Spinach has become a popular vegetable among culinary enthusiasts and is grown all over the world.
The seedlings are sown before winter or in spring in a greenhouse or directly on the plot.
Growing the plant is not difficult if you follow certain rules.
The information was shared by the expert of the online publication "BelNovosti", landscape designer and agronomist Anastasia Kovrizhnykh .
Sowing spinach in spring
This is an early maturing plant that can be sown in a greenhouse or directly into open ground.
Growing spinach in a greenhouse
To get a large harvest of this crop, the soil should be generously fertilized with humus. Spinach also needs a sufficient amount of light, so it is better to sow in February. However, follow the lunar sowing calendar for vegetables and greens.
Carefully read the manufacturer's recommendations for planting spinach. The temperature in the greenhouse should be 10-13 degrees Celsius in cloudy weather and 18 degrees Celsius in sunny weather.
Before planting, the seeds need to be soaked in water for 1.5 (days), then dried and sown.
Growing spinach in open ground
This is a frost-resistant plant, so you can sow it directly into the ground. The shoots can withstand up to 7 degrees of frost. You can also sow spinach before winter.
Planting spinach after the snow melts
To obtain mature leaves, seedlings are planted from mid-April to the end of July.
To use fresh spinach, planting should be done before mid-August, with a 25-30 day interval between plantings. Spinach is sown in rows at a shallow depth, and then covered with soil.
Preparing the soil for spinach
This plant is capricious to the soil. Organic soil is best for it. A rich harvest can be obtained when growing spinach in loamy soil. If it is sandy, then the seedlings will have to be watered often.
The soil must be prepared in advance. It is best to do this in the fall. To do this, the soil should be dug up together with humus and mineral fertilizer.
In spring, the area should be sprinkled with urea and leveled with a rake. Do not feed the spinach with fresh organic matter, because this will worsen its taste.
When the second true leaf appears, the shoots are thinned out so that there is a distance of 7-10 cm between them. Otherwise, the plant will catch powdery mildew. Then the plants in the area need to be watered. Spinach likes abundant watering, but stagnant water should not be allowed.
If necessary, the plant is fed with nitrogen fertilizers along with watering. Phosphorus and potassium are not suitable. During the growing season, the soil must be constantly loosened.
Harvesting
Spinach is harvested after 4-6 leaves have formed on the bushes. Spinach sown in spring can be harvested in 9-10 weeks, and if in summer - in 11-12 weeks.
Spinach should be harvested on time so that the leaves do not over-steep and become coarse and unpleasant to the taste. Spinach is cut under the first leaf or pulled out with the roots. It is best to harvest in the morning after rain or watering, when the leaves are soft.
Spinach is stored in a dried state in a plastic bag on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. It is also frozen for further use in the winter. However, it tastes better fresh and has many nutrients.
