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Garden spinach is a popular green salad vegetable that can also be cooked. Growing a vitamin crop is not difficult, but there are certain subtleties in caring for the plant that affect the quality of the product. The top young leaves of spinach are eaten.
Description of garden spinach
A herbaceous garden plant with an annual development cycle belongs to the Amaranthaceae family. The root system of spinach consists of a tap root, 10-20 cm long, and small shoots. A rosette of 7-13 dark or light green oval leaves is formed above the surface. The shape of the leaf blade can be spear-shaped. The height of a young edible plant is 18-25 cm. The fleshy leaf blades are smooth or wrinkled, slightly rough, and differ in shape and color intensity among different varieties. The upper part of the leaf is glossy, with clearly visible veins. The leaves are attached to the base with strong petioles, sometimes burgundy-red in color.
Spinach is a dioecious crop; there are male and female plants.From mid-summer, a peduncle with small yellow buds grows from the rosette. In male plants it is in the form of a tall panicle, in female plants it is a panicle with leaves. Flowers are formed in the axils of the leaves. Then small fruits and nuts ripen. The seeds can be used for sowing next year if there is only one variety growing in the garden.
Varieties of garden spinach
The crop has been grown for a long time in many countries; there are various varieties that are divided according to ripening period:
- early ripening;
- average;
- late.
Many varieties of garden spinach are also recommended for Russian conditions. Popular among the early ones:
- Virofle – with large leaves, which is sown very early because it bolts quickly;
- Gigantic – a variety whose leaves are cut 16-20 days after germination;
- Stoic, suitable for growing in temperate climates, cold-resistant, the most productive - up to 2-3 kg per 1 sq.m.
In the group of early garden greens, other varieties are known - Godry, Marquise, Strawberry, as well as spinach sorrel, which is also called Uteusha spinach.
Leaves of mid-season garden spinach are cut after 1-1.5 months:
- Matador, Czech variety, attractive because it does not form shoots;
- Fat-leaved – domestic selection, high-yielding, ripens in 35-45 days;
- Sturdy – resistant to spring frosts and bolting, a crop for regions with harsh climates.
In addition to these varieties, Mariska, Bloomsdelsky, and Victoria are common in the spinach group for medium harvesting periods. This also includes other garden plants, commonly called spinach, that belong to different families:
- New Zealand spinach, up to 80-100 cm high, which in botany is defined as tetragony;
- Indian, known as Basella as an indoor climbing plant.
Juicy and crispy leaves of late varieties of garden green vegetables grow for 2 months:
- Spokane f1, Dutch selection, high-yielding, hardy, light-loving species, which has low susceptibility to fungal diseases;
- Corenta f1 – a moisture-loving variety intended for open garden soil, pleases with a large rosette of fleshy leaves;
- Varangian, which is distributed by the American company Johnsons, which produces seeds, is distinguished by the presence of a pleasant sour taste.
Beneficial properties of garden spinach
Widespread varieties of spinach do not have any distinct taste, but are valued for their beneficial effects on the body:
- tonic;
- anti-inflammatory;
- antioxidant;
- diuretic;
- mild laxative.
It is believed that regular use of spinach strengthens the cardiovascular system and has a positive effect on vision and the musculoskeletal system. It is recommended to use the early spring garden plant as a dietary component, which contains few calories, and as a general tonic - for residents of areas with high radiation.
Planting and caring for garden spinach
Growing this garden green has its own specifics, which should be taken into account for harvesting leaves. In the south, green crops are sown in open ground before winter and early in April or even March. In the regions of the middle zone, they are grown under film in the spring and also sown in the fall. Many varieties are cold-resistant; seeds germinate at temperatures above + 3 OC. The salad garden crop grows well in greenhouses, where it is used as a sealant in areas with tomatoes, eggplants, and sweet peppers.
Preparing the landing site
The soil for spinach must be nutritious and constantly moist, because the roots of the plant are short and located close to the surface. For sowing seeds of garden early spring greens, the following areas are excluded:
- dry;
- with sandy soil;
- sour;
- located in a draft.
The beds are laid out in a sunny place protected from the north wind. The culture tolerates light partial shade, which falls on the site at lunchtime. In the garden, fertilized with organic matter in the fall, add 1 square meter in the spring. m the following mineral preparations:
- 10-15 g of urea;
- 15 g potassium sulfate;
- 30 g superphosphate.
They also use 30-50 g of complex preparations with an approximate percentage.
Seed preparation
Untreated seeds are soaked in water at room temperature for 20-30 hours. If desired, you can then treat it with growth stimulants according to the instructions. Before sowing, the seeds are dried.
Landing rules
Spinach is sown in rows with a distance of 30 cm or in ribbons in which 2-3 lines are placed. An interval of 20 cm is maintained between lines, and up to 50 cm between wide stripes. The sowing depth varies depending on the type of soil:
- in dense – 2.5 cm;
- on loams and sandy loams - 4 cm.
After sowing, the soil is slightly compacted.The first shoots appear after 6-8 days.
Watering and fertilizing
Spinach is a moisture-loving garden crop. The leaves are elastic and fleshy if the bed is sufficiently moistened. Otherwise, the plant begins to bolt quickly. Particular care is taken about timely watering in the south. If it rains and the weather is cool, watering is not necessary, since fungal diseases develop with excess moisture. After 2-3 leaves appear, the crops of garden greens are fed with solutions of organic matter and wood ash. Fertilizer is repeated after 9-12 days.
Weeding and loosening
During the first weeding, the crops are thinned to an interval of 10 cm between plants. Loosening retains moisture in the soil and removes weeds. The hoe is deepened by 6-7 cm, being careful not to damage the spinach roots. Mulching between rows is also used.
Diseases and pests
In dense plantings that have not been thinned out, fungal and viral diseases can develop in cool weather, constant rain or excessive watering:
- fusarium root rot, especially common in the northwestern regions;
- downy mildew;
- various spots;
- mosaics and curls, which significantly reduce the yield.
Affected bushes are removed. If a disease is detected on the site, the same crop is sown only after 3-4 years.
Many green pests - leaf miners, caterpillars, aphids - are first bred on garden weeds. Especially on different types of quinoa, plants of the Amaranthaceae family, which includes spinach, beets, and chard.Therefore, the bed with crops of early spring garden crops is carefully weeded. You can get rid of a large number of insects by using infusions of tobacco, tomato stems, as well as Fitoferm, Bitoxibacillin.
Harvesting
Garden spinach leaves are ready for harvesting when there are more than 5 of them in the rosette. It is better to harvest in the morning, breaking off one leaf at a time or cutting off the entire rosette. Pulling out the bush with its roots is also practiced, especially when planted densely. Unwashed leaves wrapped in a bag will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days. Valuable garden greens are also frozen, dried or ground with salt, and stored in jars. After the peduncle appears, the collection of spinach is stopped.
Reproduction
Depending on the variety, the leaves are collected on the 25-60th day of plant development. Then flower stalks are created. The seeds ripen in 3-3.5 months. Sowing in the south is sometimes carried out in August, covering the emerged plants for the winter. Early varieties of spinach are sown in the spring in the garden and in the greenhouse.
Conclusion
Garden spinach is often scattered spotwise throughout the garden, compacting the plantings of lettuce, celery, and kohlrabi. When growing greens, we must remember that the leaves are useful only before the formation of flower stalks. In a greenhouse, a plant can quickly die at high temperatures.
