Winter Spinach Variety Selection and Planting Techniques

Spinach is a cold-tolerant vegetable that can be harvested all year round, and is one of the preferred side dishes for hot pot. Now that winter is approaching, what variety should be chosen for planting winter spinach? How do you grow winter spinach well?

What variety should be chosen for planting winter spinach?

Spinach can be divided into 5 varieties: root stubble spinach, buried-head spinach, spring spinach, summer spinach and autumn spinach. For planting winter spinach, choose varieties with strong cold tolerance such as spiny-seeded spinach or pointed-leaf spinach.

How do you grow winter spinach well?

A cool season and short-day climate conditions are very suitable for the growth of spinach. Spinach has good cold tolerance and can safely get through even in severe winter. September and October are the crop of spinach with the largest planting area. “Kuailu” and “Susheng Daye” spinach are sown in early September and can be harvested in one month, with large round leaves and good color, and are very popular in the market. Idle greenhouses can also be used to plant overwintering spinach, which can be marketed successively from New Year's Day to the Spring Festival, with simple management and good benefits, and does not affect the production of the main early-spring vegetable crop in the greenhouse.

1. Land preparation and fertilization

The spinach field should be selected as fertile land with good heat and water retention. Before plowing, apply 5-6 cubic meters of high-quality farmyard manure and 40 kg of compound fertilizer per mu. When preparing the land, leave enough spacing between the beds so that windbreaks can be set up.

2. Timely sowing

Overwintering spinach only has strong cold tolerance when the plants have reached 5-6 leaves. Therefore, in autumn, when the daily average temperature drops to 17°C-19°C, it is most suitable for sowing.

The sowing method is: first soak the seeds in warm water at 35°C for 12 hours, remove and dry them, then broadcast or drill them in the field. After sowing, cover with soil, tread down and sprinkle water, then mix pesticide with wheat bran and scatter it on the surface to prevent underground pests such as mole crickets from damaging the seedlings.

3. Management before winter

After the spinach seedlings emerge, carry out a shallow hoeing to loosen the soil, so as to achieve the effect of weed control and moisture conservation. When the plants grow 3-4 leaves, keep the soil moist and topdress as appropriate; when the plants grow 5-6 leaves, water with freezing water in time, and the timing of watering should be when the surface soil thaws during the day and freezes at night. It is best to use manure water for the freezing water, which is beneficial to accelerating growth after the spinach turns green in early spring.

The harvest period of spinach is not very strict; it can begin to be harvested when it grows to 20 cm. After sowing in August to early October, it can be marketed about 40 days later; when sown in mid-to-late October, it is marketed in 70-80 days; overwintering spinach can be harvested about 25-30 days after turning green.