Which month is the best time to plant spinach?

Spinach is a relatively cold-resistant vegetable , and its growth cycle is relatively short, taking about 4-6 weeks from sowing to harvesting. Many growers choose to plant overwintering spinach because of these characteristics. So which month is the best time to plant spinach?

Which month is the best time to plant spinach?

Although spinach has strong adaptability, its growth may be affected in high temperature environments. At the same time, high temperature will reduce the germination rate of seeds and cause uneven seedlings.

For northern regions, it is very suitable to plant spinach after the Beginning of Autumn solar term, because although the temperature at noon in these areas may still be high, the temperature in the morning and evening has dropped and become suitable for spinach growth.

Planting can start after the beginning of autumn in Northeast China, while in North China it is suitable to plant between the beginning of summer and September. What is referred to here is mainly spinach harvested in autumn. As for the planting of overwintering spinach, it needs to be postponed until October.

Main points of spinach cultivation

1. Soil preparation

Choose fertile, well-drained soil with an ideal soil pH range of 6 to 7. Before planting, make sure the soil is well moistened. Next, the soil is plowed until it is loose and arranged into beds about 1.2 meters wide. When preparing the land, apply 4,000 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer per acre of land to ensure that the seeds are evenly spread in the soil. It is best to cover the soil with straw or other crop residues, which will help lower the soil temperature and allow spinach to grow better in the summer.

2. Seedling management

Due to the high temperature in summer, in order to ensure the normal growth of seedlings, it is necessary to build a shading net to avoid direct sunlight on the spinach and reduce the temperature in the field. During the seedling stage of spinach, biofilm can be sprayed regularly, which helps prevent diseases, enhance photosynthesis and promote seedling growth. When spinach has one or two true leaves, it can be fed with a thin fertilizer , usually manure, or sprayed with some growth regulator. When spinach grows two to three leaves, it should be cultivated and weeded, with manual weeding being preferred to reduce damage to the seedlings.

3. Disease prevention

In order to avoid the death of spinach seedlings, you can choose to use coated seeds so that the medicine can form a protective layer on the outside of the seeds and effectively control diseases during the growth of spinach. Some diseases may occur during the bud stage. Usually, before sowing, the seeds are evenly mixed with chloramphenicol or fluazifop as a preventive measure. If the seedlings have already grown, you can use diluted chloramphenicol or flupycycline to spray them on the seedlings.

4. Yellow leaf prevention and control

When spinach grows slowly, its leaves tend to turn yellow, which usually happens during the maturity stage. Since consumers generally do not choose spinach that has yellowed, precautions must be taken. Yellowing may be caused by insufficient soil moisture or excessively dry soil, which makes it difficult for the spinach roots to breathe. Therefore, it is crucial to keep the soil moderately moist. Don't worry if your spinach leaves turn slightly yellow; this may be a normal metabolic process. If the yellow leaf disease is caused by other factors, plant growth regulators or antidotes can be sprayed in time to prevent the occurrence of yellow leaf disease.

The above are the key technical points to improve spinach yield and quality. To ensure the quality and yield of spinach, it is very important to understand these planting details.