, aphids, common mole crickets and boletus flies.
- Diseases: fusarium, peronosporosis, anthracnose, curl, viral mosaic, ascochitosis, cercosporosis and ramulariasis.
- Properties: spinach is the most valuable dietary product with a laxative, diuretic, anti-inflammatory and tonic effect. nine0014
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. nine0003
Rosettes of spinach leaves, which form at the very beginning of the growing season, are eaten.
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 before sowing are poured for two days with water, 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.
- How to prepare the ground for a future big harvest
Growing spinach from seeds
Spinach is sown at 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.
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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. nine0003 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. nine0047 How to grow spinach at home? When growing a crop in the spring-summer period, seedlings do not require supplementary lighting, but if spinach is grown from seeds in autumn or winter, it can only give a good harvest if you arrange daily additional lighting for it for 2-3 hours after 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. nine0003
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.
nine0003 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. nine0003
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.
- Stepping tomatoes is necessary, but what can be removed, and what shoots should be left?
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. nine0003
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 at 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. nine0003
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. nine0003 Fertilizing spinach
If spinach grows well in the field, then there are 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.
- How to care for seedlings of onions and leeks
Spinach pests and diseases
Spinach diseases
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.
nine0003 Downy mildew, or Downy mildew is a fungal disease that causes 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; nine0014
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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. nine0003
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.
Ramulariasis, 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. nine0003 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. nine0003
Spinach pests
There are also many insects that damage spinach. 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. nine0003 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 from 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. nine0003 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. nine0003
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 shooting, 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 are rich dark green in color, smooth, juicy and fleshy, in slightly pronounced bubbles; nine0014
- 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 bloom 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 a raised compact rosette of large green oval medium bubble leaves of slightly sour taste with medium length petioles. The variety is suitable for salads and soups. nine0014
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. nine0003
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 mulberries, 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. nine0003
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. nine0003
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. nine0003
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. nine0003
Spinach - contraindications
Spinach contains large amounts of oxalic acid, therefore it is contraindicated for people with problems with the urinary tract, suffering from urolithiasis, nephritis and similar diseases.
Learn more
- Spinach diseases
