Growing spinach is easy and also holds great promise for beginners. We reveal what you should consider when growing spinach in terms of time, location and procedure. We also give tips on care and wintering.
Who fresh spinach (Spinacia oleracea) grows in their own garden, not only is good for their health, but is also rewarded with good yields thanks to the easy-care cultivation. Annual leafy vegetables from the foxtail family (Amaranthaceae) is a typical no-till vegetable. What varieties there are, how exactly growing spinach works and how to properly care for it, you will find out in this article.
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Growing spinach: how to do it
- When is spinach grown?
- The ideal location for spinach
- This is how you grow spinach outdoors
- This is how you grow spinach in a pot
- Maintain spinach
- Hibernate spinach
- Diseases and pests in spinach
Growing spinach: how to do it
When is spinach best grown? Where is the ideal location for spinach? And what is the best way to go about sowing? We answer these questions in the following section.
When is spinach grown?
Spinach can be grown at different times of the year, typically in spring and autumn. In principle, year-round cultivation outdoors is also feasible if the spinach is cultivated in sheltered locations over the winter. Above all, choosing the right variety is crucial for successful cultivation. Which variety is the right one depends on the climatic conditions of the respective season. For example, if you want to sow and harvest spinach in summer, you should use particularly bullet-resistant varieties. This means that these strains will not start to flower as quickly in the warm summer temperatures. But they are more sensitive to the cold.
More about the different Spinach varieties find out here.
Tip: Originally, spinach had either male or female plants. However, thanks to new breeding, there are now varieties of spinach that have both male and female flowers. This change can have a positive effect on successful pollination and variety stability.
If you would like to harvest your first spinach before the start of summer, sowing takes place from the end of February through to April. Since cold spells in the garden occur more often at this time, it is advisable to cover the young plants with a fleece. Since spinach generally only tolerates light frosts, a protective layer of brushwood, fleece or even snow is essential for survival for winter spinach. The table below shows the interval at which the harvest follows the sowing.
| sowing | harvest | |
|---|---|---|
| Spring spinach | Late February - early April | May June |
| Summer spinach | April - end of June | June August |
| Autumn spinach | July September | September - December |
| Winter spinach | Late September - early October | April |
Tip: Due to its deep roots, spinach is also perfect as a green manure for loosening the soil. Over the winter, he can thus prepare the soil for the next planting season.
The ideal location for spinach
Spinach likes to be in sunny to partially shaded locations. Depending on the variety, however, the ideal location for the leafy vegetables varies. For example, summer spinach should be in light shade, while winter spinach prefers a sunny location. Since spinach forms tap roots up to 1.20 meters deep, a loosened soil is important. The substrate should also be rich in humus and well drained with a pH of 6.5 to 7.5. You can achieve a humus vegetable patch, for example, through a well thought-out Humus economy and the regular use of mainly organic fertilizers. Our Plantura organic soil activator can be worked into the soil before sowing. It ensures more soil fertility and increases the humus content.
Where to grow spinach
- Sunny to partially shaded location
- Loose, well-drained soil
- Soil rich in humus and nutrients
- Ideal pH value: 6.5 - 7.5
Tip: Good neighbors for spinach in one Mixed culture are Strawberries (Fragaria), radish (Raphanus sativus var. sativus), Kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes), leek (Allium porrum) or tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum). Spinach doesn't go well with it Beetroot (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris var. conditiva).
This is how you grow spinach outdoors
The sowing of spinach takes place directly in the field. There it is sown in rows, otherwise the spinach has little chance against weeds. Important maintenance tasks such as hoeing can also be performed much more easily between the rows. Before you start sowing, loosen the soil a little and clear it of weeds. In order to offer the spinach the best conditions for growth, prepare the soil optimally. Spinach needs loose, well-drained soil with a good water supply. To achieve this, you can use our Plantura organic vegetable soil or lose weight in sand. Too light, sandy soils are upgraded with Plantura organic vegetable soil. In order to provide the plant with sufficient nutrients right from the start, a basic fertilization of the soil is recommended before sowing. This is what you work for Plantura organic universal fertilizer with long-term organic effects or compost in the soil. If the soil is too acidic for growing spinach, the pH can be adjusted by liming or alternative Fertilizers such as eggshells or wood ash can be customized.
The seeds are then pressed 2 to 3 centimeters deep into the soil at a planting distance of 8 to 12 centimeters. The distance between the rows is 20 to 30 centimeters. Spinach germinates and grows even at very low temperatures, but if there is a risk of frost it should be covered with a fleece. After sowing, pound the soil firmly and water it carefully. After six to eight weeks, the spinach can finally be harvested.
Tip: If you want to continually harvest fresh spinach in your garden, it pays to re-sow the spinach at regular intervals.
Growing spinach summary:
- Soil preparation: promote humus, loose soil, e.g. B. with Soil activator
- Too heavy, loamy soils with Plantura organic tomato & vegetable soil or loosen up sand
- Enrich the soil with nutrients, for example 70 - 150 g / m² Plantura organic universal fertilizer or compost
- If necessary, increase the pH value by liming or a Fertilization with wood ash or eggshells
- Place seeds 2 - 3 cm deep
- Plant spacing: 8 - 12 cm
- Row spacing: 20 - 30 cm
- Ideal germination temperature: 10 - 20 ° C
- Cover with fleece if there is a risk of frost
- Harvest after 6 - 8 weeks
This is how you grow spinach in a pot
Even if you don't have a suitable bedding area, you can grow spinach yourself, because the versatile leafy vegetables can also grow in the smallest area in the pot on the balcony or terrace. It should be noted that the container has a minimum depth of 30 to 40 centimeters so that the spinach can form its deep roots.
Tip: In order to grow well in the pot, spinach needs a good, adapted substrate. Our Plantura Organic tomato & vegetable soil brings everything your spinach needs to grow: it is permeable, ensures a good water supply and has the ideal pH value for spinach above 6.5.
Maintain spinach
Spinach is a medium-consuming plant. In order to meet the nutritional requirements of the plant, you should apply a primarily organic fertilizer or your own compost. Our Plantura Organic universal fertilizer is ideal for this because it is completely animal-free and provides your plants with all the important nutrients throughout the gardening season. On the other hand, it is better to avoid excessive nitrogen fertilization due to the accumulation of nitrates in the leaves.
Spinach is a frugal plant, but regular watering is necessary. The soil should be moist, but the plant cannot tolerate waterlogging. It is best to water more often in small amounts. Regular raking and weed clearance have also proven their worth in cultivation, as the spinach cannot establish itself in the event of excessive weed development and its growth is inhibited.
Care for spinach at a glance:
- Mainly organic fertilization with Plantura organic universal fertilizer or compost
- Water regularly
- Remove weeds and rake
Tip: If you are growing spinach in the summer, watering is best early in the morning or late in the afternoon. In this way the amount of evaporation is reduced and you save water.
Hibernate spinach
If you want to harvest spinach very early in the New Year, you can sow the spinach in the previous year - from September to October. The plant then hibernates outdoors. The small plants survive the cold best when they have already developed two to four leaves. If there is a cold frost outside, it is important to cover the spinach. Bald frost means it freezes without an insulating layer of snow. This can quickly lead to cold damage, especially in the young plants.
Diseases and pests in spinach
Spinach can be grown without any problems, but it does Downy mildew sometimes problems. In the meantime, however, there are enough new varieties that have good to very good resistance to the fungal disease. Regular ventilation should be ensured, especially when growing in polytunnels. In the open field, it is advisable to water the plants as close to the roots as possible so that downy mildew has less attack surface, because the fungus depends on the leaves being wet. If the plants are already infected, unfortunately there is not much that can be saved. Then it is advisable to chop off the culture and dispose of it in the residual waste. This drastic measure is appropriate because there is a risk that the fungus will survive in the compost and that its spores will spread throughout the garden. Also from the cucumber (Cucumis sativus) known leaf spot disease occurs occasionally. Pests rarely visit the spinach Black bean louse (Aphis fabae) can, however, cause problems for the spinach. In contrast, in early summer the plants can be covered with a net until harvest.
If the spinach has been grown correctly, the time will soon come to harvest the green leafy vegetables. Everything about the Harvest, storage and use of spinach can be read here.
