Spinach prefers freezing climates and grows quickly. It is a plant in the same family as beet and chard. You can plant spinach in spring or fall, or both seasons if you want two crops a year. Spinach is delicious raw or cooked and is absolutely packed with iron, calcium, antioxidants and important vitamins like vitamins A, B and C. You can learn how to grow your own spinach by following these steps.
How to grow spinach, this DIY tutorial includes: selecting varieties, preparing the planting area, planting spinach, and caring for spinach. If you want to learn how to grow spinach, read this article about growing spinach in the production department. Learn the method!
Select a variety
1Spinach is suitable for growing in cold hardiness zones three (35 to 30 degrees Celsius) to nine (5 to 0 degrees Celsius) classified by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). It is cultivated throughout China. Spinach is very cold-tolerant and grows well in slightly cold to cold areas. This hardy crop prefers temperatures of about 2 to 24 degrees Celsius, if possible. 
2In autumn, you can choose to plant spinach with wrinkled leaves and semi-wrinkled leaves. Wruffled leaf varieties are characterized by having dark green wrinkled leaves. This type of spinach is best grown in the fall because they become especially crunchy in colder climates. 
3If you want to grow quickly, choose spinach with smooth leaves. Spinach with smooth leaves grows upright and the color of the leaves growsIts lighter than savoy spinach. It grows easily and quickly and is the perfect addition to summer salads.
Preparing the planting area
1Choose a sunny place. Although spinach prefers a temperate climate and cannot grow in very hot temperatures, it still loves full sunlight. Spinach leaves can grow in partial shade, but the yields may not be as good and productive as those in full sun. 
2Make sure the soil drains well. SSpinach prefers a mild, humid climate but does not grow well in pockets of soil that are frequently flooded or have poor drainage. If you can't find a suitable plot of land in your garden, you can create raised beds or plant your spinach in pots. - If you choose to build a raised planting bed, try to use cedar planks. Cedar wood will not rot when exposed to water.
- Since spinach is a small plant that does not need to develop a very deep root system, if you are just growing spinach, you don't need a lot of growing space.
3Test the pH value of the soil. SSpinach prefers slightly acidic soil with a pH between 6.5 and 7.0. You can add some limestone to the soil to adjust the pH yourself. - Evaluate the calcium and magnesium levels of your soil to determine which type of limestone you should add to your soil. If the soil is low in magnesium, you can add dolomite. If the magnesium content is high, you can add calcareous limestone.
- If possible, add limestone two to three months before planting, allowing the soil time to absorb. Check the pH again after adding limestone.
4Fertilize thoroughly. SSpinach prefers soil rich in organic matter, such as organic fertilizer, alfalfa meal, soybean meal, cottonseed residue, blood meal or other high-nitrogen fertilizers. Remember to mix about a meter of fertilizer into the soil to make sure the land is fertile. - Remember to remove any rocks or hard lumps of soil before adding fertilizer. You can use a rake to check and remove any unwanted objects.
- Pull out any weeds or volunteers growing in the planting area. These plants can compete with spinach and crowd the plant and/or spread disease to spinach.
Growing spinach
1Decide whether you will harvest in the spring or fall, or plant in both seasons. If you want a spring harvest, plant spinach four to six weeks after the last spring frost; if you want a fall harvest, plant it six weeks before the first fall frost. Plant spinach by eight weeks. - Spinach planted in the spring will produce tall flowers as the temperature rises and the sun shines for more than 14 hours a day. This process is known as "bolting" (early flowering due to harsh conditions) and can interfere with spinach leaf production. So make sure to harvest the plants before they bolt.
- Because of this bolting process, it is generally recommended that people plant autumn harvest crops much more reliably than spring harvest crops.
- If you live in a particularly hot climate, you may consider using a sun border or a particularly heavy shed to keep the soil cool when the temperature starts to rise. If you're growing spinach in a hot climate, you'll also want to make sure to sow extra seeds and water twice a day.
2Sow the seeds 1.25cm deep into the soil, 5cm apart. If you plant in rows, make sure the rows are at least 20cm apart. This allows The seeds germinate without having to compete for growing space. Make sure to buy fresh seeds for planting every year as these seeds do not last long. - If you are transplanting seedlings, make sure each plant is 30 to 45 centimeters apart. This will allow the seedlings to grow and expand their roots without having to compete with each other for growing space.
- You can buy seedlings at your local nursery or garden store, or start by growing them indoors in fertilized peat pots. However, it is recommended that you try to grow spinach from seed, as seedlings are difficult to transplant and can easily damage the roots during the transplanting process.
3Cover the seeds with soil and pat the soil lightly. The soil does not need to be solid to cover the seeds, in fact it should be fairly light and loose soil. Make sure the seeds have no access to air and are completely covered with soil. 
4Spread protective cover in the planting area. Cover the soil in the planting area with a few centimeters of hay, straw, leaves or haystacks to prevent weeds from sprouting. Pulling weeds at this time can damage the delicate spinach roots, so mulch is a good alternative to prevent weeds from growing in the first place. 
5Water thoroughly. Make sure you use a watering can or turn the hose down. Too much water will damage freshly planted seeds and may even wash them away .
Tending to spinach
1Prune the plants. WWhen your spinach becomes a seedling, prune it slightly to prevent the plant from competing for growing space. If possible, you want to keep the plants far enough apart that you can barely reach the leaves of adjacent plants. Remove the entire plant if necessary to achieve spatial balance. 
2Keep the planting area moist. TYou need to make sure that the spinach is grown in soil that is always moist, but not overly soggy. Depending on the climate in your area, spinach should be watered once or twice a week on average. 
3If the temperature rises above 26 degrees, you can use shade cloth to cover the soil. TAgain, spinach does not grow well in hot climates. If the temperature starts to rise, you can lower the soil temperature by covering it with a piece of shade cloth.temperature and keep plants cool. 
4Feed only when necessary. IIf the spinach is growing slowly, you can add more nitrogen-containing fertilizer. As mentioned above, spinach prefers soil rich in organic matter, such as manure, alfalfa meal, soybean meal, cottonseed residue, and blood meal. You can add a few centimeters of fertilizer and water thoroughly. 
5Harvest spinach. Once the spinach leaves are large enough to eat (usually about 7.5 or 10 cm long and 5 or 7.5 cm wide), you can harvest the spinach. It usually takes six to eight weeks from planting to harvest. - In spring, be sure to harvest spinach leaves before they bolt (bloom). Once the plant blooms, the leaves become more bitter.
- When harvesting spinach, carefully pull off the outer leaves. You can pinch off the base of the stem with your fingers or use garden shears to cut the base of the stem.
- Alternatively, you can pull the entire spinach plant out of the soil. Because spinachs roots are not strong, it can be easily pulled out of the soil.
- Rather than uprooting, it is recommended that you pull out the outer leaves, as this will allow the inner leaves to grow larger, which will ultimately produce more spinach than uprooting.
Tips
- Wash spinach before eating it.
- Note that spinach will shrink while cooking.
Warning
- Beware of heartbeats, spider mites and aphids, these pests feed on spinach leaves.
- Hot heat and long days can kill crops. Never plant spinach in the heat of summer.
- Downy mildew and white rust are two diseases that can harm your spinach plants.
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5. How to germinate grains and plant sprouts picture tutorial
