- Spinach is a cool weather crop. Plant seeds when soil temperature reaches 40 ° F.
- Start harvesting standard varieties in 30 to 45 days and baby spinach in 25 to 30 days.
- Remove the leaves outside for one cut-end—come crop or take the entire plant and try for another crop.
spinach A cool season, spring green and often ready for the crop. Packed with nutrition and taste, this leafy vegetable gained popularity for the comic strip character Popei in the early 1900s, in large parts, who claimed that spinach was his superpower.
Spinach requires cold temperature And by coming in contact with four to six hours of sun. The temperature is to bolt plants for more than 75 ° F and 14 hours of daylight, so the right time is necessary.
What you should know here, how to keep fresh spinach with tips for growing and harvesting.
When to harvest spinach
The standard spinach leaf grows rapidly like the lettuce, but is ready to harvest 45 to 50 days after sowing with greater frost resistance. Baby spinach is ready in just 25 to 30 days.
Temperature, daylight hours and how you choose the crop, the crop can be brief or continued for two months.
Successful crops depend on sowing at the ideal time for your climate. In the growing areas with heavy winter season, as the soil temperature remains above 40 ° F.
Once the temperature falls below 70 ° F, plant autumn crops. Can spinach Gradually sown Long, cool springs and grown areas every two weeks in mild winter areas.
Want more gardening tips? Sign up for our free Horticulture newspaper For our best growing tips, troubleshooting hack, and more!
How to harvest spinach
The spinach puts new leaves from the crown center until the bolts of the plant are, so you can harvest one of the two methods. Taking individual outer leaves is a cut-end-recipe, which has a repeat crop by the end of the growing season.
Or you can remove the entire top, leaving the crown for two large crops. Use a sharp, sterile scissors or snipers for leaf crop and a knife to move the entire plant over the crown. Morning crop after the dew dries.
How to harvest spinach leaves
Depending on the size of the crop or the number of plants, you can harvest every four days using the cut-end-e-ore method.
- Select plants with five to six leaves.
- Use a pair of scissors or snipers to cut the largest exterior leaves. Leave a little stem to prevent the crown from damaging.
- Choose leaves for the crop as per your choice. Small exterior leaves can be cut as baby spinach.
- Do not remove any emerging leaves from the center of the plant.
- For signs of nutrient deficiency signals, such as drinking leaves, and add a mild application of a water soluble NPK 10-10-10 if needed.
How to harvest an entire spinach plant
Depending on time and weather, you can harvest for a second time after taking the entire plant, provided that the crown is intact.
- Wait for the entire plant to harvest until it is grown with a completely good size leaves.
- Center leaves will be small, but use them as baby spinach.
- Use a sharp knife to bite at the base of the plant just above the soil line.
- You can assemble the outer leaves in your non-primary hand and pick them up a little to help them find the crown, however, this step is usually not necessary.
- Water with mild application of NPK 10-10-10 fertilizer to accelerate new growth.
How to store spinach
Damaged or wet spinach leaves quickly turn, so remove them before storing. Or lay moist leaves on a kitchen towel and roll gently and uncontrollably to remove excess moisture. A plastic chlamyl is ideal for storage or use of plastic bags.
Line the container with a paper towel, then place the leaves at the top. Avoid clumping, which encourages moisture. Place the containers in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator for ten days.
Additional crops can be frozen either raw or blanching. Melting frozen raw spinach can be beige. Store it in airtight containers in a freezer for 12 months.
Spinach harvesting and increasing tips
- Plant spinach at the right time for your specific climate. In areas with irregular spring, try to grow spinach in a cold frame.
- To apply in late winter, warm soil with a black mat to improve germination.
- If the plants start bolt, try to extend the crop by cutting the flower stalks. As soon as it appears and provide some shade for the biggest success.
- Expand your crop with wet grass and row cover to keep the soil moist and freeze crops from cycling or excessive sun exposure.
- Spinach also performs the best in temperature with constant moist soil. Planting feed on time and in the growing season with slow releasing nitrogen fertilizer. Be careful not to overfide, as spinach fertilizer is sensitive to salts.
Fasting
-
Spinach plants produce new leaves from the center until a flower stalk is visible. This means that the plant is bolt and will stop growing new leaves.
-
It depends on the spinach variety and your climate. Using the cut-end-ao method, large exterior leaves can be cut every four days. In good conditions, the plants produce another crop after being completely removed until the crown and roots are left in the ground.