When is the best time to plant spinach?

Spinach is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the Chenopodiaceae family. It grows upright and is smooth and hairless. It tolerates heat well, produces abundant yields, and is suitable for cultivation in spring, summer or late fall. Let’s learn in detail when is the best time to sow spinach?

1. Spinach planting time

Spinach can be sown when the temperature rises above 5°C in spring. March is the ideal sowing period and it can be harvested 30-50 days after sowing. It is suitable to choose varieties with late bolting and large leaves, such as Chunqiu Big Leaf, Shenyang Round Leaf, Liaoning Round Leaf, etc. Summer spinach is sown in stages from May to July and harvested from late June to mid-September. You should choose varieties that are heat-resistant, fast-growing and not prone to bolting, such as Huabo No. 1, Chunqiu Large Leaf, Guangdong Round Leaf, etc.

2. Spinach planting technology

1. Land preparation and ridge making

Choose loose, fertile, water- and fertilizer-retaining loam with good irrigation and drainage conditions and slightly acidic with a pH value between 5.5 and 7. When preparing the land, apply 4,000 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer and 40 kg of superphosphate per mu. After the land is leveled and fined, high ridges should be made in winter and spring, and flat ridges should be made in summer and autumn, with the ridge width kept at 1.2 to 1.5 meters.

2. Seeding and seedling raising

Usually broadcasting is used. Before sowing in summer and autumn, soak the seeds for 12 hours, then place them in a refrigerator or freezer at about 4°C for 24 hours, then germinate them at 20-25°C, and they can be sown after germination in 3-5 days. Dry seeds or wet seeds can be directly sown in winter and spring, with a sowing rate of 3-3.5 kg per mu. After watering the bed surface sufficiently, sow the seeds, rake the topsoil lightly with a toothed rake to sow the seeds into the soil, and then cover with a layer of wood ash.

3. Sowing in summer and autumn

After sowing, cover the seeds with straw or use a small arch shed to cover the sunshade net to prevent erosion by high temperature and heavy rain. Keep the soil moist at all times and seedlings will emerge in 6-7 days. When sowing in winter, due to the low temperature, you can cover the bed with plastic film or shade net to keep warm and promote germination, and remove the covering after germination.

4. Field management

After the autumn spinach grows true leaves, water it with clear manure water; after 2 true leaves, combine thinning and weeding, and apply topdressing from light to heavy, with more rotted manure applied in the early stage; during the peak growth period, apply topdressing 2-3 times, applying 5-10 kg of urea per mu each time.

Keep the soil moist after sowing winter spinach, and control water appropriately when it has 3-4 true leaves to facilitate wintering. When there are 2-3 true leaves, the distance between seedlings should be kept at 3-4 cm. Apply water and fertilizer according to the condition of the seedlings and the weather, mainly with decomposed human feces and urine. In frosty, snowy and icy weather, plastic film and shade nets should be used to keep warm, or a small arch shed can be used to cover it. When spring comes, choose a sunny day to apply well-rotted light manure water to prevent premature bolting.

5. Disease and pest control

Aphids can be controlled by spraying 40% dimethoate 1000 times diluted or 50% anthelmintic 2000-3000 times diluted; leaf miners can be controlled by spraying 50% chlorpyrifos emulsifiable concentrate 1000 times diluted or 80% trichlorfon powder 1000 times diluted; downy mildew can be controlled by spraying 58% ribociclib 500 times diluted or 75% thiophanate-methyl 600 times diluted; anthracnose can be controlled by spraying 500 times diluted 50% thiophanate-methyl or 700 times diluted 50% carbendazim.

The above is an introduction to the planting time and methods of spinach. Spinach planting needs to combine all aspects to ensure its yield.