How to Transplant Spinach If you choose to start planting indoors, you can still transplant them to your garden. Find a happy medium that works for your space availability and the type you are growing. But spacing it too far apart means more weed pressure and less utilized garden space. Remember, spacing spinach too closely could result in crowding and poor yields. Recommended Spacing The space between seeds depends on whether you are planting baby leaf or full-size spinach.īaby Spinach: 3-5 seeds per inch, rows 2-4” apartįull Size: 8-10 seeds per foot, rows 12-18” apart Pour some seeds into your hand and place them in the furrow. To begin, use your finger or the back of a shovel handle to make a shallow furrow in the soil, about ½-¾” deep. Spinach seeds are fairly large like beets and easy to see, making it simple for beginners to achieve optimal spacing. You can direct seed by hand or with a push-behind seeder. Direct Seeding Spinach seeds are large enough to direct seed by hand. Overall, it is a light feeder that doesn’t require a ton of fertility, however, worm castings or trace minerals like kelp can drastically improve performance in your garden. Optionally, you can add all-purpose granular organic fertilizer to the soil before planting. To prepare the garden, broadfork garden beds and add 1-2” of compost on the top of the bed. Like most vegetables, spinach prefers a loose aerated soil that has been amended with compost. Prepare Soil for Planting Fluff the soil with a garden fork and add some compost to it and it is ready for planting! Mulching or using row cover may help it spring back as soon as the snow melts. Winter spinach should be planted in the fall 2-3 weeks before the first frost so it can get established before cold temperatures come.Įven in growing zones as cold as zone 3, it will die back to the ground and re-sprout in the spring. In growing zones 5-9, spinach can be grown nearly year-round. Winter It is best to grow it during the winter in most hardiness zones. As the weather cools, it will grow slower and need more time to recover after harvests. It can be planted before the equinox if daytime temperatures cool to around 70 degrees or less.įall planting successions should ideally be sown every 7-14 days. Fall Be sure to plant fall spinach in the late summer or as close to the start of fall as possible.įall spinach should be planted in late summer around the Fall Equinox (when daylight and nighttime are about 12 hours). Use a soil thermometer to check your soil temperatures before planting. Seeds germinate best between 45 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Spring spinach is best directly sown when soil temperatures reach 40 to 45 degrees. If you start seedlings indoors about 4 weeks before the last frost, it can be planted as soon as the snow has melted and nighttime temperatures are above 25 degrees. The earliest crop will always come from overwintered plantings in the late fall. Spring Though spinach prefers the cold, you can plant and harvest it in early spring. Let’s take a look at the best timeframes to plant. Too late in the year, and you won’t get growth, too early, and it can take longer than you want for the seeds to take root. When you plant spinach, mapping out the correct time of year is important. Depending how much your family eats, you may want anywhere from 1-4 successions each season. It takes 24-30 days to mature and can be harvested for a few weeks off each planting. When you decide on your planting dates in the garden, consider staggering them so you get a few successions throughout the season. This ensures you have a continuous supply of nutritious greens. At a given point in my fall garden, I may have spinach that is just germinating, baby spinach that is almost ready to harvest, and full-size spinach that I am picking off of. Succession planting means growing several rounds of spinach throughout the season. Succession Planting Growing a few rounds at a time means you get a fresh harvest for months. It grows very quickly and prolifically so long as you provide the right growing conditions. You can grow spinach from direct seeding or transplant it into the garden after sowing indoors. Propagation and Planting Planting seeds directly into the ground is the easiest way to grow it in your garden. Seeds will not germinate well in temperatures over 75 degrees. Long days and summer heat over 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit will cause it to bolt (go to seed) very quickly. It is best grown in the cool weather of spring and autumn. It prefers more alkaline soils (sandy soils with pH 7 or greater). Some varieties are perennial veggies, which means they will regrow each year. It is an annual low-growing crop and member of the Amaranthaceae/Chenopodiaceae family, along with beets, chard, amaranth, quinoa, and lambs quarter. Spinach is a leafy iron-rich green popular in many cuisines.
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