How to Grow Spinach
Instruction & Advice for Growing Spinach
in Your Vegetable Garden
| Nutrition | Watering Instructions | Harvesting |
| Climate | Fertilizing Instructions | Storage |
| Soil | Challenges | Tips |
| Planting |
Spinach is known as a vegetable with a high iron content. It's a garden favorite, grown for its edible dark green leaves.
Spinach can be a bit picky about it's growing conditions. Pay careful attention to soil preparation. Also, Spinach goes to seed quickly, so harvest promptly.
Nutrition Information: (back to top)
Under optimal growing conditions, spinach offers: Dietary Fiber, Protein, Magnesium, Chromium, Manganese, Calcium, Potassium, Copper, Iron, Fluorine, Vitamin A, E, C, K, B6, Zinc, Niacin, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folate, Phosphorus
Climate & Growing Conditions: (back to top)
Spinach will grow best in cool gardening climates/seasons. However, this vegetable will grow in most areas.
How to Prepare the Garden Soil: (back to top)
Spinach prefers well-drained, rich garden soil in beds that are sheltered from the wind. Locate the spinach patch in either a sunny or partially-sunny location in your garden.
Spinach does not grow well in acidic soils. The soil pH should be between 6.0 to 7.0, for this plant to prosper. If your soil is too acidic, try adding biochar or lime. (Instructions for testing your garden soil pH level)
Prepare the garden bed with compost and well-rotted manure several weeks before planting.
Gardening Advice Tip: Keep weeds under control by mulching. Mulching also helps keep the soil cooler for healthier, happier roots.
How to Plant Spinach: (back to top)
Plant every 3 weeks for a continuous crop.
Sow seeds directly into the garden bed. Plant seeds shallowly at only ¼” deep, 4” apart and in rows that are 14” apart. Lightly cover the seeds with compost. Water just until the soil is moist. Keep the soil lightly moistened during the germination period. You should see the seedlings emerge within 3 weeks.
How to Water: (back to top)
If rainfall is less than 1” per week, you will need to irrigate. Keep the soil moist with regular watering.
Gardening Advice Tip: With this vegetable, it is better to water from underneath the leaves, to avoid potential plant diseases.
How to Fertilize: (back to top)
You can apply weekly feedings of nitrogen rich fertilizer to the gorund (watered in) to boost leaf growth.
Gardening Challenges: (back to top)
Spinach blight (yellow curled up leaves), downy mildew, leaf miners, mites.
How to Harvest Spinach: (back to top)
Spinach takes around 10 weeks to mature. Pick as needed, or pull the whole plant from the ground. Be sure to wash well. Spinach tends to hold dirt in the crannies of the leaves!
Storage: (back to top)
How to freeze Spinach (back to top)
Wash and trim spinach leaves. Blanch spinach for 30 seconds, and chill in iced water for 30 seconds. Drain spinach, pack in freezer bags, remove air, seal and label. Freeze spinach for up to 6 months.
How to Dehydrate / Dry Spinach (back to top)
Wash well and remove stems. Dry at 100 degrees (F) for 10 hours or until brittle. To rehydrate, soak in hot water with a little lemon juice for 15 minutes, drain well.
Gardening Advice Tips (back to top)
Have a helpful gardening tip (or even a fun story) to share about your spinach growing experience? Share it with us at: gardeningtips@howtogardenadvice.com
----------
Note: This page's content, unless specified otherwise on this page, belongs specifically to www.howtogardenadvice.com. Reciprocal links are certainly welcome. However, if you wish to use this content, as written, on your website - please be courteous, respectful and lawful... and ask permission first. Provided you 1) make it clear that the content came from this site, and 2) you leave the links back to my site within the page and 3) your site doesn't contain any profane or derogatory content, I'll likely approve your posting the content. Please email me first for approval at info@howtogardenadvice.com. Thank you.