Others gardening experts advise to harvest every alternate plant for use in the kitchen, giving the rest more room to grow. See: How to grow basil , from seed, indoors and out. There are options for how to pick the leaves for a later harvest. Or cut the whole head when the plant is 6 inches tall and wait several weeks for regrowth and a second harvest,' advises Melinda Myers. Baby leaves are great for use in salads, whereas mature leaves can be wilted into soups, stews, pasta or risotto dishes, to name but a few.
Leaves are ideally used directly after harvesting for the best flavor, and any extras can be stored in the fridge for up to 14 days. I joined the team nine years ago, after freelancing for years on a range of titles, covering everything from homes and gardens, to history, arts and crafts.
Make Christmas wall decor ideas a priority in your festive scheme, and you'll be well rewarded. Learn how to overwinter geraniums to keep them blooming the following year. Find out how to overwinter dahlias to protect your tubers for next year. Discover the most beautiful Japanese maple trees to make a feature in your garden, and how to take care of them. Need inspiration for what to plant in November? Find advice on the best vegetable crops, shrubs, trees and flowers to grow now.
Discover the best trees for clay soils to make a lasting feature in your garden. Transform your outdoor space with the best trees for front yards. Country is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. All rights reserved. The ideal pH range for spinach, like many common vegetable crops, is 6. A soil test can tell you if you are near the target and, if not, what amendments can be added to the soil. Spinach will grow best in full sun — six to eight hours of direct sunlight — or partial shade.
Follow the spacing instructions that come on the seed packets for the variety you have, or plant just a little denser with a plan to later eat the baby spinach that you will remove while thinning the crop. Spinach can be planted outdoors before most crops can because it is frost-tolerant. There are two main types of spinach: Savoy and smooth-leafed. Savoy spinach and semi-savoyed spinach have dark green leaves characterized by their wavy or puckered leaves, and they include some of the best varieties for growing in cold weather.
And yet, some savoy spinach varieties are adapted to withstand heat, offering the best of both worlds. Smooth-leafed spinach , also called flat-leaf spinach , is the kind you often see in salads. It can be harvested as baby greens for sweeter, more tender leaves, or allowed to grow.
Auroch is a fast-growing smooth-leafed spinach that performs best in fall, winter and early spring, with a high resistance to downy mildew. In 50 days, it produces thick, succulent, dark-green leaves that are very sweet in salads.
Gazelle is a smooth-leafed spinach with uniform leaves and bunches that make it perfect for baby leaf harvest. Palco matures in 38 days and is adaptable as both a cool-season or warm-season crop. It is a flat-leaf spinach that may be harvested as baby greens or enjoyed after attaining its full size. It is both bolt and mildew resistant.
Red Tabby is a red-veined smooth-leafed spinach with angular leaves in an upright growing habit. It matures in a month and is downy mildew resistant. Renegade has fleshy, round, smooth, dark green leaves and sweet, tender stems. Space is a slightly savoyed spinach with medium green leaves that are highly resistant to downy mildew and mature in just 25 days.
It is versatile — grow it in all seasons. When seedlings emerge, keep the light 3 to 4 inches above the growing seedlings for 12 to 14 hours each day. You will need to raise the light as the seedlings grow. You can purchase a grow light system with pulleys to raise the light.
Place a fan near the seedlings turned to gentle breeze for 1 or 2 hours each day. What could be responsible for this? Plus which kind of fertilizer is best to use on my spinach, granular or liquid? Anticipating your reply. Many thanks! Feed spinach with a dilute solution of fish emulsion or liquid seaweed. Older leaves can be harvested and eaten. Get the best gardening tips straight into your inbox! Email Address:. Then my Starting Seeds Indoors eBook is just what you need!
I live and garden in Minneapolis, MN zone 4b. My green thumb comes from my parents, and I've been gardening most of my life. Read More I planted mixed green lettuce and spinach. They both started to germinate, but I was away from home for two weeks, so they did not get watered.
I have been watering them since then but have seen no sprouts. Do I need to dig up and replant new seeds or is there still hope? Amy, your information is very helpful and much appreciated. One more question: I plan to start over with new seeds, so do I need to dig up the old seeds or can I use the same planter box and soil and just plant new seeds? I would just plant the new seeds. It is my first time and everything was looking good until the leaves are starting to turn dark.
Is this a natural progression from the bright green to the dark green? They seem a little red. Any helpful advice? It might just be the variety of spinach that you planted. Some types have darker green leaves than others, and there are varieties that have red veins or redish colored leaves.
Check the seed packet to see what the mature plant looks like, and give it a quick read to see if it says anything about the color. So, my seeds have sprouted a week ago and cotyledons have appeared. I germinate them in a jar container because I want to grow them hydroponically. I would wait until they have at least their first set or two of true leaves before planting them.
It depends on the temperature. Sometimes spinach will bolt very quickly, but if the conditions are right, it will take several weeks. Sooooo, for those of us who love spinach—and want to grow it—but who happen to live in Mexico, is there hope?!?! I was thinking of planting in a container, out on my patio.
They do sell spinach seeds at the store, which is odd if spinach will just bolt with the heat while still young. And plant it in the shade to protect it from the warm afternoon temperatures.
There are slow-bolting spinach varieties that may work better for you, so look for those. Good luck! Hope this helps. New to me. Only the top few inches are loose. Should I wait?
0コメント