Do you want to grow your own spinach? Start early in the spring

The majority of us usually buy frozen spinach because fresh spinach could be expensive. But what about growing your own spinach? As you will learn below, it is not complicated at all. You just need to follow basic rules and the result should be perfect. Here is how.

Choose the right soil

Spinach has a short growing season. Sandy and loamy soil, rich in minerals, is the best. Spinach does not like acidic soil, especially when the pH value drops below 6. If it does you will get a very poor harvest. If you have acidic soil, you need to treat it with liming.

Germination

Spinach seeds germinate when the temperature is ranges from 3 to 4 °C. Once the seeds swell up, they will last in a moist, cold soil without rotting. Spinach also tolerates short-term freezing temperatures down to -8 °C, even during the cotyledon stage, but the optimum temperature for vegetation period is from 15 to 18 °C. If the temperature exceeds 25 °C, especially during dry summer, the plant forms small, low-quality leaves and flowers prematurely.

Photo: Pixabay

Spinach does not require plenty of light. It tolerates shade well, and it is often grown in orchards and gardens under trees. It needs sufficient moisture otherwise it grows slowly and produces fewer leaves of poor quality.

When is the best time for sowing?

If you want to harvest in autumn, you need to sow spinach from mid-August to mid-September and harvest before the first frosts hit. If you want to sow later do it in late September. Before the time winter comes, spinach should grow well enough to be strong and should last throughout the winter without any problems. It will continue to grow in the spring. If you do not want to sow in late September, you can sow in the second half of November. Seeds will swell up, hibernate over the winter and will start growing in early spring. Another option is to sow early in spring.

Proper care is necessary

During the growing season you need to keep spinach weed-free. You may start harvesting when spinach has five to six leaves and you may continue harvesting until spinach begins to flower.

Preview photo: Pixabay

Source: https://living.iprima.cz/zahrada/uzitkova-zahrada/jak-pestovat-spenat-kolac