Spinach grow season
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 to grow spinach: indoors or outdoors for healthy leaves
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It is easy to learn how to grow spinach and the tasty homegrown leaves are packed with nutrients, such as vitamins A, C, iron and calcium and 13 compounds that function as antioxidants and cancer fighting agents – making it an excellent choice to add to your vegetable garden ideas.
Quick and easy to grow, you could be enjoying spinach leaves within six to eight weeks of planting. With many different varieties to choose from, if you plan carefully, and sow different types successionally, you could enjoy the green nutritious leaves year round.
An ideal crop for vegetable garden container ideas, spinach can be grown as cut-and-come-again baby leaves to enjoy in salads or sandwiches, or leave the leaves to grow larger and mature to use in cooking, such as to add to pasta dishes or use as a side vegetable. It is a productive and highly versatile crop, making growing spinach a popular choice for small vegetable garden ideas, where every inch of space needs to be used to the best advantage.
How to grow spinach
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There are a number of options for how to grow spinach. You could grow it indoors or outdoors, in pots on a terrace or courtyard along with other salad leaves such as lettuce, among other crops as part of your kitchen garden ideas, or in raised garden beds.
'Select from one of three types of spinach. The curly leafed savoy, flat leafed or the slightly curly semi-savoy. The flat leafed types generally have the mildest flavor and their smallest leaves are sold as baby spinach,' explains gardening expert Melinda Myers .
When is the best month to plant spinach?
The best month for growing spinach will depend to a certain extent on the hardiness zone where you live. However, you want to be growing spinach during the cool weather of spring and fall, as it is a cool weather crop.
Summer spinach cultivars: Plant summer varieties of spinach every few weeks from early until late spring.
Winter spinach cultivars: Sow hardy winter cultivars from mid summer to early fall.
The experts at Bonnie Plants provide the following advice for growing spinach twice a year: plant it about four to six weeks before the last frost in the spring, and again six to eight weeks before the first frost in the fall.
By sowing spinach seeds every three to four weeks as part of your planning of when to plant vegetables, you can enjoy a constant supply through the growing season.
How to grow spinach from seed
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First decide on where you want to grow your spinach crops, as some of the smaller varieties are particularly well suited to containers, for instance.
For success in growing spinach, before sowing the seeds enrich the soil, such as by digging in homemade garden compost and a general fertilizer. This will both help the spinach to grow well, and also prevent the leaves tasting bitter.
'There is no such thing as putting too much compost in garden soil. Mix at least 2-4 inches of compost in the row before planting,' advises Simon Crawford, breeder at Burpee Europe .
'The key to success begins with getting the plants off to a good start. Plant the right varieties in a rich, organic soil. Supply lots of moisture, and don't be shy about fertilizing.
Vigorous spinach is tasty spinach,' adds Simon.
Follow these steps for how to grow spinach from seed:
- Grow spinach in moist but well-drained soil or compost.
- Winter spinach cultivars need a sunny position; summer spinach varieties are better in partial shade so are among the easiest vegetables to grow in shade
- Sow seeds thinly in a shallow drill – about 1inch deep.
- If sowing more than one row then space each row about 14 inches apart.
- Cover seeds lightly with soil.
- After the seeds germinate thin them to 3-5 inches apart. 'Thinning is very important and you must be ruthless,' says Simon Crawford.
- Fertilize plants regularly with a water-soluble plant food.
- Sow seeds every three to four weeks for a regular supply through the growing season.
- Keep spinach crops well watered – watering at the base of the plant.
‘Spinach can be cut again and again and last for months and months.
I sow seeds deliberately quite thickly as a cut and come again salad crop. It’s important to keep them well watered and that way you will get delicious growth,' advises Monty Don in a video for Gardeners' World .
Growing spinach in raised beds
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Choosing raised beds for growing spinach can get round the problem of your garden having poor soil or the wrong soil type for crops to grow successfully – as spinach prefers a neutral to alkaline soil.
Raised beds offer good drainage and are also easily manageable as a low maintenance garden border idea. You can fill them with rich, organic soil, working in 2-4 inches of compost prior to planting spinach seeds.
As above, sow spinach seeds in a shallow drill about 1 inch deep, each row about 14 inches apart. When seedlings are large enough to handle, thin them out to about 3 inches apart. Water and fertilize the plants regularly.
How to grow spinach in pots
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For how to grow spinach in pots, choose a wide pot or trough so that you can space out the spinach plants, and one that is about 6-8 inches deep.
Spinach works well growing in pots alongside herb planter ideas.
- Use quality potting mix rich in organic matter.
- Well-draining soil is important for spinach to grow well in pots.
- Sow seeds 1/2 inch deep in containers.
- Seedlings should germinate in five to 14 days depending on the variety and growing conditions.
- Space each spinach plant at least 3 inches apart - or slightly further apart if you want to harvest larger leaves.
- Keep the pot in a sunny spot when growing spinach in the fall.
- When growing spinach in spring and summer keep the containers in semi shade.
- Do not let the spinach plants sit in wet soil – keep the soil moist but not wet – so make sure the pot has good drainage.
- Fertilize the soil regularly.
'One of the great advantages of container growing is that it is easy to extend the growing season. Many plants will benefit from the additional warmth found close to the house,' says Aaron Bertelsen, gardener and cook at Great Dixter and author of Grow Fruit & Vegetables in Pots: Planting advice and recipes from Great Dixter .
How to grow spinach indoors
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It is easy to grow spinach indoors on a windowsill. If you are growing herbs indoors then place your spinach crops by these so you can tend to them all at the same time.
If planting in fall, place the pots on a sunnier windowsill as there are fewer hours of sunlight. Do not allow the plants to get too cold or too hot – so do not place directly above a radiator, for instance.
If planting spinach in spring, then position the pot where it will get some shade.
Sow spinach seeds in a pot at least 6 inches deep, and plant seeds at a depth of 1/2 inch, with each plant spaced about 3 inches apart. Keep the spinach plants well watered, although do not allow the soil to get waterlogged.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
How often should you water spinach?
You should water and fertilize spinach plants regularly, but try to avoid getting the leaves wet. The is to keep the soil moist but not soggy.
Regular watering is especially important in periods of warm weather to prevent the plants from 'bolting' or producing flowers – if they do so the leaves will taste bitter.
Other ways to care for spinach include:
- Protect spinach seedlings sown in the fall from the cold by covering with fleece or a cloche.
- Shade spinach crops in hot weather to stop the soil drying out and the spinach plants bolting. You can do this through companion planting them next to pole – or runner – beans which as they grow will provide shade to protect the tender spinach plants from the heat of the sun.
- Protect young spinach seedlings from slugs, snails and birds.
Harvesting spinach
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You can harvest spinach between 6 to 10 weeks after sowing. If you sow successionally in spring and fall, you can have spinach to harvest throughout the year.
Summer spinach cultivars – you can generally pick summer varieties of spinach from May to October, depending on the climate in the area where you live.
Winter spinach cultivars – these can be harvested between October and April.
'Harvest a few leaves at a time from each plant. This will allow the plants to continue producing all season,' advises Simon Crawford.
This makes spinach a great crop to grow when gardening with children as they can continue to enjoy the fruits of their labors. This is the same as for other cut-and-come-again salad leaves, or if you're growing basil, or other leafy herbs.
Others gardening experts advise to harvest every alternate plant for use in the kitchen, giving the rest more room to grow.
Keep an eye on spinach crops as the plants usually grow quicker in warmer weather.
There are options for how to pick the leaves for a later harvest, much in the same way as when harvesting swiss chard. 'You can cut individual outer leaves when the plants are 3 inches tall and allow the inner leaves to continue to grow for later harvests. Or cut the whole head when the plant is 6 inches tall and wait several weeks for regrowth and a second harvest,' advises Melinda Myers,
Baby spinach leaves are great for use in salads, whereas mature leaves can be wilted into soups, stews, pasta or risotto dishes, to name but a few.
Leaves are ideally used directly after harvesting for the best flavor, and any extras can be stored in the fridge for up to 14 days.
Is spinach easy to grow?
If you've ever wondered if spinach is easy to grow, the simple answer is, yes. Like beets, it is a cool weather crop and requires minimal fuss.
It can be grown all year round if you choose the right spinach varieties and works well in containers, too. While the most cost effective method is to grow spinach from seed, you can buy transplants often at local nurseries, or online, too, in the main growing seasons. 'These young plants will already be well on their way to maturity when you put them in your garden,' explains the experts at Bonnie Plants .
How long does it take to grow spinach?
Spinach takes about six weeks to grow from being sown to harvesting.
There are both winter cultivars and summer cultivars of spinach, which are sown and harvested at different times. Choose a variety of each to sow and you can enjoy the leaves all through the year.
'A fast-growing plant, spinach yields many leaves in a short time in the mild weather of spring and fall. The main trick in how to grow spinach lies in making it last as long as possible, especially in the spring, when lengthening days shorten its life,' explain the Bonnie Plants experts.
Does spinach like full sun?
If you are growing winter cultivars of spinach in fall then these prefer full sun to grow well. Summer varieties prefer partial shade as otherwise the leaves can get scorched by hot sun in summer.
Will spinach regrow after cutting?
Spinach will regrow after cutting and if you keep harvesting the leaves, a few at a time, it will continue producing leaves through the season.
Rachel is senior content editor, and writes and commissions gardening content for homesandgardens.com, Homes & Gardens magazine, and its sister titles Period Living Magazine and Country Homes & Interiors. She has written for lifestyle magazines for many years, with a particular focus on gardening, historic houses and arts and crafts, but started out her journalism career in BBC radio, where she enjoyed reporting on and writing programme scripts for all manner of stories.
Rachel then moved into regional lifestyle magazines, where the topics she wrote about, and people she interviewed, were as varied and eclectic as they were on radio. Always harboring a passion for homes and gardens, she jumped at the opportunity to work on The English Home and The English Garden magazines for a number of years, before joining the Period Living team, then the wider Homes & Gardens team, specializing in gardens.
Growing spinach in the open field - Matador, Strawberry, Zhirnolistny
Author Anastasia Khakhaleva To read 7 min. Views 3.1k. Posted by
Spinach is a useful and not very difficult plant in technology, which is increasingly conquering the Ukrainian market. The main thing when growing it in open ground is to provide a sunny site for germination, sufficient soil moisture of about 75-80% and top dressing.
Spinach can be harvested almost all year round, it all depends on the timing of sowing and the choice of varieties.
Some of its varieties may even please you with berries. More details about growing technology and nuances for different types of spinach later in the article.
Maintenance
- Spinach varieties
- Spinach: growing conditions
- Temperature control
- Lighting
- Moisture
- Growing spinach in the open field
- Sowing
- Care
- Harvesting
- 5 Reasons to Plant Spinach
Spinach Varieties
The first step in growing spinach is seed selection. With every year the range of hybrids and varieties increases, and now it already has more than fifty varieties. They occupy their niche as Dutch hybrids (Boa F1, Spiros F1, Korver F1), and various varieties - Monores, Lagos, Long Standing, Vip and others.
Some of the most popular varieties are Matador, Strawberry and Fatleaf. Their features:
- Matador . They like to grow it due to its bright green color.
Spinach height approx. 40 cm, weight of one leaf approx. 30 grams. It tastes great and is great for freezing.
Can be harvested already 40 days after sowing;
Spinach MatadorStrawberry spinach— Strawberry spinach or zhminda is an unconventional plant that, in addition to leaves, also produces fruits.
The leaves themselves are traditionally used, as in other varieties: for fresh consumption, as ingredients in soups, salads, frozen.
But the fruits make excellent jam, jam, compote. They taste like blackberries and mulberries.
Ripening period - about 60 days from the date of sowing. The only disadvantage of this spinach is its high self-seeding ability. If the berries are not picked carefully, next year the plant may appear on the site in a chaotic manner.
- Oily . Growing this variety will please you with an earlier (after 30-35 days from the date of sowing) and a plentiful harvest. The name itself speaks about the leaves of this spinach: they are large and massive, of a dark green hue.
They have a mild taste and a beautiful shape.
Spinach: growing conditions
Like other greens, spinach is not very picky about growing conditions. However, there are a number of requirements that are important to follow in order to get a quality and timely harvest. Among the most important are: temperature, lighting and moisture.
Temperature
Spinach tolerates cold well. The seeds of this culture germinate at a temperature of 3-4°C, and young sprouts are able to withstand temperatures down to -10°C. The most optimal temperature for the development of spinach is + 15 ... 17 ° С. It is grown in spring and summer, and when using protected ground, it is possible to organize year-round cultivation at all.
In areas where lilacs grow, gardeners advise to sow spinach in the spring when the lilacs begin to blossom.
Greenery does not like high temperatures. At over +20°C and poor watering, the spinach becomes smaller and shoots faster.
Lighting
Spinach makes a good rosette when the daylight is short. The leaves grow large and fleshy, with long stems. If you grow it with a longer day (which is especially true for the May-July period), the leaves will turn out to be smaller.
It is better to choose a well-lit area for planting, but with the condition of its timely moistening during high temperatures (especially when growing in summer).
Moisture
Spinach loves watering. The average soil moisture during the cultivation of this crop should be 75-80% HB.
If you plan to grow spinach in the open field in the southern regions of Ukraine, it is best to use drip irrigation or carry out autumn, winter crops.
Signs of lack of moisture: crushed leaves, rough structure, yellowish color.
Cultivation spinach in the open field
An area where potatoes, cabbages, vegetables or legumes on organic fertilizers - an excellent choice for planting spinach.
The best neighbors for this crop can be radishes, cucumbers, cabbage, carrots.
As for the soil - it is better to choose loamy or sandy loam. They hold moisture well and it does not form a crust.
Sowing
Growing from seed is the most popular way to sow spinach due to its cold hardiness. In order to get a crop in the spring, sowing can be done in September, winter and early spring (depending on the timing of the selected variety or hybrid and the required dates for obtaining finished plants). For a fall harvest, sow spinach in August.
Seeding pattern 35*7-10 cm or 50*20 when using drip irrigation. Seed consumption is about 300-500 grams per hundred square meters. It is important to note that when growing spinach in the summer, it is better to increase the number of seeds for safety.
Seeds are placed in the ground at a depth of about 1.5-2 cm in moist soil. Before and after that, the soil is compacted.
Care
Outdoor spinach care consists of several steps.
simple actions.
The first shoots (when grown in spring and summer) appear already after 9-12 days from the moment of sowing the seeds. At this point, it is important to hilling and remove excess weeds. If the crops are too thick, remove the extra plants, leaving up to 10 cm between the bushes.
Please note that when growing and caring for Spinach Fatleaf outdoors, it is very important to wait for a good average daily temperature (17-18°C) and always keep an eye on moisture. Otherwise, the leaves will not grow more than 6-7 cm and the variety will go to the arrow.
Spinach does not need to be watered often. The hotter in the region growth - the more often spinach needs moisture. Generally enough one or two irrigations.
What spinach looks like in the open field The richer the soil, the better the harvest. Can to fertilize the crop and introduce organic matter into the soil before sowing. Especially spinach responds well to nitrogen.
But phosphorus and potassium are used on the contrary, not costs. They speed up shooting.
Special care and cultivation required Strawberry Spinach . It is sown according to the scheme 40x40 with seeding to a depth of 1 cm, with obligatory mulching. This variety of spinach is best grown through seedlings.
When the plant reaches 50-70 cm in height, it needs a mandatory garter. If it is berries that are important to you, and not leaves, it is better to choose sunny areas, so the taste of the fruit will be richer.
Harvest
When to cut the spinach is entirely up to you. Usually, the period of formation of 7-12 leaves is considered optimal for harvesting. Also it is important that the leaves are dry (especially if it rained earlier or was morning dew). The collection can be multiple and last until the beginning shooting plants.
It is not recommended to delay cleaning. Overgrown or dried leaves quickly become rough and are no longer suitable for consumption.
The yield of spinach can reach from one and a half to two kilograms per square meters and even more (depending on the characteristics of the variety or hybrid).
Strawberry spinach can be harvested twice per season, both leaves and berries. It is better to pick berries in the first stages of "ignition", until they are overripe and have not lost their taste.
5 reasons to sow spinach
1. Spinach is one of the leaders among vegetables and herbs in terms of vitamin C content. In addition, it is rich in iron, carotene, manganese, and other vitamins (B1, E, PP) . It is no less saturated with potassium, calcium and iodine.
2. Has a very wide range of uses in cooking. It can be eat fresh, cook, preserve. It gives a special taste to soups and salads, goes well with cottage cheese and cheese, and can even serve as a component healthy cocktails.
3. Spinach - fiber source . It is present in the diet menu, has a good effect on the intestines.
Thanks to its structure, even a small amount of spinach will allow you to quickly feel full.
4. Due to its low calorie content, spinach is also known in medicine. It is often recommended for use by diabetics, the elderly and people with overweight. This culture is good for the eyes and digestion.
5. It is very valuable that spinach can be frozen . At the same time, it does not lose its beneficial properties, and even after long periods of storage in the freezer, it will also be great for eating and cooking.
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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.
Content
- How to choose a planting site
- 2.2 What kind of soil is needed and how to prepare it
- 2.3 How to prepare seeds
- 2.4 Direct landing
- 3.1 Watering
- 3.2 Feeding
- 3.3 Weeding and loosening
- 3.4 Catching in the heat
When to plant spinach in open ground: timing in regions and according to the lunar calendar
Since spinach is a cold-resistant plant, spring planting in open ground is carried out (depending on the region).
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 (the days of the Full Moon and of the New Moon , as well as the period when the Moon is in Aquarius, because it is a barren and dry sign - is in italics ):
- 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.
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.
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 applied 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
To speed up germination, planting material is soaked in warm water. 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, spinach seeds taken out of the water are slightly dried and sown in open ground.
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.
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.
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.
The leaves of plants that are deficient in chemical elements gradually turn into a different color or die.
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.
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.
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, leaf miners 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.
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 the spinach is ready for harvesting by the type of bush - you can harvest the 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.
Important! Do not harvest spinach 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.
