What are the key points to note when growing spinach? A full breakdown of the latest essentials

Spinach is extremely rich in nutrients and is said to have anti-cancer effects. It is currently a very popular seasonal vegetable. Spinach has a relatively smooth, fine texture and an excellent taste. Most importantly, growing spinach is also very simple. It has strong adaptability to the environment, which has led to varieties that can adapt to all kinds of conditions. Nowadays, the range of spinach cultivation is also becoming broader and broader, so today Qinnongwang will walk everyone through a few issues that need attention during spinach cultivation. As long as you handle these issues well, the spinach you grow will be sturdy and tender.

1. Timing

In earlier cultivation, spinach was a vegetable with fairly obvious seasonality, but later, with advances in cultivation techniques and the development of varieties, it can basically be grown in all four seasons. However, in spring it is best to sow in mid-March. Summer temperatures change quite noticeably, so it is best to sow in batches, which gives a slightly higher yield. Therefore, the first batch is sown in early May, the second batch is sown at the end of June, and the third batch is sown in early July. In autumn, sowing can be done throughout the entire season, while in winter it can only be sown in November, otherwise it will freeze to death. So each season has its most suitable planting time, and you must get it right.

2. Seed selection

There are now a great many spinach varieties, and each variety has different resistances, which determines which variety is better to grow in which season. For example, for summer planting, you need to choose varieties with strong resistance to high temperatures and drought; for winter, you need to choose those with strong cold resistance; autumn is generally a peak period for disease outbreaks, so you need to choose those with strong disease resistance; and spring has relatively abundant rain, so you need to choose those with strong waterlogging resistance. Next, choose seeds according to the climate changes and temperature changes in your own location.

3. Pre-sprouting

Spinach is a very remarkable thing. When sown in spring, it does not need pre-sprouting, because once sown it will quickly emerge. But once summer and autumn arrive, pre-sprouting is a must so that it can sprout quickly and the growing period can be shortened, which to a certain extent can reduce disease. We generally soak the seeds in clean water for about one day, or refrigerate them for one day, then take them out and keep them at room temperature for pre-sprouting. Normally they will all sprout in four or five days. This can increase the emergence rate and shorten the growth cycle, which is very helpful.

4. Temperature

The temperature best suited to spinach growth is preferably around 15 to 25 degrees. Under these conditions, spinach grows faster than usual and has no pests or diseases. Although we now all know that spinach can be grown in all four seasons, which means it can grow at any temperature, when the temperature is below 5 degrees or above 30 degrees, both the yield and quality of spinach are not high. At such temperatures, without careful manual care, the spinach grown is relatively thin and weak and has little moisture. Of course, we can also manually regulate the temperature, for example by physical cooling or ecological cooling, and other methods all work.

5. Nutrients

The quality of spinach is to a large extent related to the fertility of the soil. The correct fertilizing method is to slowly increase the amount of fertilizer and the concentration of the fertilizer each time. This is the best way to favor spinach growth. Since spinach is a leaf vegetable, we mainly aim to promote its growth, so the most commonly used fertilizer is urea, or manure and urine water. Spinach watered with these is both tender and sturdy, and looks very fresh and appetizing.