It is a vegetable that did not begin to be cultivated on European lands until the 17th century. It is rich in minerals and vitamins, specifically A and E, they also have a large number of antioxidants. It is a plant whose harvest and growth occurs in a short space of time.
When are spinach planted?
It is an annual plant that does not present difficulties to be able to cultivate. Regarding temperatures and climates, it is not a friend of high temperatures and summer, since its flower grows quickly and the leaves take on bitterness, for this reason it is recommended that they be cultivated in autumn and spring, where temperatures are not so extreme and there is a certain regularity.
It is a plant that vegetates well in full sun, when the temperature oscillates between 24 and 26º degrees, it is recommended that you put a shading net on it, that it be grown in a semi-shade place. On the contrary, if it is able to better resist cold temperatures, but it does not handle frost or snowfall well since they damage its leaves, however, if you live in an area where low temperatures predominate, it is enough to cover them with a thermal blanket, in the last days of autumn.
It likes soils that are loose. fertile and fresh, with good depth and well drained. Regarding its subscriber, it demands potassium with the leaves and the slurry of the Russian Comfrey and nitrogen, which it receives, placing nettles near it in its growing area.
How do you plant spinach plants?
Sowing should be done in spring and autumn, but before carrying it out, fertilizer, topsoil or worm humus should be added to the ground and lightly buried in the ground. It is recommended that the seeds are soaked, for example, in a glass jar, for a whole day. Planting will be done in different rows in the soil, one and a half centimeters deep and with a separation of about thirty centimeters between the different rows, and twelve or fifteen centimeters between each plant, then the seeds are lightly wrapped and compacted with the earth with a trowel, they should be watered just after sowing and covered with mulch, earthworm humus or coconut fiber, and then covered with a blanket to maintain heat and humidity should not be sown above 27 or 28 degrees since with that temperature the seeds fail to germinate, the ideal when sowing them is that there are about 5 or 8 degrees. The birth occurs after about twenty or twenty-two days.
When sowing in spring, spinach with smooth leaves should be chosen, since they grow faster, while in autumn, the variety with rough or bristly leaves is chosen.
thinning
When the spinach has grown about four or five centimeters, thinning should be done, leaving a space between plant and plant of about eight or ten centimeters, and if weeds grow around them, they are eliminated, uprooting them by hand.
Plantation.
If you prefer, you can make a seedbed, and transplant the seeds when they are about twelve centimeters high. After this process, they go to the ground, dig some holes and water them with water so that the subsoil picks up some moisture. The spinach plants are removed from the seedbeds and the roots are released from the bottom so that their rooting flourishes in the soil. The plants are introduced into the holes and compacted into the earth so that they settle well, a little humus is poured into the earth, around the entire plant and then it is mixed well with the soil of the terrain, to finish the process is lightly watered. It is recommended to put the plants up to the first couple of leaves in the ground
They prefer an acidic pH that is between six and seven. If you do not have that php level, the best option is to add limestone, so the soil will achieve that point that spinach demands. Before adding the limestone, you must know the levels of magnesium and calcium that your soil has, and based on this, you will know which limestone is the most appropriate to add. In the event that the magnesium it has is in large quantity, the corresponding limestone would be of the calcific type. It is recommended that the limestone be added about two or three months before carrying out the sowing, so that the whole soil absorbs it well. When you have added it, you should check if the php is already correct.
The soil in which spinach is planted must be fertilized especially with care, and it must be rich in organic matter, contain manure, alfalfa meal or cottonseed, anything that has a good level of nitrogen. A few centimeters in total of fertilizer should be put so that the soil is well enriched. You must check the presence of possible rocks or hard pieces of earth, and eliminate them before adding any type of fertilizer, for this use the rake.
Irrigation.
They are plants that like humidity a lot, so it is appreciated that they are watered quite frequently to keep the soil moist, but they should not be abused or flooded because the roots could suffer consequences since they can rot. The temperature that is around it will indicate and mark the times it needs to be watered, the normal thing is one or two waterings per week would be the most convenient.
Its correct drainage must be ensured, for this there must be a suitable area in your orchard or garden to plant it and that it can develop correctly, if you do not have such a place, you can plant them in pots. In the event that you have an orchard, but you want to make it somewhat elevated, you can use boards made of wood, specifically of the cedar variety, since it is a type of wood that, despite constantly receiving water, does not reach to rot. The spinach plant does not require a large space to develop, since it is a small plant that does not have very deep roots.
Forty days have to pass after being planted, so that the first spinach leaves can be harvested, those that have received more heat and have developed earlier. They must have about eight or ten centimeters to be able to be picked up and it can be done with the hands or with scissors, leaf by leaf. If you want to cut the entire bush, you must cut below the leaves. Some bushes can be left to finish their cycle and thus be able to collect the seeds.
pests
When weeds grow around spinach, they should be removed because they may contain diseases or pests and attach to them.
- The beet fly: these insects leave larvae that are eliminated using “bacillus thuringiensis”.
- The Abas aphid: nematodes, red spider mites, and be very careful with snails and slugs.
- Spinach diseases: spinach downy mildew stands out.