Spinach is notoriously hard to develop in regions where spring temperatures sometimes get unseasonably warm . Just a few 24-hour interval of temperature in the 80s can cause prickly-seeded spinach to go to prime , stop the production of unexampled leaves and shorten the harvest period . I know many gardener who ’ve give up on grow this nourishing crop only because of irregular spring temperatures , but there ’s an easy way to overcome this challenge .
Shift Your Focus
Many gardeners sow spinach plant seeds in the very early spring , as advocate on the seed packets — but it ’s this outpouring - sow in spinach that often beetle off before you have the luck to glean a decent crop of leafy greens . The young plants just do n’t have enough metre to grow before the conditions and increase day length set off them to bloom . For a more robust spinach crop , try sowing the germ in the previous summertime or former autumn instead .
crepuscle - plant spinach that overwinters in the garden acquire far prominent yields than seeds planted in the spring , and the output period is much longer . Spinach is a coolheaded - time of year harvest that much prefer insensate grime and air temperatures . By sowing spinach seeds recently in the time of year , the flora will grow during the remainder of the growing time of year , then they ’ll overwinter and bring on a vast harvest the following saltation .
Planting Autumn Spinach
To plant a late - season sowing of prickly-seeded spinach , inseminate the seeds an inch apart eight to 10 weeks before your first expected fall hoar . Be sure to set motley that are bred for winter hardiness , including Olympia , Winter Bloomsdale , Giant Winter and Tyee . Keep the ejaculate well - watered because spinach plant does n’t germinate well when soil temperatures are above 80 degrees farad , and frequent irrigation can help oneself keep the soil ice chest . Shading the area with tint cloth or umbrella during germination also helps .
When the cool temperatures of fall arrive , your young prickly-seeded spinach plants will start to grow , perhaps providing you with a small autumn harvest . If you opt to harvest , be sure to leave the crown of the works intact .
Extra Protection
Spinach is highly winter unfearing . Even young plants can last temperatures that regularly dip below freezing . With a second of additional winter protection , your plants will make it through the winter just fine . To give them added security , overcompensate the plant life with cloches made from bottomless milk jugs or place a layer of floating quarrel cover charge over the plants . If you live in the uttermost Frederick North , you ’ll require to get your fall spinach crop in a cold skeletal system or unheated high tunnel . Gardeners inUSDA zones 6 and abovewill have success overwintering spinach by just nestling three inch of shuck or rip up autumn leaves around the plant for the winter .
Come early fountain , get rid of the cloche or floating row covering , or take out the leave or straw away from the plant , and countenance them to grow . You ’ll be capable to enjoy many workweek of thick , succulent leaf before affectionate temperatures get in and make the plants to absquatulate . This proficiency allows you to be the first Fannie Farmer at marketplace with a salable spinach crop every spring .
