Important Guidelines to Grow Spinach in Your Garden

Spinach is a great addition to any garden. You can use it in salads to add flavor and turn an ordinary salad into something special. Prepared hot, it makes a wonderful side dish that adds variety to your meal.

One factor to be considered is choosing the right variety of spinach. There are a lot to choose from, but two of the most popular types are the Bloomsdale Long Standing and the America Spinach. The Bloomsdale Long Standing is grown in the United States and was first launched almost a century ago, which makes it the benchmark for all varieties. What makes these two so popular is that they are able to withstand heat and even drought. If the heat is terrible in your area, these two are recommended. There are also some who prefer the slow bolting types due to their locations and environments.

Spinach is a cool loving vegetable. It can tolerate even a hard frost so you can plant it six to eight weeks before the last frost in your area. Because it doesn’t like to be transplanted, you should sow it directly into your garden.

One of the first things you will need to do is to prepare your soil and look for the best location in your garden. Spinach plants will grow better if they are planted in a good fertile soil because using the best soil helps them get the nutrients they require. As for location, make sure that during colder months, the plant gets a lot of sun and less sun during the warmer months.

Spinach needs plenty of room so prepare your rows at least one foot apart. You should plant the seeds no closer than two inches apart . Place the seeds around ” deep. If you plant them much deeper, they will have trouble finding the surface.

Spinach should never be subjected to wet/dry/wet/dry cycles, keep the soil moist at all times, but never soggy. During regular irrigation avoid overwatering and do not allow the plants to get to the point where they wilt.

Once the seeds start growing you can thin them to every two to four inches apart. Remember, they need room to grow so they grow best when they are not overcrowded. Spinach is a heavy user of nitrogen so keep an eye on their leave color. If they start to turn yellow, a light application of fertilizer is recommended. Organic gardeners should also add nitrogen to the soil with whatever method they prefer.

Young shoots are usually the tastiest and most tender so you can harvest them as soon as they have five or six leaves. You want to cut them at the soil line or slightly below. This will also give the surrounding plants more room which will give you a better and longer lasting harvest time.

Spinach is one of the easiest to grow winter vegetables making it suitable for even the newest of gardeners. Add it to your garden and it will be one of the first of your plants ready to harvest.

Susan love to write on all sorts of home gardening topics. Be sure to read one of her favorite articles on growing spinach.