Your Weekly Electronic Gardening Guide Practical Horticulture for Busy People.

Spinach

About This Plant...

Family: Chenopodiaceae

Genus and species: Spinacia oleracea

Growing Season: spring and fall

Indoor Sowing...

Time needed to reach transplant size: 4 to 6 weeks

When to transplant to garden: 3 to 6 weeks before last spring frost

Outdoor Sowing...

When to sow outdoors: 4 to 6 weeks before last spring frost

Other Sowing Guidelines...

Approx. germination time: 5-12 days

Germination temp.: 45-75 degrees F.

Sowing depth: 1/2 inch

Days to maturity: 40-50 days

Transplanting Guidelines...

Spacing between plants: 2-6 inches

Spacing between rows: 12-36 inches

Growing On...

Pests: spinach leaf miner, flea beetles, aphids, nematodes

Diseases: downy mildew, spinach blight

Harvest: when leaves reach a usable size; cut entire plant close to the ground as the weather warms

Growing tips: long days and warm weather cause spinach to bolt