How to grow spinach in the garden

There is a growing interest in healthy eating: environmentally friendly, rich in minerals and vitamins, easily digestible, non-allergenic, beneficial for children and adults - this is how it should be. Spinach grown in its own area meets all these requirements.

Why grow spinach

Green vegetable, very popular in Europe and America, is still not very popular with us. But in vain:

• he is growing fast;
• surprisingly unpretentious;
• little susceptible to disease;
• unsurpassed in wealth composition.

For comparison, in terms of potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, phosphorus, spinach is several times larger than popular cabbage. And there is more protein in it, and the main vitamins.

When and how to sow

Cold-resistant spinach can be sown at the earliest possible time as soon as the surface layer of the earth is slightly thawed. The seeds sown early in the spring are well saturated with moisture and sprout together. If the soil is dry, the seedlings may linger, as it is difficult for the sprouts to break through the dense seed coat. To speed up the emergence of seedlings, it is advisable to soak the seeds for several hours in slightly warm water, and carefully sow the furrows before sowing.

The sowing depth should be at least 2-3 cm. In sandy soil, it is necessary to sow deeper, in clay soil - finer. The distance between the rows is 15-25 cm, depending on the plant variety. Between the seeds in a row, it is desirable to make an interval of at least 5 cm so that the sprouts do not stretch and the bushes grow dense. Sown seeds should be pressed to the ground, thereby increasing their contact with the soil. Shoots will appear in 10-14 days.

About a month after the emergence of seedlings, you can begin to harvest the first crop. Crops can be repeated every two weeks, until mid-May, receiving a continuous conveyor of fresh nutritious greens. In summer, spinach grows poorly: it quickly "goes to the arrow", the foliage grows smaller. This feature of the plant allows you to use spinach as a compacting culture or as a precursor plant for heat-loving vegetables that are planted only in May-June: tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers. Joint planting is also recommended because spinach roots release substances that favorably affect the root system of other plants.

At the end of summer, crops resume. Sowing spinach is permissible until the end of September, then it will have time to grow before winter. But, even if you are late for harvesting, spinach may well overwinter and turn out to be the very first vegetable from your site next spring.

Spinach is also sown before winter. The best time for this is when the soil temperature drops below 5 degrees, usually this happens at the end of October. The second variant of winter sowing involves the preliminary preparation of the beds, cutting the furrows into which the seeds are sown after the soil freezes and sprinkled with the soil stored in the heat. Winter crops use the entire rich supply of spring moisture, harden and give stocky lush bushes.

Care Features

In order for a vegetable to be spoiled for glory, he needs two main conditions: good soil and timely watering. The best soils for spinach are loams with enough organic matter in them. Sandy soil is less suitable for spinach, but it can be improved by the systematic incorporation of organic matter. However, in the year of planting, organic fertilizers can not be applied, this rule applies not only to green crops, but also to most vegetables. The fact is that organics contain too many microorganisms, many of which can be dangerous to humans and plants.

Regular watering has a beneficial effect on the quality and quantity of the crop. If it is possible to organize them daily or every other day - this will be ideal. It is permissible to water the spinach once a week, but in this case the watering should be plentiful, and the aisles should be mulched or covered with any covering material to limit the evaporation of moisture.

Spinach does not need top dressing. It develops too quickly and it usually lacks the mineral elements present in the soil, and the plant simply does not have time to process additionally introduced substances. Therefore, the introduction of fertilizing can make the product practically unsuitable for consumption. It is permissible to plant a small amount of urea in the soil when sowing.

It is undesirable to be late with weeding. Spinach is a very photophilous plant and even slight shading negatively affects the quality of its foliage, the amount of useful substances in it. Fortunately, with a little strength, spinach widely spreads its leaves, limiting the possibility of growth to new weeds.

Harvesting

Spinach bushes begin to be harvested when 5-6 leaves are formed on them. The collection of grown rosettes of spinach is combined with its thinning, while simultaneously increasing the intervals between the remaining bushes. A plant is considered fully ripe, on which 9-12 leaves have formed.

Some plants can be left to receive seeds. It should be noted that spinach is a dioecious plant: there are specimens with stamen and pistillate flowers; both must be left behind. After pollination, male plants will soon dry out, and female plants will grow until the seeds ripen, which are located in small groups along the upper part of the stem.

Growing spinach is a great opportunity to enrich your table with wholesome food, to provide good nutrition for children. Spinach is the health of the family and the garden!