What Season Is Spinach a Vegetable Of? A Detailed Guide to Autumn and Winter Cultivation Techniques for Persian Greens

I wonder how many people know that spinach is also called Persian greens, bo leng, bo ling, parrot greens, red-root greens, and flying dragon greens, and that it is an “imported vegetable” originally from Iran. Although it can now be eaten year-round from greenhouses, do you know what season spinach is a vegetable of? What are the autumn and winter cultivation techniques?

1. What season is spinach a vegetable of?

1. Spinach grows most vigorously when temperatures are on the low side and daylight hours are shorter. Spring weather is the most suitable for spinach growth, so it tastes best then.

2. Spinach is rich in carotenoids, vitamin C, vitamin K, minerals (calcium, iron, etc.), coenzyme Q10 and many other nutrients. It can often be used to make soup, served as a cold dressed dish, stir-fried on its own, stir-fried with meat dishes, or used as a bed for other foods.

2. What are the autumn and winter spinach cultivation techniques?

1. Spring spinach can be sown once temperatures rise above 5°C after the beginning of spring, with March being the suitable sowing period. Summer spinach is sown in stages from May to July, autumn spinach is sown from August to September, and overwintering spinach is sown from mid-October to early November.

In addition, spring spinach needs plastic film coverage in the early stage for warmth, which can be laid directly over the beds. After seedlings emerge, remove the film or switch to small arched tunnel coverage, uncovering the tunnel by day and covering it at night, uncovering on clear days and covering on rainy days, so the seedlings get more light and are hardened off more, and thin them out in time. Apply additional fertilizer and water; in the early stage, apply diluted, well-rotted human and livestock manure lightly and frequently, and in the later stage, especially 15 days before harvest, apply a quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer.

2. For autumn-sown spinach, one week before sowing, soak the seeds in water for 12 hours, then place them in a well or treat them in a refrigerator or cold storage cabinet at about 4°C for 24 hours, then germinate them at 20-25°C. After 3-5 days, once they have sprouted, sow them.

In addition, after autumn sowing, cover with rice straw or use a small arched tunnel with a shade net to prevent damage from high temperatures and heavy rain. Also keep the soil warm and moist, and full emergence can occur in 6-7 days.

3. Pest and disease control for spinach:

(1) Aphids: spray with 40% dimethoate 1000x solution, or 50% pirimicarb 2000-3000x solution.

(2) Leaf miners: spray with 50% phoxim emulsifiable concentrate 1000x solution, or 80% trichlorfon powder 1000x solution.

(3) Downy mildew: spray with 58% Ridomil 500x solution, or 75% chlorothalonil 600x solution.

(4) Anthracnose: spray with 50% thiophanate-methyl 500x solution, or 50% carbendazim 700x solution for control.

3. What are the dietary restrictions for spinach?

1. Spinach should not be eaten with cucumber: cucumber contains an enzyme that breaks down vitamin C, while spinach is rich in vitamin C, so the two are not suitable to eat together.

2. Spinach is not suitable to eat with foods high in calcium such as milk.

3. Spinach is not suitable for stir-frying with pork liver: pork liver contains abundant metal elements such as copper and iron. Once combined with spinach, which is high in vitamin C, the metal ions easily oxidize the vitamin C and make it lose its nutritional value. Animal livers, egg yolks, and soybeans are all rich in iron and are not suitable to eat with spinach, which contains a lot of oxalic acid. This is because both fiber and oxalic acid affect the human body's absorption of iron from the above foods.

4. Spinach should not be eaten with soybeans. If eaten with soybeans, it will inhibit the release of copper, leading to poor copper metabolism.

5. Spinach should not be eaten with calcium tablets. Spinach is rich in oxalic acid, and oxalate ions in the intestinal tract easily form calcium oxalate precipitate after combining with calcium, which not only hinders the body's absorption of calcium but also easily forms stones.

6. People with urinary tract stones, cold and weak stomach and intestines, loose stools, weak spleen and stomach, weak kidney function, nephritis, kidney stones and other such conditions should not eat much of it or should avoid it.