How to grow spinach

Spinacia oleracea · Amaranthaceae · Vegetable

Spinach is a cool-season vegetable in the Amaranthaceae family, almost always sown straight into the ground where it will grow. It wants full sun, though it tolerates a little afternoon shade in hot regions and steady, even moisture. From sowing to first pick is about 37–45 days. It is one of the toughest crops here, standing through hard frost and often improving for it.

Grower’s note: Bolts fast in heat and long days - it is really a spring and fall crop. A late-fall sowing under row cover often overwinters for an early-spring cut.

Sowing

Sow about 0.5″ deep, into soil between 35–75°F — germination is quickest near 60°F. Germination takes a week or two (7–14 days). It does not transplant well, so sow it in its final position rather than starting it in pots.

Spacing & layout

Give each plant about 4″ along the row with roughly 12″ between rows. On a square-foot grid that is 9 per square foot. Allow at least 12″ of loose, workable soil for the roots. It grows well in containers at least 6″ deep.

Fitting it to your season

As a cool-season crop, spinach does its best growing in the mild weather of spring and fall and tends to bolt or turn bitter in summer heat. A second sowing in late summer, timed to mature as the weather cools, is usually the better crop of the year — and light frost only sweetens it.

Quick facts

When to plant spinach

Companions

Common problems

Pests: leaf miner, aphids, flea beetle.

Diseases & disorders: downy mildew, white rust, damping off.

Same family (Amaranthaceae)

Rotate these so they don’t follow each other in the same bed year to year.

Figures are typical home-garden ranges from Cooperative Extension planting guides, cross-checked against multiple state sources. Your variety and conditions will vary.