How to grow spinach in the garden in the Kuban, when to plant. How to grow spinach outdoors: the secrets of planting and caring for healthy greens When to sow spinach

Even in tiny areas, gardeners manage to harmoniously place all kinds of vegetables, herbs, berry bushes. Every year the assortment is replenished with new varieties, and some of them are not quite suitable for growing without a greenhouse. Growing spinach in open ground just started to practice, and he quickly gained popularity among gardeners, because despite the fears, the plant feels great and proper care, spinach quickly builds up a fleshy green mass.

Spinach - amazing plant, in some countries it is considered a weed and is ruthlessly destroyed, in others it is carefully looked after, trying to save every leaf. The birthplace 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 with a harvest of delicious leaves?

There are very few requirements:

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

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

When to start planting spinach and how to do it right?

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 a plant to the garden only in regions with a temperate climate, and you will definitely need a cover.

It's better to give preference 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 beds with mats to accelerate the emergence of sprouts.

Sowing should be carried out in shallow grooves (up to 3 cm deep). Do not leave wide aisles, 30-35 cm is enough. The final stage of sowing should be rolling - this will keep the moisture necessary for the appearance of friendly shoots.

Features of growing strawberry spinach

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

The plant is completely undemanding to the soil, it can even be grown on loam or sandstone, although the harvest will be slightly worse than on black soil. Planting is usually done in the spring, but seeds sent in the fall are capable of producing small rosettes until persistent cold weather. Before winter, they will get stronger, and a thin cover is enough so that with the advent of spring the plant starts to grow and at the beginning of summer pleases with juicy large leaves.

Agrotechnics of strawberry exotic differs little from the care of ordinary spinach. Watering and weeding are obligatory, the introduction of nutrients will not be superfluous. The only difference is that you will have to tie up the bushes, otherwise, under the weight of the berries, they will lie down on the garden bed.

Spinach Care: From Planting to Harvest

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 pleasing with a bountiful harvest of juicy leaves.

You can safely grow the following varieties in the garden:

• Matador;
• Victoria;
• Oily;
• Gaudry;
• Virofle.

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

How to properly prepare the soil for sowing

Despite the undemanding nature of spinach, it is impossible to grow a good crop of leaves without fertilizing, but experienced gardeners who have made friends with the plant are advised to make life easier by introducing nutrients even before planting. It is better to prepare a bed 2-4 weeks before sowing seeds.

On the square meter beds enough to make 4-6 kg of good humus. The plant does not really respect fresh organics - the leaves will grow large, but will lose fleshiness. If the soil is very poor, you can also add a good handful of potash and phosphate 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 summer it can please with fleshy leaves. If the weather does not indulge in rain, several times a month you will have to arm yourself with a watering can and pamper your plants with abundant watering. Water must first stand in the sun - cold moisture can cause disease and destroy the entire garden.

Usually, spinach has enough useful elements that were introduced into the soil during the preparation of the beds. If the plant grows slowly and is reluctant to grow green mass, you can feed it with urea. nutrient solution easy to prepare - dissolve 15-20 gr in a bucket of water. urea and water the garden bed (previously moisten the ground well). It is better not to add phosphorus and potassium during the growth period - the plant will quickly throw arrows.

When can leaves be harvested?

It is important not to skip the collection of leaves - if you are late, they will lose their juiciness, coarsen, 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 fragility and brittleness of the leaves.

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 the entire outlet or pull it out of the ground along with the root, but most gardeners prefer to have fresh leaves on the table all the time, collecting them as they grow.

Tricks to know when growing spinach from seed

The first thing to remember is that two sprouts grow from a round seed, which grow quickly, one of them should be removed. Thinning out after the second leaf appears will help you get a healthy plant that doesn't have to share nutrients and moisture with a 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 easily damaged.

Growing spinach from seed also involves loosening frequently, especially until the plant has up to 5 leaves. Simultaneously with loosening, weeding is carried out - malicious weeds can drown out fragile sprouts.

What plants in the neighborhood will get along well with spinach

Spinach lovers usually set aside large beds for their exotic handsome man, especially if the size of the garden allows. Owners of tiny patches of land should not be upset - spinach perfectly coexists with any vegetable crops, you can plant it even between the rows of onions or carrots. Spinach should be grown with care near cucumbers or zucchini - long lashes can break fragile leaves.

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

Which of the pests, and what diseases can threaten spinach

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

It is better to resort to folk methods:

1. A decoction of ash (300 g of wood ash, pour 6 liters of boiling water, leave for 2 hours, process the plants abundantly).
2. Infusion of wormwood (grind 400 g of wormwood leaves, pour 5 liters of water, stand for a day, spray).
3. Soap solution (dissolve 2 bars in 5 liters of water laundry soap, spray plants).

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

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

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

Spinach has not yet received such popularity among Russian summer residents as the rest green crops, and completely wrong. Thanks to its cold resistance, already in May it is possible to obtain juicy, unique-tasting spinach leaves grown in the open field for spring salads. There is still very little greenery in the garden at this time, so tasty and healthy spinach will not only perfectly complement any dish, but also make up for the spring deficiency of vitamins in the body.

What is characteristic, spinach leaves retain useful substances during any processing: thermal or freezing. They contain a whole set of acids: ascorbic, oxalic and oleic, they are rich in calcium, phosphorus, carotene and manganese, iron and copper, and there are enough vitamins: E, K, B, P, PP.

Depending on the ripening time, spinach can be:

• early (15-20 days) - "Stoic", "Giant";
• mid-season (25-30 days) - "Fortress", "Matador";
• late-ripening (30-35 days) - "Fatty-leaved", "Victoria".

Separately, one can note such a variety as Strawberry spinach, in which, in addition to tender juicy leaves, edible red berries grow, outwardly similar to raspberries, but with a strawberry flavor. You can eat them fresh, as well as cook jam, compotes and other sweet dishes. It bears fruit until late autumn, but not in such abundance as in summer.

Mid-ripening spinach gives viable and ready-to-harvest shoots only 30-60 days after planting the seeds

Soil Requirements

Maximum yield is guaranteed on fertile sandy and loamy soils, well drained and neutral in acidity. Under certain conditions, spinach gives good yields on other soils. So, sandy soil you will have to water much more often, and to loosen heavy and dense earth, organic matter, lime and carbonate residues are needed.

A bed for spinach is arranged in a sunny place, since in low light the amount of vitamin C in the leaves decreases. Soil preparation is divided into 2 stages:

1. In autumn, you need to add compost to the selected area (6 kg per 1 m2), as well as feed the soil with phosphorus-potassium fertilizer, and then dig it up;
2. In the spring, the site is cultivated, and if the soil is not fertile enough, then it is enriched with mineral top dressing. Nitrogen is added only when absolutely necessary, since spinach leaves are sensitive to it and nitrates accumulate in them quickly.

The soil in the garden should be fertile, for this they add peat land, a little humus, 1 teaspoon of superphosphate and potassium sulfate (per square meter). It is better to fertilize the soil in autumn.

Seed preparation and sowing features of spinach

Spinach is grown only from seeds that need to be pre-prepared. For two days they are dipped in warm water (+ 25 ° C), not forgetting to change it every 4 hours. After soaking, the seeds should dry thoroughly and become free-flowing again. This procedure is called bubbling.

Spinach is required for quick and full development long daylight hours. So that flower stalks do not appear on it ahead of time, it is sown very early - at the end of April. This can be done even earlier if you remove the snow from the site prepared in the fall early, and as soon as the soil warms up, sow spinach. This culture is cold-resistant, not afraid of frost and requires almost no care.

On heavy soils, it is better to arrange small beds, in other cases, you can sow in rows. The depth of the grooves is 2 cm, the distance between the rows is 20-30 cm. The consumption of seeds per 1 m2 is approximately 5 g. From above, the seeds should be covered with earth, mulched with peat and poured with warm water. Seedlings should emerge after 4-5 days.

Spinach will grow well after potatoes, radishes, beets, cabbage: cauliflower and early, as well as cucumbers. Having spent the first sowing in April, you can sow it every 2 weeks, uninterruptedly harvesting this delicious green crop. Deadline sowing - the beginning of September, in this case, the first harvest of vitamin foliage will please in early spring.

Rules for outdoor care

Caring for spinach in the garden consists of regular watering and weeding.

Caring for spinach in the garden is easy. The main task is to prevent stalking, which requires frequent watering and spraying. Weeding for the entire period will require 3-4, they are needed for destruction weeds and loosening the earth. Simultaneously with weeding, young sprouts are removed so that they do not thicken the plantings.

The entire growing season, spinach must be fed, but only after watering or rain, and immediately loosen the soil. As soon as 7-8 leaves are formed, you can start cutting them off until the plant throws out flower stalks. Then they are torn out of the ground entirely.

Pests and diseases

Spinach belongs to unpretentious plants, diseases and pests on it are extremely rare. From fungal diseases, root rot and downy mildew can be noted. In the first case, the root turns black and the plant gradually dies. You can fight this phenomenon by periodically loosening the soil. Downy mildew signals its appearance and spots yellow color on leaves and gray-violet bloom. Leaves should be smeared with ground sulfur and treated with mullein infusion.

Spinach can be harmed by aphids, which are destroyed by spraying the plants with a solution of laundry soap for a week. 300 g of soap is diluted in 10 liters of water. You can also find a mining fly on spinach, which lays eggs on the back of the leaves in early June. The larvae gnaw the leaves, swollen spots form on them and the plants die. Protective measures are as follows: timely removal of weeds and leaves with damage, and spinach should not be planted near beets.

How to prepare spinach seeds?

There is nothing complicated in harvesting seeds. Choose 2-3 of the healthiest, strongest and most consistent with the varietal characteristics of the specimen and leave them to bloom and set seeds. By August, the seeds ripen, the spinach is pulled out of the ground and sent to the attic to dry. All that's left to do is to let go required amount seeds for subsequent plantings.

Growing spinach at home?

Like many green crops, spinach grows well at home on the windowsill, you just need to provide it with a long daylight hours (at least 10 hours). Therefore, he will need a southern window sill or additional lighting with a lamp artificial lighting, which is placed at a distance of half a meter from the plants.

Absolutely any container is suitable, as long as it is deep and has drainage holes. First, 3 cm of drainage from expanded clay or small pebbles are poured onto the bottom, and soil mixture, loose and nutritious, is poured on top.

You can purchase ready-made soil or prepare it yourself:

• Option 1: a mixture of slightly acidic garden soil with humus and its subsequent disinfection in the oven;
• Option 2: you need to mix 1 part of biohumus with 2 parts of coconut fiber, which will retain water and "regulate" the humidity of the substrate.

Varieties should be chosen early ripe - "Giant" or "Stoic", which will give the first greens in one month.

Planting depth 1 cm, according to the scheme 7x7 cm. The easiest way is to divide the container into squares of the same size and then plant the seeds. From above they need to be sprinkled with soil, moistened with a spray gun and covered with a film or glass. Shoots will begin to appear in a week, then the shelter is removed.

Spinach seedlings dive in the phase of formation of 2-3 leaves, before that, abundantly moistening the ground. If the roots are carefully and carefully released, the plants will easily take root in a permanent place after transplantation.

The main condition for care is to prevent the earth from drying out, then the plants quickly wither and die. Therefore, it is recommended to water them often, but moderately, you will also have to regularly spray the plants. Next to the container to increase the humidity, you can put a vessel with water.

Optimum temperature for growing spinach at home - no higher than 16 ° C, higher values ​​\u200b\u200bwill lead to the formation of flower-bearing arrows. If the soil was fertile, then homemade spinach does not need top dressing; for such a short period of development, those nutrients that were originally contained in the soil will be enough.

When the spinach grows to 8-9 cm, you can start cutting the leaves, it is carried out until the formation of peduncles. Then the plant is removed and a new batch of seeds is sown. Thus, appetizing greens are easy to grow not only in the garden or in the greenhouse, but also at home: on the windowsill or glazed balcony.

Video: Growing and Harvesting Spinach

Peculiarities

The first spinach seeds germinate already at +3 degrees, mass seedlings appear at +8 ... +10 degrees, they tolerate short-term frosts up to 8 degrees.

Spinach grows well at + 15 ... + 18 degrees, higher temperatures cause early stalking of the plant.

To obtain early greens, spinach seeds are sown in greenhouses as a compactor for other crops - tomatoes, cucumbers.

It can be sown before winter, summer and early spring. The best predecessors- crops under which manure was applied (potatoes, cucumbers, early and cauliflower, beets, radishes). He needs a sunny place, the soil is fertile, light or medium loamy, spinach does not grow well on heavy ones.

Growing spinach outdoors

The prepared seeds are slightly dried and sown on April 15-20 in an ordinary way in prepared ridges, on which furrows 4 cm deep are made with a manual marker and a rake handle (the distance between them is 10 cm). Sow the seeds evenly - 2-3 cm from one another, and somewhat thicker at the edges. Then the soil is covered with a rake so that the seeds are at a depth of 2 cm, and for uniform seedlings, the soil is slightly compacted with a rake or a hand roller. If the soil is dry, then it is watered, and then covered with matting or burlap. From 4 to 5 g of seeds are consumed per 1 m2 of the ridge, depending on their germination.

It has been established that spinach develops better with a shortened daylight hours and produces more leaves, while with a long day and low temperatures it produces fewer leaves and quickly goes to the arrow. Given this circumstance, spinach is best sown in greenhouses or insulated ridges.

The simplest insulated ridge is arranged as follows. 4 boards are laid on the sides of the ridge so that they are 10-14 cm above its surface, and strengthened with pegs. Spinach is usually sown, but with the emergence of seedlings within 15-20 days, plants must be given a 10-hour daylight hours. To do this, from 5 pm to 7 am, the ridge is covered from above with frames upholstered with roofing felt or mats. This agricultural technique is recommended to be carried out especially when the period of white nights begins.

After germination, spinach is regularly watered, loosened the soil and fight pests and diseases. At the end of the first decade of May, it is weeded and thinned by 8-10 cm, and young plants are used for food. Then the spinach is fed with a solution of ammonium nitrate. The norm for irrigation of 1 m2 of crops is 30-40 g of ammonium nitrate dissolved in 10 liters of water. To avoid leaf burns, the plants are lightly irrigated with clean water after feeding.

The second sowing of spinach is carried out at the end of May, and the third - at the end of June or beginning of July.

Winter sowing of spinach

To obtain an early harvest of spinach, it can also be sown before winter in elevated areas with light soil. To do this, at the end of September-beginning of October, the remains of vegetable crops and weeds are carefully removed, mineral fertilizers are applied, as indicated above, the ridges are dug up and cut, grooves are cut.

For planting seeds, light sandy, peaty or good humus soil is prepared and covered with straw and manure so that it does not freeze.

Sow in November in frozen soil with dry seeds at the rate of 5 g of seeds per 1 m2. Seeds are sown in grooves and covered with specially prepared soil. In the spring, when the earth dries up, the aisles are loosened and weeds are pulled out. When shoots appear, the plants are watered, fed with ammonium nitrate in the doses indicated above, and the surface of the ridges is mulched.

Further care for spinach consists of loosening, weeding, watering and pest and disease control.

Care

Spinach sprouts appear after 4-5 days. They are not at all afraid of spring frosts and require almost no care. Only the beds need to be watered more often (daily in the heat) and loosen the aisles. I haven't seen any pests on spinach.

Plants, competing with each other, are actively growing and very soon grow beautiful, appetizing leaves sparkling with gloss in the bright sun. Then I gradually begin to thin out the grown spinach, pulling out bundles of fresh greens for food from the rows. When a rosette of 5-8 well-developed leaves grows and a small stem appears in single plants, I cut it off completely.

The place is not empty

In early June, I plant seedling vegetables, usually tomatoes, in the place vacated after harvesting the spinach. They grow well there. They say that spinach can be sown in the same place at intervals of 20 days until August. But I do not do this - because of the long daylight hours in June and July, it will certainly bloom early. Therefore, if I sow it for the second time, then only in August, not earlier.

Seed collection

Since I harvest spinach seeds myself, without touching two or three of the strongest, healthiest and most appropriate to the varietal characteristics of the plant, I leave it to grow further in the garden, bloom and set the seeds (they do not interfere with the tomatoes at all). They ripen in August. I pull out the bushes, let them dry in the attic and then peel them very easily right amount seeds.

winter harvest

I liked spinach so much that I gladly grow it at the end of winter on the loggia along with lettuce and other greens. I sow seeds, like other plants, in rows to a depth of 1 cm in boxes with earth from my garden. Care - watering, loosening, wrapping in frost. Already in late February - early March, I serve amazing juicy vitamin leaves to the table!

Spinach: a couple of secrets

I always sow spinach first, as soon as I arrive at the dacha in the spring. The earth thaws a little - and I loosen the bed with a flat cutter.

I do not apply mineral fertilizers for spinach. I just make grooves at a distance of 15-20 cm and scatter the seeds.

If the soil is wet - I sow dry, dry - I soak the seeds for a couple of hours and spill the grooves with water before sowing.

I fall asleep with a small layer of earth, clap my hand a little and cover with a film.

Then, instead of it, as soon as the spinach rises, I lay lutrasil, and if the weather is warm, you can not cover it at all.

A few tips from personal experience.

Spinach is undemanding to lighting, but with its lack, the number of leaves and the content of ascorbic acid in them decrease. For lush bushes, a 10-12-hour day is needed.
- Seedlings appear - water immediately.
- do not wait until the spinach grows big and tall, cut off the young leaves collected in the rosette before the flowering shoot appears.
-English vegetable grower Tony Biggs writes about spinach: “The less you touch the leaves, the more tender and tastier they will be. Therefore, when sowing, I try not to thicken the seeds, lay them out as rarely as possible, and thin out the seedlings as early as possible (plants bloom quickly in thickened sowing).
Spinach is best eaten on the day of harvest as it spoils quickly. If you still need to save the leaves, I keep them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for no more than 2 days.

Favorite varieties of spinach

Gigantic- small socket medium size. The leaves are light green without yellowness, wrinkled, fleshy, ovoid. Features: early maturing, high-yielding variety, 14-20 days pass from germination to harvest.

oily- the rosette is compact, 14-19 cm in diameter. The leaves are dark green with a bluish tint, bubbly, up to 10 cm long, up to 7 cm wide. The petiole is thick. Features: mid-season variety (26-31 days). Before sowing, it is advisable to soak the seeds for a day, changing the water 2-3 times, and then thin out the seedlings.

Matador- socket semi-raised, compact. The leaf is large, smooth, oval, thick, gray-green, glossy, medium puffy, margin slightly wavy. Features: mid-season grade (30-40 days). It is exacting to moisture, it is steady against tsvetushnost and low temperatures.

According to the magazine "Gardener and Gardener"

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Spinach - garden plant, in which only young leaves are eaten. They are eaten raw in salads, stewed and canned. Spinach can be grown not only outdoors, but also indoors, on windowsills. However, there is no seasonality. The plant can give green leaves to the table all year round. Naturally, with insufficient illumination in winter, the culture requires additional illumination with fluorescent lamps.

Spinach on the windowsill. How to grow. Photo

Spinach grows well and yields juicy leaves at a temperature of fifteen to eighteen degrees. Additionally, you need to support high humidity air and actively water. The plant is resistant to short-term cooling. It tolerates temperature drops up to eight degrees Celsius. This allows in the spring and autumn period grow it on glazed verandas and balconies that are not heated.

Preparing the substrate and planting spinach

When thinking about how to grow spinach on a windowsill, they first prepare earth mixture. For her, take two parts of coconut fiber and one part of biohumus. This substrate is characterized by lightness, moisture capacity and high nutritional value.

A layer is placed on the bottom of the container. drainage and then backfill with soil. Drainage is necessary, because. with abundant watering, which loves spinach, the water should not stagnate.

Spinach cultivation on the windowsill begins with seed preparation. They should be filled with warm water and left overnight. During this time, the seeds will swell and germinate faster later. morning water with planting material drained. It is transferred to a pink solution potassium permanganate for disinfection.

Growing spinach on a windowsill. Photo

potting soil carefully moisturize before boarding. Seeds are planted at a depth of one to one and a half centimeters. Until shoots appear, the container is covered with polyethylene. Seeds hatch on the fifth - seventh day.

Features of spinach growth on the windowsill

For planting spinach on the windowsill, large containers are immediately used, from which transplantation is no longer performed, or small ones with subsequent picking of plants. pick performed approximately two weeks after the day of sowing the seeds. By this time, two, and sometimes four, true leaves appear on the plants.

Spinach from seeds on the windowsill. Photo

Tanks for permanent cultivation of spinach are chosen quite spacious. These can be containers, the depth of which is not less than fifteen centimeters. If they are used flower pots, then you need to take containers of at least one liter and no more than two. This optimal dimensions containers for growing spinach.

The first greens suitable for cutting appear three or four weeks after sowing. For a month or two, spinach produces a crop, and then it produces a peduncle and its leaves become unusable.

Watering, lighting, fertilizing and harvesting

When growing spinach on a windowsill, keep in mind that it is moisture-loving. His watered often and abundantly. Be sure to splash bush from a spray bottle to increase the humidity of the air. Low humidity of air and soil leads to the fact that the bush quickly begins to throw out flower stalks, which means that the greens on it coarsen and can no longer be used for food.

To grow spinach on a windowsill to be successful, it must be placed in bright place. Windows facing south and close to it are best suited. But there is enough light on them only in spring and summer periods. If you get spinach on the windowsill in winter or autumn, then the light will not be enough. Short daylight hours, cloudy weather - all this leads to the fact that spinach grows poorly. To collect good harvest vitamin leaves and in the autumn-winter season, additional lighting of plants with fluorescent lamps will be required. Turning them on in the evening increases daylight hours by two or three hours.

Spinach is annual plant, so its vegetation is quickly completed. After the first greens that are suitable for cutting appear, the bush will actively grow leaves for about two more months. After several harvests, i.e. pruning, he releases a peduncle. That is why it is recommended to sow new batches of plants every two months. This will allow you to get fresh greens continuously.

If the soil is nutritious, then the plant does not need to be fertilized additionally. If spinach is grown in garden soil, then it is better to feed it at the beginning of the growing season. For this use liquid fertilizers.

What to do: Frequently Asked Questions

The spinach has risen well, but the sprouts are stretching upwards. They do not give the first sheet, which should already appear.

Pulling out the sprouts indicates that insufficient lighting. Perhaps the window is directed to the north or east, the weather is too often overcast, the day is not yet long enough. In any case, you will need a fluorescent lamp so that the spinach grows normally and is thick enough.

What if the plant is growing very slowly? Its leaves are small and weak, so it is not possible to harvest a sufficient crop.

These signs speak of soil poverty. It is required to add a fertile substrate or use special fertilizers.

Benefits of spinach for women

Spinach is not known to many and is not popular. But this plant has many useful properties. After reviewing them, many women will be interested in how to grow spinach on the windowsill.

Spinach contains great amount useful substances. They help improve health. But this leafy vegetable is especially useful for those who dream of losing weight. It's no secret that it is women who are more concerned about the problem. excess weight. In this case, the introduction of spinach into the diet will help get rid of a few pounds. This is provided by several properties of the product.

1. Spinach leaves contain a lot of fiber, which collects toxins in the body and removes them. Due to this, the work of the digestive tract is normalized, which leads to weight loss.
2. Low calorie content makes the product ideal for those who want to lose weight.
3. A mild laxative effect leads to a cleansing of the body.
4. Spinach helps improve muscle relief. It contains substances that emphasize muscles, in addition, there are components that accelerate the recovery of muscle tissue.

All these properties are useful not only for women, but also for men. Spinach perfect option for people who care about their figure.

Spinach varieties that are popular

Spinach has many varieties that differ in their characteristics. They have different requirements for care, size and color of the leaves. Plants are bred taking into account the climatic features of a particular region. There are several varieties of spinach that are particularly popular.

. strawberry spinach

Another name for it is berry spinach. It differs from all other varieties in that not only leaves, but also fruits are eaten. This variety does not have any special care requirements. V temperate climate most often planted representatives of the Strawberry Sticks variety. These plants have a slight strawberry scent. The fruits are sweetish, but have a bland shade. The growth rate of berry spinach is significant, so the leaves are eaten exclusively in early spring. Later, the plant will give flower stalks and the leaves will already be tasteless. The fruits ripen much later. This time is in July and August.

. Variety Gigantic

Plants form a rosette of leaves. Its dimensions are medium. A rosette of leaves with a light green tint is made up. Fresh leaves can be used as food for infants. They are crushed into a homogeneous gruel and added to baby food. Spinach leaves of this variety are well suited for canning. Harvesting is carried out about a month after the first shoots appear. To collect leaves from a plant of this variety, the entire outlet is simply cut off. Cut it off under the first sheet, i.e. fully.

. Variety Victoria

This variety of spinach belongs to the group of late-ripening. The plant forms a small rosette that is pressed to the ground. Victoria spinach leaves are round in shape. They are plastic, noticeable pimples are located on the surface. The ripening period occurs in the range of twenty to forty days after emergence. The plant is quite light in weight. It does not exceed thirty grams.

. Variety Matador

Spinach variety Matador is a hybrid. Like most hybrid plants it produces high yield, is resistant to adverse factors. Spinach leaves of this variety are smooth, oval in shape. They somewhat resemble sorrel, but are more juicy. The rosette has gray-green leaves. This variety of spinach is resistant to short-term drops in temperature below zero. If the outlet has had time to fully form, then the spinach can overwinter under a layer of snow. Plants of this variety are the most late-ripening. The rosette is formed up to forty-seven days after germination.

. Grade Fat-leaved

The duration of the formation of a rosette suitable for collection is from thirty to forty days. Spinach of this variety is distinguished by smooth leaves that have a slight relief. The rosette of the plant is quite compact. Its diameter is from seventeen to thirty centimeters.

This is only a small fraction of spinach varieties that have been bred in recent times. All of them have special characteristics. A variety of growing features, ripening periods, taste and other characteristics, allows you to choose the most suitable for each specific case. best option varieties.

How to grow spinach on a windowsill. Video

Spinach is a very tasty and healthy herb that I found wide application in culinary arts, for treatment, making baby food. In our article we will tell you how to collect big harvest spinach, growing this green from seed.

What varieties of spinach should you choose?

Whatever crop you choose to plant, growing a plant begins with choosing seed material, because the quality of the crop, its quantity, and the time of harvest depend on the varietal characteristics. There are dozens of different varieties of spinach, but among all this variety it is worth choosing hybrid varieties that give good yields.

Consider the most popular among them:

• Victoria. This variety is distinguished by the presence of small pimples on the leaves, which are collected in a small rosette. This variety is not early, since the ripening period is about 30 days, but due to its compactness, such spinach can be grown on a windowsill.
• Berry. This variety is characterized by the presence of a pleasant strawberry aroma in the leaves, while the main feature can be called the fact that not only greens, but also the fruits of this plant are used for food. The variety is early ripening - it is removed from the beds in the spring, and the first greenery on the windowsill appears literally a couple of weeks after planting.
• Matador - late variety, possessing juicy and big leaves, which are somewhat reminiscent of sorrel. The plant matures in about 30-40 days. Attracts high resistance to frost, diseases, other adverse factors, as it is a well-adapted variety.
• Giant - the plant has medium-sized leaves of a light green hue, which form a large rosette, and it is better to cut it off completely. Such spinach is very tender, most often used for making baby purees. The culture ripens in about a month.

Above, we have listed the main varieties that can be grown both at home on the windowsill and on own site, since such plants are small in size, adaptation to the conditions where the planting was carried out.

Preparation is the main stage for growing plants

So many gardeners claim that spinach is very unpretentious plant, However, this is not quite true. To grow this crop on your site, you must adhere to a number of rules, especially when it comes to soil preparation. But let's take a closer look.

Priming

It is important to remember that this plant reacts very poorly to any changes in the composition of the soil. Therefore, the requirements for the soil are very severe. The soil must be saturated with fertilizers - mineral and organic.

What is recommended for gardeners? In the autumn season, the area that will be planned for planting spinach must be fertilized with phosphorus and potassium, for example, you can use superphosphate. This tool can be produced in several versions, which differ in the amount of phosphorus, therefore, when determining dosages, you need to study the manufacturer's instructions.

Also, compost or humus should be added to the soil - about 7 kg of funds per square meter. If the soil is depleted, then it is better to apply mineral dressing, which should consist of:

• Potassium - 10 g per square meter.
• Phosphorus 5 g.
• Nitrogen - 10 g each.

However, it is important to make one important clarification - you need to be very careful and careful with nitrogen additives. And all due to the fact that this element is too “chemical” and is poorly washed out of spinach leaves, which also accumulates nitrates well in the “organism” - this applies to the cultivation of all crops on the site.

It is also worth remembering the pH level - it should be neutral, because the higher this indicator, the worse the spinach will grow, which means that additional soil treatment cannot be dispensed with, which will balance its composition.

soil drainage

Soil drainage is a very important undertaking. To do this, when preparing the soil, we not only dig the soil, but also loosen it. If the ground is too "knocked down", it is best to land more organic fertilizers. Also the importance of additional work according to the design of the outlet grooves, deep pits, is determined for each individual case.

Location selection

Consider the degree of illumination of the area. It is important to remember about a comfortable temperature - it should not be about +17 ºС. If the summer is too hot, then the sun's rays can cause the spinach to shoot, stopping its development. In this case, it is best to plant near fences or fences that can provide shade.

Preparing seeds and planting spinach according to all the rules

It is very important to bubbling the seeds, and the process goes as follows:

1. Seed material is carefully examined.
2. Bad material must be discarded.
3. Seeds are soaked in warm water for at least two days.
4. Light drying is carried out.
5. Once again, the revision of the seed material is carried out.
6. Disinfection in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 2-3 hours.
7. Final drying.

This approach seems very troublesome to many gardeners, however, it is the implementation of a set of these measures that will ensure that all seeds can sprout after planting.

Spinach - growing from seed

You can choose any time to plant this plant if you are going to grow spinach at home on the balcony. If in open ground suitable autumn and spring. Main Feature crops can be called that the first crop can be planted literally a few weeks after planting in the ground. The main thing to remember is that when planting on the site, the soil should warm up to at least + 5 degrees Celsius. If planting in the fall, then you should pay attention to the condition of the plant - when planting in the fall, shoots should appear on the spinach, which will allow the plant to take root.

Before placing the seeds in the ground, we mark the rows. Since the green part of spinach grows well, the interval between the grooves should be at least 30-40 cm, it is not advisable to make it denser, as this will lead to the formation of smaller rosettes. The distance between seeds should be about 10 cm.

Spinach loves moisture very much, since the depth of the groove should not exceed 2 cm. You can focus on your index finger - a sufficient depth equals one phalanx.

How to properly care for a plant?

The hardest part of growing spinach from seed is soil preparation. Caring for a plant is much easier, but let's take a closer look at it.

Irrigation

The approximate volume is about 20 liters of water per square meter of beds. But it is important to remember that as a result of excess moisture root system may start to rot. Therefore, you should independently determine the need for irrigation. Just check the soil - if it is still wet, then watering is canceled. Also, do not forget to spray the spinach leaves.

Weeding

By weeding, you will provide oxygen access to the root system of plants. In addition, attention should be paid to this work after the first shoots appear, removing excess shoots so that the plants grow normally. If you forget about this work, the leaves of the plant will grow too small and dry.

top dressing

The process of feeding spinach is carried out depending on the characteristics of the plant, soil. If the land is well prepared, you can even not carry out top dressing.

Pest control

The main enemies of this plant are powdery mildew and root rot. It is best not to use any chemicals. There are some important tips here:

1. Try to adjust the watering, which will avoid a strong oversaturation with moisture.
2. Remove leaves as soon as you notice any signs of wilting.

Rules for harvesting and storing spinach

If you clearly adhered to all the rules, then literally 3-4 weeks after planting, you can already harvest. So, the height of the leaves should be about 18-20 cm and about 6-9 leaves on each bush. Try to cut them off, and do not delay with this process - spinach quickly loses its taste qualities. Also, work should be carried out in the early morning - if you collect greens in the afternoon, it will be lethargic and lose some of its taste characteristics.

It is not advisable to pick spinach during rain, as wet leaves wither very quickly.

An important point is to harvest before the appearance of flower stalks, because after that the greens will start to taste bitter.

The harvested crop can be stored in the refrigerator at a temperature of about + 1°C for about a week. In this case, the leaves must be dry. But try to eat spinach as soon as possible, because it quickly loses its qualities.

There are other ways to store greens. For example, it can be dried, frozen, canned, mashed for children. And freezing is the simplest option, because in this case absolutely all the properties of this plant are preserved. Everything is simple to do: rinse, dry, remove the roots and chop, although many people freeze whole spinach leaves.

If you are going to canned or frozen spinach in the form of puree, it also needs to be washed, dried, and finely chopped using a blender. And then either preserve the puree, or freeze it, dividing it into portioned containers.

There are housewives who pickle spinach. There is nothing complicated here: the prepared greens are laid in layers in jars and each leaf is sprinkled with salt. Such blanks can be stored in the refrigerator, however, not very long time. If you decide to dry, then the spinach must first be washed, dried on a paper towel, finely chopped and put to dry in a warm and dry place. Once the spinach is dry, transfer it to cloth bags.

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