How to grow spinach in the open field and greenhouse

Growing and caring for spinach in the open field will be of interest to gardeners who appreciate vitamin greens on their table in early spring. The crop ripens when there is not a wide variety of vegetables. Catherine de Medici, who was distinguished by excellent health, asked the court cooks to serve spinach to the table every day. It is believed that it was she who introduced the fashion for this dish in France.

Features and conditions for growing spinach

Spinach is the king of French cuisine and a favorite of Americans. In Our Country, it is grown less often, underestimating the beneficial qualities of this leafy vegetable. Agrotechnics for growing and caring for spinach differs from the cultivation of other green crops for open ground. It quickly outgrows and becomes unfit for food. This is a cold-resistant culture, which, with a long daylight hours, quickly turns into flowering. Improper care, growing in arid climates and very dense seeding will also speed up shooting.

The plant needs care until it starts to grow. Young shoots require care – they are regularly watered, weeds are removed, the soil is loosened. Agricultural technology for growing crops in open ground:

1. The grown spinach is surprisingly unpretentious in care, it cannot stand only stagnant water at the roots and strong drying of the soil. It develops rapidly, early ripening varieties are suitable for food already 2 weeks after germination.
2. If the weather is dry, caring for spinach necessarily includes watering, then the open, damp ground is mulched with sawdust.
3. The plant does not need fertilizer during growth in the garden, it is better to underfeed it than to overfeed it. Leaves easily accumulate nitrates from excess nitrogen in the soil.

In growing spinach from seeds, pre-sowing soil preparation plays an important role. Site care includes digging, the introduction of nutrients and loosening components.

Spinach varieties for growing in the ground

In the Middle Ages, spinach was considered a delicacy. Now it is included in the menu of many diets to strengthen the body and prevent diseases. It contains a complex of vitamins and minerals, amino acids and vegetable fats. There is as much carotene in spinach leaves as in carrots.

It is best to plant varieties that are undemanding to care for and easy to grow – slow-shooting, frost-resistant, tasty and productive. A description of the best varieties for temperate regions will help you make the right choice.

Spinach

The Zhirnolistny variety was entered into the State Register in 1971. It has an average ripening period, the first crop is harvested a month after germination. The rosette of green leaves is semi-raised, up to 28 cm in diameter, the weight of one bush is about 20 g, the yield from 1 sq. m is 2,4 kg. The variety discovered by Soviet breeders is distinguished by good taste, unpretentious care and disease resistance. Spinach Zhirnolistny is recommended for cultivation throughout Our Country.

Spinach gigantic

The giant spinach variety was entered into the State Register in 1978. The plant has a compact rosette with a diameter of about 50 cm. The length of the leaf plate is up to 18 cm, the width is up to 14 cm, the color is light green, the surface is wrinkled. With good care in open ground, the weight of one plant is 20-28 g. Spinach has a gigantic early ripening period. The crop can be harvested after 2 weeks of cultivation from the moment of germination, from 1 square. m – up to 2,5 kg.

red spinach

The color of spinach is not only green, but also red. The veins and petioles of the leaves are most intensely colored. Varieties of red spinach.

Bordeaux F1 – green leaves with red petioles and veins. The diameter of the leaf rosette is about 30 cm, the height is up to 20 cm. It grows well when planted in open ground in a sunny place, the taste is sweeter than that of green spinach.

Red Cardinal F1 – a hybrid with green leaves, pink veins and petioles. Undemanding in care, resistant to powdery mildew. The ripening period in open ground is 30-40 days after emergence.

Red spinach is sometimes referred to as a related plant that is grown outdoors like leafy greens such as Swiss chard.

Spinach Uteusha

This is an interesting hybrid of spinach and sorrel, discovered in the second half of the 2th century by the Ukrainian scientist Yu. A. Uteush. The plant does not require special care, it is grown for salads and soups, and also as a fodder crop. The height of the bushes in summer reaches 15 m. Growing seedlings in a greenhouse gives good results. Then the formed bushes are transplanted into open ground, in one place they can grow up to XNUMX years. The taste of the plant resembles a mixture of spinach and sorrel.

Spinach Victoria

The late-ripening variety of Victoria spinach was entered into the State Register in 1950. The growing period from seed germination to crop ripening is 19-37 days. Semicircular dark green leaves of the plant are collected in a compact rosette with a diameter of up to 20 cm. m in open ground is 1-2,5 kg, the weight of one plant is up to 3,5 g. Spinach is suitable for fresh consumption and heat treatment – salads, soups, sauces.

Spinach Papaya

Papaya spinach belongs to the varieties of domestic selection, it was included in the State Register in 2015. The leaf rosette is semi-horizontal, up to 25 cm high, the weight of one plant is up to 35 g, the yield is from 1 sq. m when grown in open ground – up to 3 kg. The leaves are dark green with excellent taste, medium arrowing. The variety is early ripe, the culture is recommended for cultivation in all regions of Our Country.

Spinach Boa

The hybrid variety Boa was included in the State Register in 2017. It was bred in the Netherlands, belongs to the early maturing hybrids of the first generation. Resistant to cold and disease, suitable for outdoor cultivation in all regions of Our Country. The leaves are oval green, grow on petioles of medium length. Leaf rosette horizontal or semi-upright, up to 15 cm in diameter, weight – up to 60 g. Yield per 1 sq. m in open ground – up to 1,7 kg. The advantage of growing the Boa variety is the late bolting.

When to sow spinach outdoors

Sowing spinach in open ground is carried out from late April to mid-August with an interval of 3-4 weeks. Seeds germinate at a temperature of +4 °C. Open seedlings withstand frosts down to -5 °C, and mature plants even down to -15 °C. Thanks to this frost resistance, spinach can be grown on the site throughout the growing season.

Good predecessors for growing crops in the open field are the following vegetables:

• potatoes;
• cabbage;
• radish.

To get the harvest early, you can build a shelter made of non-woven material over the bed. In warm weather, seedlings appear in 4-5 days.

Is it possible to plant spinach before winter

For an early spinach harvest in the spring, the best time to plant seeds outdoors is in the fall. Winter sowing starts from mid-August to mid-September. Before winter, the seeds must be sown so that they do not have time to sprout – in November before the onset of stable cold weather. Crops do not need care in the fall. As soon as the snow melts, the first shoots will appear in the spring. Harvest with this cultivation can be harvested 10 days earlier than from sowing in early spring.

How to plant spinach

When grown outdoors, spinach does not require special care. Seeds are buried in the soil by 2-3 cm. They are planted in furrows or holes located at a distance of 20 cm from each other. 2-3 seeds are placed in each well. When shoots appear, leave to grow on one of the strongest, the rest are pulled out.

When planting in furrows, sowing is done at a distance of 2-3 cm, the seeds are large, so it is easy to maintain the required gap between them. The distance between the furrows in the open ground is left 20-25 cm. If the beds are kept moist during daily care, seedlings will appear about a week after sowing.

Thin out seedlings in the phase of two true leaves. A distance of 8-10 cm is left between plants in the open ground. Plantings of late varieties with a large diameter of leaf rosettes during cultivation are thinned out as they grow, eating young greens for food.

Site preparation

The plant is undemanding to the soil, grows on any, except acidic and heavy. To get a good harvest, the site is prepared in the fall. The bed is dug up, a bucket of humus and a glass of wood ash are brought in for each square meter. Decayed peat and river sand are also added to make the land looser and more fertile, suitable for growing crops.

In the spring, before planting spinach with seeds in open ground, the area is leveled, compacted and well watered. For sowing, furrows are made 2 cm deep, maintaining a distance between them of 20-25 cm.

Seed preparation

Spinach seeds for spring sowing in open ground are prepared in advance. They are covered with a dense shell, so the first shoots have to wait a long time. This feature of the structure allows the seeds to successfully winter in open ground, germinating during the first spring thaw.

To speed up the emergence of seedlings in the spring, before sowing, the seeds are soaked for 2-3 days in water (+30 ° C) or mixed with wet, rotted sawdust and placed in a warm place for several days.

How to plant spinach outdoors

Spinach is sown in open ground before winter or early spring. This cold-resistant culture, undemanding to care, begins to be grown before all other vegetables. Seeds are laid out in prepared furrows, keeping a small distance between them. Sprinkle soil on top, level and mulch. Water from a watering can between rows so as not to erode the crops.

To get an earlier harvest in the open field, cover the bed with a film. When shoots appear, they remove the shelter during the day and return it again at night, protecting it from frost. Seedlings can be grown on the windowsill, they do not require special care.

How to grow spinach in the garden

The dates for planting spinach in the open field fall in the spring and late summer: from April to May and from July to August. A place for growing a crop is chosen well-lit with fertile or fertilized loose soils. Caring for spinach in the open field is simple – thinning the crops, weeding from weeds, loosening the soil, watering.

Watering and feeding

When growing spinach outdoors, keep in mind that it loves water. In hot, dry weather, it has to be watered almost every day. This leafy vegetable is able to accumulate nitrates, so it is better to refuse nitrogen and organic fertilizers when self-care and growing in the garden. Organic and mineral top dressings are applied to the open ground at the pre-sowing stage.

Care for industrial cultivation is different. Seedlings are fed with potash and nitrogen fertilizers at a rate of 0,1 t/ha, adding them simultaneously with irrigation.

Weeding and loosening

After each watering, the aisles are loosened – such care helps the development of roots and the growth of leaf mass. To reduce the amount of watering and loosening, the beds are mulched with humus or compost. When grown on heavy soil that retains moisture and does not allow air to pass through, spinach does not grow well, so deoxidized peat, rotted compost and river sand are added before planting.

Protection against diseases and pests

Strong spinach bushes are rarely affected by diseases and pests in the open field – this makes care easier. Good plant immunity is important because insecticide and fungicide treatments are not allowed during early leafy greens. Under adverse weather conditions, crop losses are possible. High humidity during frequent rains leads to downy mildew damage. For the prevention of fungal infections, it is advisable to treat the beds before sowing “Fitosporin” or “Trichodermin”.

On dry days, spinach bushes are parasitized by leaf aphids, a carrier of the beet jaundice virus. During cultivation, it is important to maintain optimal soil moisture. For pest control, it is better to use folk methods – infusions of onion peel, tobacco, shag, soap solutions, etc.

Improper care can lead to yellowing of the leaves and stunting – waterlogging or drying out of the open ground, its increased acidity. A mistake is a thickened planting, placing beets near the beds, which have common pests with spinach – beet nematode and leaf aphids.

How to grow spinach in a greenhouse

Spinach for the winter is easy to grow in a greenhouse. Seeds are sown from September to February. To speed up germination, they are pre-soaked for 1-2 days. To reduce the cost of caring for the culture, maintain a temperature of +10 … +15 ° C. Young spinach tolerates light frosts easily. Care in the greenhouse includes weeding, watering, airing on warm days.

In February or March, when it is still too early to plant spinach in open ground, they start sowing seeds in containers. Technology for growing and caring for seedlings in a greenhouse:

1. For sowing in a small home greenhouse, plastic containers are taken, at the bottom of which drainage holes are made.
2. The land for cultivation needs loose and nutritious, universal soil from the store is suitable. It is poured into a planting container, moistened from a spray bottle.
3. Seeds are laid out on the surface of the soil in furrows, this facilitates further cultivation and care. You can simply sow, and when shoots appear, dive them into separate containers.
4. From above, the seeds are sprinkled with a layer of soil about 2 cm.
5. Cover the container with a transparent lid or bag, put in a warm, bright place, in a greenhouse. The optimum temperature for germination is +18…+20 °C.
6. After 5-7 days from the moment of sowing the soaked seeds, friendly shoots appear.
7. Containers with seedlings are left open, moistened as the soil dries.
8. Further care consists in watering with settled water using a spray bottle.

After about 2 weeks, you can eat greens of early ripening varieties for food or plant grown seedlings in greenhouse beds.

Growing spinach industrially

You can grow spinach industrially in a greenhouse or open field. Select high-yielding, bolt-resistant and easy-to-care varieties with early ripening, such as Boa.

The land is suitable fertile, loose, with neutral acidity. Preliminary site preparation includes liming the soil, applying compost or humus at 30 t/ha, superphosphate and potassium chloride at 1,5 q/ha. In the spring, the field is harrowed, cultivated before sowing, fertilizing with ammonium nitrate at 2 c / ha.

In the industrial cultivation and care of spinach in the open field, planting is used by a multi-line tape method according to the 32×75 cm scheme. The seed consumption rate per 1 ha is from 25 to 40 kg. When seedlings form 2 true leaves, thinning is carried out, leaving a distance of at least 8 cm between them. Further care in the open field includes weeding and watering. Net harrowing helps in the fight against weeds.

Harvesting begins when the plants form rosettes of 6-8 well-developed leaves. Spinach is uprooted or cut at the level of the lower leaves. The maximum amount of harvest from 1 hectare in the open field is 300 centners. On large fields, a machine with a transport trolley KIR-1,5 is used for harvesting.

Harvesting

Harvesting outdoors is undesirable after rain or watering, so that the base of the leaf rosette does not rot in the place where the leaves are plucked. Plants harvested early in the morning retain their marketable appearance and freshness better.

Spinach is an early maturing crop that is very easy to care for. Plantings of some varieties ripen 14-20 days after germination. It is not worth delaying harvesting, overgrown leaves will become rough, with age they lose their nutritional value. Harvest is used fresh, boiled, stewed, frozen and canned. Fresh leaves are stored for no more than 5-7 days, and at a temperature of 0 ° C and a humidity of 100% – up to 14 days.

You can sow seeds in open ground in the second half of summer to harvest a second crop in the fall. The space vacated in early June in the garden can be occupied by tomato seedlings.

Reproduction

Spinach belongs to annual herbaceous plants from the Amaranth family. Unpretentious in care, propagated by seeds. A hybrid with Uteush sorrel is a perennial, can be propagated by dividing the bush.

Seeds are bought in the store or collect their own. To do this, during care in the open field, the strongest and largest plants are left. Seeds ripen by August. Plants with seed pods are pulled out, allowed to dry in an open attic, and then the required amount is hulled and stored in a dry, dark place until sowing. Seed yield is 45 g/sq. m, they remain viable for 3-4 years.

Conclusion

Growing and caring for spinach in the open field will bring great benefits to gardeners. It is better to grow this culture away from highways and railways. Spinach is unpretentious in care, ripens quickly, dishes from it are healthy and tasty. This leafy vegetable can be grown outdoors, in a greenhouse, and even on a windowsill.