How to plant spinach and when. Spinach - growing and care in open ground

Even in tiny plots, gardeners manage to harmoniously place all kinds of vegetables, herbs, and berry bushes. Every year the assortment is replenished with new varieties, and some of them are not entirely suitable for growing without a greenhouse. Growing spinach in open ground has just begun to be practiced, and it quickly gained popularity among gardeners, because despite concerns, the plant feels great and with proper care, spinach quickly grows fleshy green mass.

Spinach is an amazing plant; in some countries it is considered a weed and is mercilessly destroyed, in others it is carefully looked after, trying to preserve every leaf. The homeland of the green vegetable is the Middle East, where it lives freely in warmth and comfort. In cooler latitudes, some effort will have to be made to provide the plant with the necessary conditions.

What does a green plant need to please it with a harvest of delicious leaves?

There are very few requirements:

• regular generous watering;
• bright sunny area;
• timely removal of weeds;
• adding nutrients;
• light fertile soil.

If you do everything in a timely manner and avoid annoying mistakes, beautiful spinach will certainly become one of your favorite plants.

When should you start planting spinach and how to do it correctly?

Unlike most vegetable crops, which are planted in spring or before winter, spinach can be planted throughout the year (excluding winter). In the fall, it is recommended to send the plant to the garden bed only in regions with a temperate climate, and a cover will definitely be needed.

It is better to give preference to spring planting - green leaves will be on the kitchen table throughout the warm season.

Summer planting has its own characteristics: abundant watering before planting and covering the bed with mats to speed up the emergence of sprouts.

Sowing should be carried out in shallow grooves (up to 3 cm deep). Do not leave row spacing wide; 30-35 cm is quite enough. The final stage of sowing should be rolling - this will allow retaining the moisture necessary for the emergence of friendly shoots.

Features of growing strawberry spinach

Strawberry spinach arouses curiosity among many gardeners, because this curiosity has recently become popular among lovers of exotic plants in their garden beds. As in ordinary spinach, only the leaves are valuable here (they manage to grow more than half a meter in length), but the berries, despite the abundance of useful substances, are not particularly popular - they are completely tasteless.

The plant is completely undemanding to soil; it can even be grown on loam or sandstone, although the yield will be slightly worse than on black soil. Planting is usually done in the spring, but even seeds sent in the fall can produce small rosettes before persistent cold weather. Before winter they will get stronger, and a thin covering is enough so that with the arrival of spring the plant begins to grow and already at the beginning of summer will delight you with juicy large leaves.

The agricultural technology of strawberry exotic differs little from caring for ordinary spinach. Watering and weeding are required, and adding nutrients is a good idea. The only difference is that you will have to tie up the bushes, otherwise they will fall on the garden bed under the weight of the berries.

Spinach care: from planting to harvesting

Where to start planting spinach? When growing any vegetable crop, it is important to choose the right variety, and green exotic is no exception. Gardeners already have their favorite varieties of spinach, time-tested and delighting with an abundant harvest of juicy leaves.

You can safely grow the following varieties in the garden:

• Matador;
• Victoria;
• Fat-leaved;
• Gaudry;
• Virofle.

Each of these varieties feels great both in the greenhouse and in the open ground.

How to properly prepare the soil for sowing

Despite the undemanding nature of spinach, it is impossible to grow a good harvest of leaves without fertilizing, but experienced gardeners who have become friends with the plant advise making their life easier by adding nutrients even before planting. It is better to prepare the bed 2-4 weeks before sowing the seeds.

It is enough to add 4-6 kg of good humus per square meter of bed. The plant does not really respect fresh organic matter - the leaves will grow large, but will lose their fleshiness. If the soil is very poor, you can also add a good handful of potash and phosphorus fertilizers before digging.

Spinach tends to accumulate nitrates, so it is better not to use nitrogen fertilizers

Fertilizing and watering - how to avoid mistakes

Spinach loves moisture, but even in hot summers it can please you with its fleshy leaves. If the weather does not favor rain, several times a month you will have to arm yourself with a watering can and pamper your plants with abundant watering. The water must first stand in the sun - cold moisture can cause disease and destroy the entire bed.

Typically, spinach has enough useful elements that were added to the soil when preparing the beds. If the plant grows slowly and is reluctant to grow green mass, you can feed it with urea. It’s easy to prepare a nutrient solution - dissolve 15-20 grams in a bucket of water. urea and water the bed (pre-moisten the soil thoroughly). It is better not to add phosphorus and potassium during the growth period - the plant will quickly shoot out its arrows.

When can you collect leaves?

It is important not to miss collecting leaves - if you are late, they will lose their juiciness, become coarse, and become tasteless. It is better to go to the garden for the harvest in the morning, but only in dry weather - excess moisture in the soil causes the leaves to become brittle and brittle.

You can start harvesting only after the spinach has grown at least six beautiful large leaves (usually this happens 9-11 weeks after planting). You can cut off the entire rosette or tear it out of the ground along with the roots, but most gardeners prefer to constantly have fresh leaves on the table, collecting them as they grow.

Tricks you need to know when growing spinach from seeds

The first thing to remember is that two sprouts grow from a round seed, which grow quickly; one of them should be removed. Thinning after the second leaf appears will help produce a healthy plant that does not have to share nutrients and moisture with its neighbor. The ideal distance between plants is at least 15 cm. Before thinning, the soil should be watered generously - spinach roots are very fragile and can be easily damaged.

Growing spinach from seeds also involves frequent loosening, especially until the plant produces up to 5 leaves. Simultaneously with loosening, weeding is carried out - malicious weeds can choke out fragile sprouts.

What plants in the neighborhood will spinach get along well with?

Spinach lovers usually set aside large beds for their exotic beauty, especially if the size of the garden allows. Owners of tiny pieces of land should not be upset - spinach goes well with any vegetable crops, you can even plant it between rows of onions or carrots. Spinach should be grown with caution near cucumbers or zucchini - long vines can break fragile leaves.

Spinach can even be grown in the garden by preparing a small bed. The shade from large trees is not a hindrance for the plant, but the planting should be placed so that at least a few hours a day the sun's rays penetrate the leaves. Otherwise, the harvest will be quite meager.

Which pests and what diseases can threaten spinach?

Spinach has quite a lot of enemies, and if the gardener does not respond to the threat in time, he may completely lose the crop. The main enemy is the ubiquitous aphid. It is not recommended to fight it with chemicals, since many harmful substances may remain in the fleshy leaves.

It is better to resort to traditional methods:

1. Decoction of ash (300 grams of wood ash, pour 6 liters of boiling water, leave for 2 hours, treat the plants generously).
2. Infusion of wormwood (grind 400 grams of wormwood leaves, add 5 liters of water, leave for 24 hours, spray).
3. Soap solution (dissolve 2 bars of laundry soap in 5 liters of water, spray the plants).

Snails also don’t mind eating tasty leaves; in a few days, if there is a large concentration of the pest, you can lose the entire harvest. Simple traps that you can make yourself will help here. To do this, take plastic bottles, cut off the bottom, bury them in beds with spinach, trying to ensure that the edges of the trap do not rise above the soil surface. All that remains is to pour some beer into the trap in the evening, which will certainly attract pests. In the morning, you can collect a “harvest” of snails that could not get out of the plastic cup after the feast.

Among the diseases, spinach can be threatened by powdery mildew. You need to fight it even when planting the plant - it is important to place the bushes at the required distance. Dense planting is the main cause of the disease. If there is a slight infection, you can try spraying the spinach with whey or garlic infusion (infuse 100 grams of garlic in 3 liters of water for 2 days).

Root rot can also kill spinach. Measures that will help avoid the disease include timely loosening of the soil and thinning of plantings. The use of chemicals is not recommended - if the disease cannot be avoided, the plant cannot be saved.

Anyone can grow spinach in the garden. This is an annual, very early ripening, unpretentious, cold-resistant crop, almost not affected by diseases and pests. Spinach tolerates short-term frosts down to -6-8 oC. Spinach can coexist with all garden crops; it is well suited for dense plantings or as a precursor to heat-loving crops.

Soil for spinach.

Growing spinach is possible in any soil, everywhere. The best yields are obtained on fertile, loose soils with a neutral reaction. Spinach bed In the photo: A bed of spinach. Growing spinach in the garden. placed in a sunny place, make it not high so that the soil does not dry out. Spinach is a moisture-loving crop! Therefore, sometimes a bed is made with sides around the perimeter so that water does not drain when watering. This makes caring for spinach easier. With this planting, you can water spinach less often. It is better to plant spinach after crops that require good soil cultivation and the application of manure, for example, after cucumbers and potatoes. Before planting, dig up the soil and apply it per 1 square meter. m half a bucket of humus, two handfuls of ash or 60 g of complex mineral fertilizer Fertika (Kemira).

When to sow spinach.

You can sow spinach in April-May or before winter. When sowing in winter, the bed is prepared in September-October, and grooves are cut on top. After the ground is set by frost at the end of October or November, the seeds are sown in frozen grooves and sprinkled with loose soil, which was stored at above-zero temperatures. The soil is compacted, and winter crops in the middle zone are mulched. Growing spinach by winter sowing makes it possible to get the harvest 1-2 weeks earlier. Since spinach is a short-day plant, early sowing at the end of April and late in the third ten days of August produces the most delicious and juicy leaves. Spinach can be sown under temporary cover from mid-April. At a soil temperature of +3-4 °C, spinach seeds germinate. Spinach can be re-sowed every two weeks. When sowing in summer, the crop's daylight hours are shortened to 10 hours. To do this, in the morning and evening, spinach is covered with boxes or matting over the arches. When there is 16 hours of daylight or more, spinach bolts, the growth of its leaves slows down, they become thin, and acquire a bitter taste.

Sowing spinach.

Before spring and summer sowing, it is better to soak spinach seeds for 1-2 days in water at room temperature. Every 4 hours the water must be changed to new one. Afterwards, lightly dry the seeds and sow according to the pattern corresponding to the variety: (5-6 cm) x (18-20 cm) to a depth of 1.5-2 cm for compact rosettes, 20x45 cm for large rosettes. Sowing is carried out in compacted, watered furrows. Afterwards, the seeds are sprinkled with earth, which is pressed down with the palm of your hand or the back of a rake. For faster seed germination, crops can be covered with lutrasil or plastic film, which are removed after germination.

Caring for spinach.

Ten to fourteen days after sowing, shoots appear. In order not to thicken the planting and to prevent possible diseases, spinach is thinned out, since two sprouts can appear from one seed. When planted densely, spinach rosettes with elongated, brittle leaves are formed. Thinning is carried out when the spinach has a second true leaf. After thinning, the spinach is watered. Later, when thinning, seedlings with a small number of leaves are removed. As a rule, these are male plants (spinach is a dioecious plant), less productive and less valuable in terms of the content of nutrients. Two weeks after germination, you can sow radishes or another compacting crop to the spinach. Caring for spinach includes weeding and loosening. Water the spinach generously so that the water reaches deep into its roots. For 1 sq. meter is consumed per bucket of water. In dry weather, watering is carried out 3 times a week. During the rainy season, plants are not watered. Excess moisture can cause root rot in spinach. With proper care, there are no problems with spinach. Under unfavorable conditions, it can be affected by aphids, leafminer larvae, slugs, snails, downy mildew, and spots.

When to harvest spinach.

In the phase of 5-6 leaves, spinach can be eaten. A rosette of 9-12 leaves is considered mature and ready for harvest. This usually occurs, depending on the variety, 4-5 weeks after spring sowing (early varieties), and 6-7 weeks after summer sowing (late varieties). You cannot delay harvesting spinach, otherwise its leaves will become coarse. Harvesting is carried out selectively, as the rosettes mature, until flower stalks appear. The plants are pulled out by the roots, washed without getting them on the leaves, and dried with a towel or napkin. Store spinach in the refrigerator in polyethylene or a container for 24 hours. You should not wash the leaves before putting them in the refrigerator; this will shorten their storage. Excess harvest can be frozen.

In open ground conditions, many summer residents practice planting garden spinach due to the fact that it is very useful and does not require care. This green crop is an annual, so growing all its varieties is possible only from seeds.

Description: varieties and varieties of spinach

Inexperienced summer residents sometimes confuse spinach with sorrel even in photos, although these plants are not at all from the same family. Those who grow different varieties of both crops know the difference perfectly well. Spinach leaves are rounder and richer in color, and its taste, unlike sour sorrel, is delicate and piquant. This annual (less commonly, biennial) is part of the goosefoot family and is considered a relative of beets and chard.

There are many varieties of garden spinach. The following are most often grown in the country:

• Gigantic;
• Matador;
• Fat-leaved;
• Victoria and others

Spinach leaves

They differ in appearance and ripening time. In general, spinach is early maturing, so you can sow it in a conveyor manner every 3-4 weeks.

Planting a plant in open ground

Experienced summer residents advise planting spinach in the fall. Before the onset of cold weather, he manages to produce small rosettes. Although it is possible to sow in open ground at the end of April, when the soil warms up a little. The depth of the beds should be about 2 cm. The distance between seeds is 6-8 cm. The gap between adjacent rows is 0.2-0.3 m.

After planting in open ground, you need to lightly crush the soil, water it and cover it with burlap - not for long, for 3-4 days. A frame must be installed on top of the beds. Its height is 0.2 m. The entire structure should be covered with film. Spinach is considered a cold-resistant crop, so at t +2…+5 oC its seedlings will hatch in 1.5-2 weeks.

Advice. Spinach planted before winter bolts less often and produces an earlier harvest.

Care and harvesting

Thin out the emerging shoots immediately. Please note: the sprouts should already have 2 true leaves. The optimal distance between plants is 7-10 cm. This care measure will be a good prevention of some diseases and pests. In the future, repeat it with older specimens. Remove those with few leaves.

After thinning, water the plants. There should be enough moisture in the beds. Drying out the soil can lead to spinach bolting and flowering. This worsens the taste of healthy leaves. However, excessive irrigation when growing green crops is also bad. Typically, in dry weather, the beds are watered 3 times a week, using a bucket of water per 1 square meter. m landings.

Young spinach leaves

Do not forget about other rules of care: regularly loosen the soil and remove weeds. When the plants have 5-6 adult leaves, begin harvesting. Waiting for too much greenery to appear is not advisable. The “more mature” the plant, the less tasty and healthy it is. With proper care, spinach does not create problems and produces a good harvest.

Fertilizer and feeding of spinach

Green culture does not like fresh organic fertilizers. After harvesting, add mineral fertilizers to the soil: per 1 sq. m will need 30 g of superphosphate and 2 times less potassium chloride. If you do not plan to plant spinach in winter, then in the spring add 20 g of urea per 1 sq. m. m of soil.

Further care involves the use of nitrogen fertilizers. Do not use them constantly, but only if the plants develop poorly. Combine fertilizing with watering.

Attention! Phosphorus-potassium fertilizers speed up the flowering of spinach, so avoid them.

Plant propagation: collecting and preparing seeds

You can collect the seeds yourself from spinach planted in open ground. They are used for propagation in the coming autumn or spring of next year. Since spinach is a dioecious crop, i.e. has specimens with female and male flowers; to “continue the species” you need to find plants of the first type. Even after looking at the photo, you will notice that they are larger, retain their appearance longer, and their rosettes have more leaves.

Monitor the health of your spinach in the garden

Collection can begin after about 3 months. after sowing spinach. The foliage of a plant that is ready to produce planting material for propagation turns yellow, and the seeds themselves become brown. It is important that the spinach does not bolt. The testes are cut in the morning: this way they are less likely to fall off. They are dried for 2 weeks in a ventilated area.

The seeds are suitable for propagation for 4 years. Before planting, they are soaked for 48 hours. The water should be warm, about +25C. It is changed every 6-8 hours. After this, the seed material is dried and sown.

Advice. Varieties growing nearby are cross-pollinated. To prevent this from happening, sow them at different times. Flowering usually begins on the 42-53rd day after sprouts hatch.

Diseases and pests of spinach

If you notice yellow spots and a dirty coating on the leaves, this is downy mildew. Sick plants need to be removed, this will stop the spread of the disease. To prevent the appearance of disease, provide the green crop with proper care:

1. Thin out the seedlings.
2. Do not get carried away with watering, since high humidity is a condition for the development of downy mildew.
3. Plant all varieties of spinach in their original location no earlier than after 3 years.

To prevent root rot, regularly loosen the soil and control watering, otherwise this disease will thin the roots and destroy the plant. If you don't pull out the weeds or forget to thin out the beds, be prepared for an invasion of cutworm caterpillars. They can be collected by hand. To kill aphids, prepare a tobacco tincture. To combat leafminer, purchase an insecticide, practice digging the soil, and do not plant beets next to spinach.

Combination with other plants on the site

In open ground, you can make separate beds with spinach or grow this crop in rows. In the second case, it is good to use joint plantings with potatoes, eggplants, tomatoes, beans or peas. A combination with corn, grapes, cauliflower and white cabbage will be productive. You can also plant onions, celery and garden strawberry bushes next to green crops.

In Germany, combining spinach with many plants is popular. The Germans are confident that this representative of the goosefoot family has a positive effect on the growth of other crops and maintains soil moisture and looseness. There is an opinion that spinach is friendly with absolutely all vegetables. But if you want to be on the safe side, keep the healthy annual away not only from beet plantings, but also from asparagus and zucchini.

Growing spinach: video

Spinach: photo

Spinach is a herbaceous vegetable plant, popular and loved all over the world. The French, for example, consider this culture of ancient origin to be the king of vegetables. How to grow good quality spinach at the dacha - this question interests many summer residents.

The uniqueness of green culture

Spinach is a basal rosette of glossy leaves. This is a heterosexual plant. There are male and female representatives of the vegetable. In male specimens, small and few leaves appear from the axils. They are removed during thinning. Large, juicy leaves for cutting are produced by females; they are left in the beds. Female specimens produce nut-shaped seeds.
Spinach roots are weak, growing 20 cm deep, which complicates the process of growing and caring.
The crop is also called a long-day plant. As the day lengthens, flower stalks appear and the leaves lose their juiciness, which is associated with an increase in the level of oxalic acid.

Qualitative characteristics of vegetable crops

Spinach has excellent advantages for growing in the garden, including the following:

• The plant is not afraid of cold weather. Seeds begin to germinate at a temperature of 4 degrees, and the emerging seedlings are able to withstand short-term spring frosts.
• Early ripening and high yield. The growing season of the plant lasts 1 month. You can plant it in your summer cottage several times every 2 weeks during the season. But the best time to harvest is spring. The leaves are more juicy and fleshy in spring.

Varietal diversity of culture

Before you start growing spinach from seeds, you need to choose the right plant variety.
When choosing a variety, pay attention to the ripening time of the crop, which is indicated on the label of the bag of seeds. Having selected seeds of different types, you can organize a conveyor collection on your site.

All varieties and hybrids are divided into early, mid-ripening and late.

• Early varieties. 15 days after germination, you can already cut off the leaves. If you sow late, the crop will start bolting early. Early ripening varieties include Matador, Ispolinsky, and Khorovod.
  Please note that each of them has additional qualities:
  • Matador is resistant to low temperatures and color. By the way, this is one of the highest-yielding and popular varieties. You can find out more about it on the Internet, and also order seeds. You will need to enter into the search “matador spinach growing from seeds”
  • Gigantic can be grown both in open ground and protected. Does not throw out arrows for a long time, is resistant to the accumulation of nitrates.
  • Round dance has a high content of vitamins.
• Medium varieties - such as Rembrandt, Emerald F1 - ripen 20 days after germination.
• Late ripening. Ready for harvesting in 25 days. Victoria, Varyag, Ladya. They are resistant to bolting and can be sown in the summer.
• To grow at home on a windowsill, take late-ripening varieties such as Victoria, Virtuoso or hybrids Melody, Prima.

It is worth adding that constant breeding work on developing new varieties of spinach that are low-shooting, early, resistant to powdery mildew, and produce a large mass of greenery does not stop. New items appear every year.
Undoubtedly, the early ripening variety of strawberry spinach and its cultivation from seeds will arouse the interest of summer residents. In addition to juicy leaves, it produces fruits that have a strawberry aroma. The fruits are suitable for both eating and processing.
Strawberry spinach is an annual plant up to 50 cm high. Fruit ovaries appear in the axils of the plant. On the fourth day after the formation of the ovaries, the fruits ripen and are ready for consumption. Moreover, growing strawberry spinach is not particularly difficult.

Choosing a landing site

High-quality cultivation of spinach in open ground largely depends on the correct choice of place for planting the crop. Consider the recommendations of experts:

• Loamy and sandy loam soils are best suited. If you have clayey, heavy soils, you should think carefully before planting a crop: you will have to spend a lot of time and effort on planting and care, and the result will be unsatisfactory. The acidity of the soil should be neutral.
• Greens grow well in well-lit, open and elevated areas. In regions with too hot summers, you can choose partial shade for planting.
• It is advisable to plant the plant in places protected from cold northern or eastern winds, since the crop does not like drafts.
• Consider the rules of crop rotation when choosing a site: the best predecessors of spinach are potatoes, radishes, legumes, cucumbers, zucchini, and tomatoes.
• The crop should not be planted for more than 3 years in one place.
• Flowers will be bad neighbors for the plant, green crops will be good neighbors.

Features of soil preparation for sowing greens

Spinach loves loose and nutritious soils, saturated with organic and mineral fertilizers, moisture- and breathable, well-drained. You should start preparing a bed for greens in the fall. Follow this sequence:

1. Dig up the intended area.
2. Apply organic matter (up to 8 kilograms per square meter), complex mineral fertilizer or superphosphate according to the instructions.
3. Apply urea before the snow melts.
4. Cultivate the soil in early spring.
5. Add a bucket of humus per square meter of soil (if it didn’t work out in the fall) and a glass of ash.

Please note that nitrates accumulate quickly in the leaves of the plant, so the use of nitrogen fertilizers in the spring is not recommended and, in general, nitrogen fertilizers should be applied carefully.

Methods of growing crops

Spinach seeds can be sown both in open ground and as seedlings in protected ground.
The method of growing through seedlings is not particularly popular. The roots of green seedlings are weak, when transplanted into the garden they are injured and do not take root well. It is optimally used for heat-loving varieties of spinach (Matador, New Zealand).

Preliminary seed preparation

Spinach seeds have a dense shell. If you plant them dry, you will have to wait a long time for germination.
To accelerate the emergence of seedlings, as well as to disinfect seeding material, it is necessary to carry out a set of measures:

• Sort through the material, discard small, dry nuts.
• During the day they should be soaked in water at room temperature, changing it from time to time.
• Then, if necessary (if the material is your own and not purchased in a specialized store), the seeds are disinfected in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate.
• Lightly dry the seed material and prepare it for planting.

Some plant varieties (Victoria, Corenta) have very poor germination; the soaking time for them is extended to two days, and biostimulants are added to the water.

How to sow crops correctly?

You can sow spinach in open ground in August, early spring, in April, or before winter. At a temperature of 5 degrees or more, planting can begin. When sowing, follow the instructions:

1. Make ribbon-type grooves in 2-5 lines. The distance between lines is 20 cm, row spacing is 40-50 cm. The depth of seeding on loamy soils is 2-2.5 cm, on sandy loam soils - up to 4 cm. Between seeds in a row is 5-8 cm. Consider sowing 3 g per 1 square meter of area seeds
2. Lightly press down the crops and water them with water.
3. It is advisable to cover the bed with film to protect it from possible night frosts and speed up the emergence of seedlings.
4. A week to a week and a half after sowing, shoots will appear.

Specifics of growing greens in a greenhouse and at home

Spinach can also be grown in protected conditions - on a balcony, in a loggia, on a windowsill, in a greenhouse.
Growing spinach in a greenhouse can begin in the fall and continue until summer, sowing the seeds several times. Pay attention to details:

• In practice, greens are grown as a compactor between rows of vegetable crops (cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers).
• In protected ground (in a greenhouse), lines on the beds are made every 10 cm, while the seeds are respectively consumed twice as much per square meter - 6g.

For home planting, you can take a regular flower pot (at least 1 liter in volume) or a plastic container. Be sure to make holes in the bottom to drain excess moisture and allow roots to breathe, and provide drainage.
The containers are filled with prepared soil to a depth of 10-15 cm.
Soil mixture composition:

• Humus - 2 parts;
• Sod land - 2 parts;
• River clean and sifted sand – 1 part.

Another possible soil option:

• Vermicompost – 1 part;
• Coconut fiber – 2 parts.

Sowing is carried out starting from the third ten days of January (due to lighting).
After sowing, within a month you will be able to harvest the first harvest.
Growing and caring for spinach in a greenhouse and at home is the same as in open ground.
It is important to create an appropriate temperature of 15-18 degrees and sufficient lighting. The quality of planted spinach at temperatures above 20 degrees deteriorates: bolting and flowering begin, the leaves become rough.

Green crop care technology

Caring for seedlings consists of watering, mulching, weeding, loosening, thinning, and protection from pests.

1. Plants love watering. Only with good watering will you get fleshy, large leaves. In the absence of rain, it is necessary to water, using a bucket of water per square meter.
   In dry, hot weather, it is recommended to water up to 3 times a week.
2. Growing and caring for spinach in open ground or in a greenhouse does not allow overwatering: the crop may be affected by root rot.
3. Mulching is done with grass and straw to retain moisture in the soil.
4. Weeding is first carried out after the growth of the first true leaf. The beds should be cleared of weeds regularly, not only to improve the life of the plant, but also to protect against caterpillars and aphids.
5. Loosening is done finely to remove the crust and provide oxygen access to the roots.
6. Thinning is carried out simultaneously with the first weeding - in the phase of the appearance of the first leaf. A distance of 10 cm is left between individual sprouts. When planting more densely, there is a danger of developing root rot or powdery mildew.
7. Fighting diseases. The most common disease of greenery is root rot. If detected, the diseased plant should be pulled out by the roots, and the planting should be treated with 1% Bordeaux mixture. For pests, crops are treated with infusion of tobacco dust or ready-made biological products.

Harvesting vegetable plant

It is recommended to harvest spinach in the morning before preparing dishes. Large leaves are collected from young plants that lack flower stalks. Please note the specifics of the collection:

• The leaves are broken off one by one.
• The rosettes are cut off under the first leaf so that less dirt gets on the greenery, and so that the planted plant can continue to grow.
• Cutting is done when the leaves reach a length of 18 cm.
• The number of leaves on a ripe plant ready for cutting should be at least 6.
• Harvesting in the garden should be done regularly, as spinach quickly becomes overripe.
• When the arrows of flower stalks begin to appear, the plant is removed from the garden bed.
• The seeds of the plant ripen after 3 months. In the ripening phase, it is necessary to cut off the browned inflorescences and place them in a shaded place for ripening.
• The germination of seeds that are properly stored in a dry and cool place lasts 4 years.

For your information, seeds are collected only if one variety grows on the site, since spinach is a wind-pollinated crop. It is enough to leave 2 female plants in the beds with a distance of 20 cm between them to get a good harvest of seeds.
A low-calorie, vitamin-rich product like spinach is ideal for dietary nutrition. Eating spinach improves immunity, relieves fatigue, and is recommended for diabetes and childhood rickets (increased vitamin D content).

Spinach is an early ripening plant, which makes it possible to harvest from April to August. This is a cold-resistant annual crop. The optimal temperature for growth is considered to be 15°C. But this plant can also withstand frost. Spinach began to gain popularity recently, but due to the presence of a huge amount of useful substances and vitamins in its composition, the demand for this crop is rapidly increasing.

Features of culture

Spinach has significant nutritional value. Its distinctive feature is the ability to preserve useful elements in any condition. After heat treatment or freezing, it will be almost as useful as in its raw form. Spinach contains ascorbic, oxalic, linolenic and oleic acid, as well as carotene, phosphorus, manganese, iodine, calcium, sodium, iron, copper, vitamins K, E, P, PP, B. Spinach helps strengthen the nervous system and normalize the gastrointestinal tract. It helps stabilize the condition of anemia. But its use must be limited if liver and kidney function are impaired.

Spinach varieties

There are many varieties of this crop. Let's look at the most common ones:

Among the early ripening varieties, we can distinguish the varieties “Giant” and “Stoik”. They take 15 to 20 days to ripen.

Mid-season varieties include “Matador” and “Krepysh”. These crops ripen within 25-30 days.

To get a harvest from late-ripening varieties such as “Victoria” or “Zhirnolistny” it will take from 30 to 35 days.

Soil preparation

Spinach is planted in fertile sandy and loamy soils. But this crop is unpretentious to the growing environment and is capable of producing crops on other soils if certain rules are observed. Spinach grown in sandy soils needs to be watered generously. When choosing a place for planting, you should keep in mind that this plant needs sunlight. Lack of lighting will reduce the vitamin C content in the leaves of the crop. Before planting, it is recommended to prepare the soil first.
This process is carried out in two stages:

In the fall, humus must be distributed over the area where the crop is supposed to be grown, and then the soil must be dug up. Then the soil is enriched with superphosphate and potassium chloride. If there is a need for liming, fluff lime, dolomite flour or crushed chalk are added.

In the spring, urea is used to saturate the soil with the necessary elements. It is not recommended to use manure in the spring, as it will negatively affect the taste of the crop.

Planting spinach

Growing spinach makes it possible to continuously include fresh greens in your diet throughout the entire season. This crop can be planted in autumn or spring. If you plant the seeds in September, spinach can already be harvested when spring arrives. The first shoots will appear even before frost, and 13-15 days after the snow melts the crop will ripen. In spring, spinach is sown before April 15.
Seeds must undergo preliminary preparation before planting:

They are placed in warm water at a temperature of +25°C for 48 hours, and the liquid must be changed every 4 hours.

Then the planting material must dry.

Shallow trenches are made on the site at a distance of 20 cm. Approximately 5 g of planting material is consumed per 1 m.

Seeds are planted 5 cm apart. They should be buried approximately 2 cm into the soil, then a layer of soil should be poured on top and the crop should be watered.

The first shoots appear after 2 weeks.

How to grow spinach in the garden

Spinach is a moisture-loving crop. Water it up to 4 times a week. About 10 liters of water are used per 1 m so that the liquid can penetrate to a depth of 10 cm. During periods of precipitation, the rate should be reduced. If all the necessary preparatory measures have been taken before planting, the soil does not need additional enrichment with nutrients during the process of growing the crop. But if the spinach does not develop well enough or is pale in color, it should be watered with urea diluted in water.
This crop must be thinned out so that neighboring plants do not touch each other's leaves. During this procedure, small and weak shoots are removed. If the spinach begins to sprout early and quickly, this process can be delayed by installing an arc and covering the area with an opaque film. The soil must be weeded regularly to prevent the spread of weeds.

Harvesting

It will take 20 to 30 days for the crop to mature. The main sign that spinach is ready to eat is the presence of 5 to 7 leaves. Features of the collection and preparation of crops are given below:

The leaves must be collected before the stem forms.

The most suitable time for harvesting is considered to be early in the morning, since such spinach retains its appearance longer. It can be pulled out by the roots or cut off.

The leaves should be stored in the refrigerator for a week.

During this period, the culture retains all its beneficial properties.

For longer storage, spinach needs to be frozen.

Strawberry spinach: how to grow

This crop got its name due to the presence of fruits that are externally similar to strawberry fruits. Both leaves and berries can be eaten. This is an annual cold-resistant plant belonging to the goosefoot family. Strawberry spinach is unpretentious to growing conditions. It can be planted in any soil. The culture can withstand temperatures down to -10°C and tolerates hot weather well.

There are two ways to grow this spinach:

seedlings;

seedless.

The first option allows you to get greens in early spring. To do this, they begin to grow seedlings in early March. You need to pour soil into the prepared containers, place the seeds in it, sprinkle them with soil and water them. To speed up the emergence of seedlings, the pots are covered with film. This creates a greenhouse effect. The first shoots will appear after two weeks. After this, the film should be removed, otherwise mold and fungal diseases will appear on the plant. When 4-5 leaves appear on the spinach, it can be planted in open ground.

You can start growing without seedlings immediately after the snow melts. For planting, you need to prepare holes, which should be placed at a distance of 40 cm from each other. Several units of seeds are placed in one hole. When the seedlings grow, the crop must be thinned out. Strawberry spinach is drought tolerant, but should be watered whenever possible. Abundant watering will allow you to get juicy and large fruits. The crop also needs to be weeded, especially at an early stage of growth. When the spinach grows, you can stop weeding. Its overgrown branches will become a kind of obstacle to the spread of weeds.

Fertilizers for spinach

One of the conditions for obtaining a high-quality spinach harvest is the enrichment of the soil with nutrients. This can be done with the help of organic and mineral substances. Let's look at the fertilizers that are used to saturate the soil before planting spinach.

Urea is added to the soil. This substance has a high concentration of nitrogen. This fertilizer is white in color and is available in granular form. Before use, it must be dissolved in water. When applied to the soil per 1 m2, 15-20 g of this product is required.

Urea can be used as a foliar fertilizer. To do this, it is diluted at the rate of 50 g per 10 liters of water to spray an area of ​​100 m2. Superphosphate or lime should not be added at the same time as urea.

Superphosphate belongs to phosphate fertilizers. Available in powder and granular form. It contains phosphorite and phosphoric acid. 50-60 g of substance is used per 1 m2. This fertilizer is suitable for acidic soils, since due to the presence of calcium sulfate it does not increase the acidity of the soil.

Potassium chloride is a representative of the potassium group of fertilizers. It appears as a white, gray or pink crystalline powder. It contains potassium oxide. It is applied to the soil at the rate of 30 g per 1 m2. The soil structure is enriched with potassium chloride mainly in the autumn.

Dolomite flour is a magnesium fertilizer. Contains calcium and magnesium and is used for soil liming.

Humus is a dark, loose mass formed as a result of the decomposition of manure. This fertilizer contains the maximum concentration of nutrients. But in order for them to be preserved, humus must be stored correctly. For this purpose, it is necessary to set aside a small area on dense soil. If this is not possible, sandy soil will also work, but it must first be covered with plastic film.

Peat or straw is initially laid on it in a layer of 25-30 cm. This is necessary to absorb slurry. Then fertilizer is placed on the laid layer and compacted. The height of the manure should not exceed 1.5 m, and the width - 2 m. The length can be arbitrary. If manure is placed for long-term storage, it must be covered with a 20 cm layer of soil on top. For short-term storage, ordinary film is suitable. 5-6 kg of this fertilizer is used per square meter of soil.

Compost improves the structure of the soil and saturates its upper layers with nutrients. For compost mass, you can use food waste, grass, chopped branches, coffee grounds, tea leaves, sawdust, straw, hay. To prepare this fertilizer, you need to prepare a pit or container 1.5 m high and 2x2 m wide. It is not recommended to use a container exceeding these parameters, since the mass will overheat and not be ventilated enough. In such conditions, the necessary microflora does not develop. In a smaller container, the fertilizer will not warm up to the required temperature.

Branches are placed at the bottom of the container to act as drainage. Next, you can place organic waste. The thickness of each layer should be from 30 to 50 cm. To speed up the decomposition process, the mass should be stirred periodically. The compost will be ready for use when it acquires a crumbly structure and dark color.

Diseases and pests

Spinach can be affected by fungal diseases such as root rot and downy mildew. The presence of the first disease can be determined by the blackened root. Rot affects the entire root system, resulting in the death of the plant. The spread of the disease is facilitated by soil compaction. To prevent rot, the soil should be loosened periodically.

If yellow spots and a gray-violet coating appear on the leaves, the plant is affected by downy mildew, and appropriate measures must be taken. The leaves are smeared with colloidal or ground sulfur, after which the culture is treated with mullein infusion or sulfur suspension.

One of the pests of spinach is the leafminer fly. In early June, it lays eggs on the back of the leaves, from which larvae subsequently emerge. They bite into the leaf, as a result of which swollen spots appear on it and the plant dries out. The following measures will help protect the crop from this pest:

Spinach should not be planted near a bed of beets.

It is necessary to regularly remove affected leaves and weeds.

Aphids can also attack spinach. You can get rid of it using a solution of laundry or potassium soap. 10 liters of water will require 300 g. This product is sprayed on the affected areas for 7-10 days. If necessary, repeat the procedure.

Conclusion

Spinach is a fairly unpretentious plant, which makes it much easier to grow. Caring for this crop involves standard actions: thinning, watering, weeding. Enriching the soil with nutrients will help you get a high-quality harvest.

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