Spinach is a fast growing and cold hardy leafy green plant which yields many leaves
in a short period of time in the mild weather of spring and fall. In this video
we will see the full life cycle of growing spinach in our home garden.
We will be growing the "Bloomsdale Long Standing" variety. This variety can mature in 40-45 days.
Although seeds can be started indoors, it is not recommended as seedlings are difficult
to transplant. Spring planting can be made as soon as the soil can be properly worked.
In order to give spinach the required 6 weeks of cold weather from seeding to harvest it is
important to seed as soon as possible. For proper germination soil should not be warmer than 70°F.
Sow the seeds half inch to one inch deep cover lightly with soil.
Spinach does best in full sun but does tolerate partial shade. Improve the
native soil by mixing in several inches of aged compost or other rich organic matter.
When seedlings sprout to about 2 inches
thin them to 3 to 4 inches apart. Beyond thinning no cultivation is necessary. Roots are shallow
and can easily get damaged water regularly and keep the soil moist.
Because it is such a fast grower spinach is also a heavy feeder.
A fertilizer high in nitrogen will help produce dark healthy leaves.
Spinach leaves are ready to harvest as soon as they are big enough to eat.
Spinach can be harvested in the cut and come again method harvest by removing only the outer leaves
and allowing the center leaves to grow larger. This will allow the plant to keep producing more
leaves. Picking the outer leaves also gives the advantage of briefly delaying bolting.
Over the next few days or weeks we can continue to get more harvest.
Spinach prefers temperature between 35°F to 75°F.
In the spring plants will grow tall and bloom as soon as the days are longer and temperature starts
to get warmer, this is called as "bolting". Once the plant has started to bolt it is time to make
the final harvest and pull out the crop. After bolting starts the taste of the leaves change
and it's better to just pull out the crop at this time and plant another plant
in this spot. Since it bolts in the lengthening day of spring, spinach is a popular crop for fall
when the days are short and cool plants are very cold hardy tolerating temperatures as
cold as in teens to low 20s once they are well established. Spinach is packed with nutrients
and as you just saw it is so easy to grow in any home garden. If you haven't given this
beautiful leafy green a try please do so. Thanks for watching and happy gardening !!