The Latest Technical Methods and Tutorial for Spinach Field Management

Spinach can generally be cultivated in all four seasons, but spring cultivation produces the best quality spinach. So making the most of spring planting is the most important thing for growers. But the summer heat and winter cold both tend to cause poor spinach growth, and at these times field management measures are especially important, as they can directly affect quality and yield. Let's take a look at how to do a good job of spinach field management.

1. Soil

Build a seedling bed on flat land. If the soil is compacted or its pH is imbalanced, you can carry out soil improvement cultivation. Replace the 30 cm thick layer of soil with a prepared nutrient soil mix that has well-rotted organic fertilizer and river sand and other components added, or with natural black soil, humus soil, or similar soils. This can enhance the soil's fertilizer retention and air permeability, which is good for spinach growth.

2. Raising seedlings

For early spring spinach cultivation, you generally need to build a small covered film tunnel to raise seedlings. The seedling bed is best about 1 m to 1.2 m wide, so that a person standing in the ditch can reach both sides. The ridge surface is best about 4 cm above ground level, and the ditch depth is best around 20 cm. Before raising seedlings in the bed, solarize the bed for 3 to 5 days or disinfect it with a chemical spray. After emergence, promptly remove seedlings damaged by pests or disease, as well as thin, small, and yellowed poor seedlings. When the seedlings grow to two true leaves, thin them once more, leaving enough growing space until the seedlings are lifted for transplanting. Water thoroughly before transplanting, and keep as much soil as possible on the roots when lifting the seedlings.

3. Fertilizing

When improving the soil, add some compost, manure, and other farmyard organic fertilizers as base fertilizer. If it is natural humus soil, you can apply less fertilizer. After the seedlings emerge, immediately use dilute fertilizer water, applying thin fertilizer frequently to promote growth. After the seedlings emerge evenly, you can apply a topdressing of nitrogen fertilizer once to prepare the seedlings for transplanting. After transplanting, apply less fertilizer water to avoid burning the roots. Throughout the spinach growing period, apply nitrogen fertilizer topdressing in a timely manner, together with a small amount of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. Applying too much potassium fertilizer tends to harden the stems, but not applying it makes the leaves prone to yellowing from deficiency.

4. Water control

Once spinach has grown leaves, you can water once. When it has grown two leaves, water once together with thinning, weeding, and fertilizing. The vigorous growth period needs a large amount of water to maintain nutrient transport, so at this time you can water thoroughly once every three days. In cold winter, you can water several times when the leaves have grown to three leaves, but afterward reduce the frequency of watering to prevent frost damage.

5. Temperature

Seeds can germinate at around 18 to 30 degrees, and the optimum temperature for emergence is around 20 to 25 degrees. During the growing period, temperatures above 30 degrees tend to cause wilting and water loss. In autumn the climate is suitable, so generally not much management is needed. In winter, on low-temperature frost days, you can build a tunnel to overwinter them, preventing frost damage to the leaves or bolting. Natural growth in the open field generally satisfies the required light, but covered cultivation can adjust the duration of light received.

If you do a good job with the above management points in spinach planting, then no matter which season you cultivate spinach in, you can maintain good spinach growth and resist disease. Harvesting high-quality spinach will also greatly raise its market value.