by Jennifer Poindexter
I love spinach. It’s easy to grow, healthy for you, and tastes delicious. Not to mention, you can use it in its raw form or cook it for a side dish. This vegetable can be enjoyed in the mornings alongside eggs or included in a healthy breakfast smoothie. Yet, it can also be used for the other meals of the day, too. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many gardeners choose to raise spinach.
However, there are also a few common mistakes gardeners make when growing this crop. I’m going to walk you through these mistakes, and share their solutions, to help you have a positive experience when raising this vegetable.
These are the common mistakes people make when raising spinach and how you can avoid them.
1. Plant When It’s Hot
Spinach is a cold weather crop. It can handle light frost and thrives when the temperatures are 70-degrees Fahrenheit and below.
If the weather is too warm, spinach plants will bolt. This is a process where the plants form seeds because they think their growing cycle is almost done.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
You can avoid this mistake by growing spinach during cooler parts of the year. I typically raise spinach in the fall, over the winter, and early spring.
If you live in an extremely cold climate, you can raise spinach inside a cold-frame or an unheated greenhouse during the winter months. During warmer parts of the year, the crop should probably be grown indoors.
2. Not Thinning Sprouts
Spinach seeds are tiny! It’s difficult to space the plants properly when direct sowing them. Yet, if every seed germinates, you can’t keep them all.
Therefore, you must thin the seedlings. This will deter disease and avoid the plants competing with each other for nutrients.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
When you plant spinach, you can sow up to twenty seeds per foot of each row. Once the plants sprout, you should leave approximately three inches of space between them.
As you thin the plants, don’t pull them out of the bed. Instead, use scissors to cut them away at soil level. This will avoid damaging the root systems of the remaining plants.
3. Watering Incorrectly
If you’ve read many of my articles, I’m sure you’ve heard me advocate for deep watering with many plants. Spinach isn’t one of these plants.
They have shallow roots and require shallow watering. Spinach needs water and cooler soil. Gardeners who fail to provide these things struggle to have a good crop.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
You should water spinach almost every day. This should keep the soil evenly moist. It’s also wise to mulch around your spinach plants.
Mulch can help retain moisture and keep the soil cooler. All of which help create ideal growing conditions for spinach.
4. Planting Too Shallow
Since spinach has shallow roots, can you plant the seeds too shallow? In short, you can! By doing this you decrease the germination rate.
When planting spinach, it’s important to plant the seeds at the right depth. Keep this information in your hip pocket when deciding to raise spinach.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
In all fairness, I understand some people not planting spinach deep enough. There are some seeds which require light to germinate.
However, spinach isn’t one of them. Instead, these seeds should be planted approximately a half inch deep in the soil. This should provide enough depth for the seeds to germinate properly.
5. Ignoring Damping Off
This is a giant no-no in gardening. If you see damping off occurring in any of your seedlings, it’s too late to do anything about it.
Therefore, it’s vital to understand how to prevent damping off and to know when it’s occurring. Unfortunately, it’s a common problem in spinach.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
Damping off is a fungal disease which attacks seedlings. Once it has formed, it’s too late. Therefore, you should be mindful of preventing its occurrence.
Begin by ensuring your seedlings have adequate lighting. This will keep the soil temperatures warmer. You should also spritz your seedlings with a water bottle to keep the soil consistently moist.
Yet, you don’t want your seedlings to become too saturated. You can also add a layer of cinnamon to the soil as it has natural antifungal properties. These are a few steps you can take to prevent damping off.
6. Ignoring Pests and Diseases
If you have a garden, there are pests and diseases which are waiting to infiltrate it. Turning a blind eye to these issues will only harm your harvest.
Therefore, it’s vital that you pay attention to any potential threats. Spinach has a few common pests and diseases you must stay alert to.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
The most common pests to impact spinach are aphids and leaf miners. Both can be treated using an insecticidal soap.
Downy mildew and verticillium wilt are the most common diseases to impact spinach. Downy mildew can be treated with a fungicide. Verticillium wilt is best treated by heating the soil.
7. Not Fertilizing
When planting lettuce, you don’t normally need to fertilize the crop because the soil should be amended prior to planting.
Since lettuce and spinach look similar, many might assume the same rules apply. It doesn’t and this is where many gardeners get off course with spinach.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
Spinach requires fertilizer. You should use a balanced fertilizer, and apply it to your crop once or twice a month.
This will provide the nutrients necessary to produce a thriving crop. Without it, your harvest might suffer.
8. Missing Out on Opportunities to Grow Spinach
Some gardeners might be experienced in growing spinach, but they may not realize there are multiple ways spinach can be produced.
Therefore, they miss out on a variety of opportunities to produce their own harvest. Stay alert to different growing possibilities with this vegetable.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
This mistake can be avoided by thinking outside of the box. If you normally garden in a traditional garden bed, realize there are multiple ways this crop can be produced.
Spinach grows well in traditional gardens, raised beds, window boxes, and containers. You can grow the crop outdoors, when it’s cool. Yet, it can be grown indoors when it’s warm outside. This is a vegetable you shouldn’t have to purchase again, if you study the various methods to growing it.
9. Not Growing Enough
If you plant one row of spinach or only grow one container of spinach, you’ll be disappointed. The reality of spinach is it doesn’t go far.
It requires quite a few rows, a few contains, or succession planting to keep your supply of spinach up. Keep this in mind the next time you grow spinach.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
You should avoid this mistake by growing multiple rows, or containers, of spinach at a time. It’s also wise to succession plant.
This will ensure you have enough spinach for its many uses. Keep in mind, when you cook spinach, it wilts. Therefore, it requires a larger harvest than you might have originally thought.
10. Storing Spinach the Wrong Way
What if you grow plenty of spinach? Can you store it for long-term use? You can! However, you must be aware there are only a few ways to save spinach for later use.
Be sure to store it properly, so you can use your abundant harvest as needed. If you don’t like spinach being stored for long-term use, you’ll need to adjust your grow schedule.
How to Avoid this Mistake:
Spinach is usually best frozen when saving for long-term use. You can cook it once it has been frozen. It’s great for a side dish or for use in a smoothie.
If you prefer fresh spinach, you’ll need to adjust your succession planting schedule and also your grow methods to ensure you can keep the plant going throughout the year.
These are the ten common mistakes gardeners make when growing spinach. Be aware of these problems and also take note of their solutions.
This should allow you to fix the issues in case you come across them in your gardening journey. Good luck as you begin producing fresh spinach around your home!
More About Growing Spinach
https://extension.umn.edu/vegetables/growing-spinach-and-swiss-chard
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