Can spinach be grown at home?

How to grow spinach at home on a windowsill

Good afternoon friends!

Spinach is a healthy leafy green that has grown in popularity lately. This plant is successfully used in medical nutrition. Due to the high content of protein, iron, carotene, ascorbic acid, fiber, macro- and microelements, as well as a whole range of biologically active substances, spinach is useful for adults and children.

It is used to increase hemoglobin and stimulate metabolism, as a vitamin and general tonic, and is included in the vegetarian menu. One of the distinctive features of this plant is the resistance of carotene and ascorbic acid, present in spinach, to temperature effects during cooking, which, you see, is important.

Currently, you can buy garden herbs in the supermarket all year round. However, self-grown grass is always much fresher and tastier. Especially when you consider that you do it with love and joy. Spinach feels great not only in the garden in the warm season, but also on the windowsill of a city apartment in the cold. So, I'll tell you about how to grow spinach on a windowsill and take care of these healthy herbs at home.

Lighting

Spinach, like all leafy greens, is a light-loving plant, which, with a lack of lighting, begins to wither, and there is simply no question of any decent harvest. It is advisable to break the indoor garden on the sill of the window facing south. If this is not possible, then the problem is solved by creating additional lighting for the plants.

In this capacity, fluorescent lamps or special phytolamps installed at a height of about 60 cm above the green will suit you. The total duration of daylight hours for this vegetable crop is at least 10 hours, respectively, in winter it is advisable to carry out additional lighting for at least 4 hours, and in gloomy cloudy weather - the whole day.

Container for growing spinach on the windowsill

For this vegetable crop, flower pots (plastic, ceramic, clay) and boxes (wooden or plastic, about 20 cm high) are also suitable, as long as they have drainage holes to remove excess moisture. Each plant needs about 8x8 cm for full growth, nutrition and development. In a box, the entire area can be divided into squares to determine the number of plants planted.

A drainage layer (about 3 cm) is poured at the bottom of the planting tank, for which both small pebbles and expanded clay are suitable. Broken bricks are often used for these purposes.

The soil

Loose, fertilized soil is needed for greenery. You can make this mixture yourself. To do this, you need garden soil (if it is not acidic) and humus, which must be mixed in arbitrary proportions and kept in the oven for at least half an hour (this way you will get rid of all kinds of pests and pathogens).

Another option for growing spinach soil is a combination of vermicompost (1 part) and coconut fiber (2 parts). These fibers effectively retain moisture, preventing drying out or, conversely, stagnation of liquid in the pot.

Or you can purchase a universal soil or soil intended for seedlings.Just carefully read the composition of the soil mixture - acidic soil types are not suitable for spinach and, accordingly, there should be no peat in the composition, which leads to oxidation.

Planting material

It is advisable to plant early maturing varieties, which will delight you with the first harvest in 30 days. For example, the Virofle variety has slightly corrugated leaves, but the Giant variety is oblong, slightly elongated, with a slight blistering. An excellent harvest is given by the varieties Stoic, Godry and Victoria. The seeds can be purchased from a specialist store.

Before planting, be sure to soak the seeds in warm water for 24 hours, this way, you will speed up the germination process. After this procedure, the seeds must be additionally kept for 2-3 hours in a barely pink solution of potassium permanganate, then blotted and dried.

Sowing

It is recommended to first sow the seeds in a special planting box (pot), and after the appearance of 2-3 strong leaves, they should be dived into their permanent habitats. Make planting strips 1 to 1.5 cm deep, place seeds in them, cover lightly with a layer of soil and irrigate with a sprayer. Cover the container with glass or plastic to create a greenhouse effect. Expect sprouts to appear in 5-6 days. Then immediately remove the film (glass).

Spinach care

Spinach dives well, the main thing is accuracy and respect for the root system. Moisten the soil abundantly before removing the sprouts, and repot all the plants one at a time to their permanent location. Don't forget to water them.

This culture is hygrophilous; in dry air, the plant can begin to wither, which leads to its death. Therefore, in addition to regular watering, the leaves require additional irrigation from a spray bottle, especially in winter, when heating appliances are turned on in the premises. You can also place several open containers of water on the windowsill.

The most favorable temperature for the growth and development of spinach is about +15? C, which can be organized, for example, on a glassed-in balcony (the main thing is that the temperature does not drop below +9? C). Do not forget to observe the humidity conditions as well. To create a greenhouse effect at low humidity, you can periodically cover the plant with polyethylene. At temperatures above 16 ° C, spinach very quickly releases arrows, which makes its leaves unsuitable for human consumption.

Watering the plant requires moderate and frequent. Try to avoid stagnant moisture so that fungal infections and rot do not begin to develop.

Harvest

When spinach reaches a height of about 7-8 cm and in the presence of 5-6 large dense leaves, you can begin to feast on herbs. You can pick spinach leaves for two or even three months, until the first flower arrow appears, after which the plant can be removed, and the next batch can be sown in its place. Do not forget to pre-fertilize the soil when re-seeding, for which organic flower fertilizers (complex) are suitable.

Having mastered this simple science about how to grow spinach on a windowsill, you will be provided with an excellent source of valuable substances and delicious food rich in vegetable proteins all year round. Read more on how to grow dill on a windowsill. See you!

Fresh vitamin greens on the table are always pleasing, but the quality and environmental friendliness of the bundles sold in the supermarket are often in doubt. The quality of products in baby food is especially important, so many mothers often wonder how to grow spinach on the windowsill of their own kitchen.

Creation of conditions

The successful cultivation of any culture in an apartment, first of all, depends on the creation of conditions as close as possible to natural ones. And if the plants at home receive everything they need for development, then they will certainly thank you with a generous harvest. It is not so difficult to create favorable conditions, the main thing is to follow some rules.

• Illumination

Growing garden crops at home often faces the main difficulty - providing a light regime. It is worth remembering the length of daylight hours in spring and summer in order to understand how much plants will miss short and often cloudy days in autumn and winter. Light-loving spinach will not grow normally at such twilight, so the plantings will have to be artificially illuminated.

In solving this issue, an ordinary room lamp will bring little benefit. The fact is that in household lamps there is a rather limited light spectrum and it is not suitable for plants. It is much more effective to use special, so-called phyto-tapes, which consist of diode lamps of a double spectrum - red and blue. It is these colors that are necessary for the normal development of greenery.

Growing garden crops at home often faces the main difficulty - providing a light regime.

Install a backlight at home directly above the container with crops, at a distance of 50-60 centimeters. You can turn on the lamp early in the morning or in the evening, but so that the total duration of daylight hours is at least 10-12 hours. In winter, in cloudy and rainy weather, it is recommended to leave artificial lighting for the whole day.

• Capacity and soil

For planting spinach at home, use regular flower pots or small boxes. You can do with a very budget option - cut off one side of the tetrapack package and use the resulting box for planting. But remember, whichever container you choose, it must have drainage holes covered with a centimeter layer of gravel or broken brick. This will ensure air circulation in the soil and prevent water stagnation leading to root rot.

Now about the soil. If you undertake to prepare the mixture yourself, then you will need: garden soil, humus and sand. They are mixed in a 2: 1: 1 ratio and heated in an oven or microwave for about half an hour for disinfection. You can also use ready-made soil and buy in the store formulations designed for growing seedlings or any universal flower soil mixtures. The main thing to pay attention to is the absence of peat in the composition, which often acidifies the earth, which is unacceptable for spinach.

Video about greenery on the windowsill

Sowing

Any cultivation always begins with the selection of the seed. After all, the early maturity and the amount of the future harvest depend on the varietal characteristics. Therefore, we will consider the characteristics of popular spinach varieties that are used for growing at home.

• Victoria - leaves are rounded, collected in a small rosette, tightly pressed to the ground. From germination to ripeness takes from 25 to 40 days.
• Matador is a high-yielding hybrid with smooth oval gray-green leaves. Resistant to frost, therefore it is often used for growing on balconies. You need to wait for the harvest one and a half months after the emergence of shoots.
• Giant is distinguished by the average size of the leaves of a delicate, light green color. The rosettes are ready to cut a month after germination.

Video about planting spinach at home

It is recommended to soak spinach seeds for several hours in warm water before sowing to speed up their germination. When sowing, the following planting scheme must be observed: it is advisable to leave 2-3 cm between the plants, and to deepen the seeds - no more than 1.5-2 cm.Sometimes all seeds are sown in one container at once, and after the spinach forms a rosette of 3 -x sheets, it is dived.

After sowing, the soil is moistened from the sprayer and the container is covered with a piece of glass. The "greenhouse" conditions created in this way promote favorable germination of seeds and after a little more than a week, the first green sprouts will appear. After germination, the shelter is removed, and the container is transferred to the illuminated place.

Care and harvest

Growing outlets need to create a suitable temperature regime in order to prevent their blooming, which leads to a deterioration in the taste of greens. The optimum temperature for the development of spinach is considered to be 14-16 ⁰С. At home, this can be a place on a window in the corridor, on a glazed loggia or on a windowsill in a kitchen with mandatory protection from the warm air of radiators. To make the most of a suitable place, containers with crops are often placed in hanging pots, the width of the window sill is deliberately increased, or additional tables are attached.

Further care of the crops consists in regular watering and spraying. Spinach is a moisture-loving plant and the drying out of an earthen coma negatively affects its development. And in winter, the air in the apartment is very dry due to the operation of heating devices, so you need to make an effort to humidify it. The first way to do this is to periodically spray the leaves early in the morning and in the evening, when they are not exposed to direct sunlight. But there is a second, less laborious way - to install open containers with water next to the plantings, which gradually evaporates and will maintain the required level of humidity.

Video about growing and harvesting

It is also worth dwelling on the question of fertilizers. As a rule, young plants do not need additional feeding. But if you doubt the nutritional value of the soil, then any organic matter can be added during watering. In an urban environment, you are unlikely to find manure or bird droppings, and it is not acceptable to use such fertilizers at home because of the characteristic smell. Therefore, humate solutions may be the best option. "Chemical" preparations of mineral fertilizers for spinach must not be used! The nitrates they contain will accumulate in greens and the benefits of such a product will be extremely doubtful.

That, perhaps, is all about growing spinach at home. I wish you success in organizing your indoor "garden" and generous harvests at the window!

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A relative of the familiar quinoa is a unique plant that contains many useful substances and iron. In the west, this culture is very popular as a medicine for children, it is actively used by nutritionists, and they also prepare delicious and healthy dishes. Boiled spinach is used to recover from colds and other infectious diseases. Now this culture is becoming more and more popular in our country. How to grow spinach on a windowsill? What conditions does he need? We will talk about this in our article.

Conditions for growing spinach

In order for spinach to develop quickly, it needs a sufficient amount of light, that is, at least 10-12 hours a day. In winter and autumn, a plant grown on a window should be artificially illuminated using phytolamps or fluorescent lamps. And in the summertime, greens are hidden from bright sunlight, so as not to burn its leaves, they are additionally shaded.

to contents ↑ Temperature conditions Growing a plant at home

does not provide for high temperatures, it is enough for the temperature in the room to be 15-18 degrees Celsius. If the temperature in the room is higher, then the spinach will go into the arrow and become inedible due to the increase in the amount of oxalic acid in the leaves.

In winter, spinach leaves are easy to overheat at home, especially if the pot is on a windowsill. In order for it not to overheat, it is recommended to put a wooden or foam stand under the plant pot. So the container will heat up less from the radiators.

to content ↑ Capacity

Growing spinach at home can take place in flowerpots or boxes made of wood or plastic. The height of such containers should be at least 15-20 cm.It is recommended to keep the distance between seedlings at least 8-10 cm. If you need to harvest a young crop, then you can plant more often and thicker.

If a florist wishes and does not have a box, it is recommended to use used cut bottles from juice, drinking water, milk or dairy products at home.

to the content ↑ Fertilizer and soil for spinach

It is recommended to plant spinach on the windowsill in the soil for flowers. The soil should not contain peat, which makes it acidic. The gardener can prepare the mixed soil himself by mixing vermicompost and coconut coir in a ratio of 1 to 2.

The presence of coconut coir in the soil will help retain water in the soil, preventing the soil in the pot from drying out and regulating the moisture and drought balance. The bottom layer of the substrate laid out in the pot should be expanded clay drainage. It is poured 20-30 mm.

If there is no coconut coir, then it can be replaced with vermicompost by adding perlite or vermiculite. We take a tablespoon of the additive for one hundred grams of soil. This mixture will perform the same function as coconut fiber, but will not rot, and therefore it can be used for a long time.

To feed the plant, it is recommended to use ordinary complex fertilizers for flowers. Fertilization occurs every 2 weeks, if desired, you can use liquid fertilizers at home.

to the content ↑ Plant formation

The planting material is large and emerges quickly. It is soaked in warm water throughout the day. Remember that the water should not be hot. After such soaking, the seeds are kept for 4 hours in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate. Then they are blotted with a napkin and dried. Some gardeners do not germinate seeds at home at all, but immediately plant them in a pot or open ground.

The first shoots appear within 10 days after planting, then the film is removed from the mini-greenhouse. The first leaves begin to appear 17-20 days after planting. Further, the cultivation of greenery at home takes place in separate cups or pots.

The plant is transplanted after the appearance of 4 leaves, and the first greens are cut off on average 28-30 days after planting. Spinach grown in an apartment grows quickly, but greens can nevertheless become quite tough if not harvested for a long time. Usually, the sprout is pulled from the ground when it reaches the age of 2-3 months. And planting material is sown in the box again.

On average, the plant is cut once a week, and the leaves are harvested from one bush up to 5 times.

back to contents ↑ Instructions for planting spinach

You can pick up the seeds yourself by picking ripe spinach berries, grind them in mashed potatoes. Berry porridge is mixed with water and stands until fermentation, after which the seeds are removed from it and dried. The finished seeds, the cultivation of which is planned by the gardener, are simply soaked.

Planting material is sown into wet soil, without deepening by more than 10 mm. The box is wrapped in plastic wrap until sprouts appear. The earth is watered from time to time as it dries.

After the seedlings appear, the film is removed, and watering goes into normal mode. When 4 leaves appear on the plants, they are transplanted into individual containers.

Spinach is very scrupulous about watering: it should not be poured, then it should not be dried. If the plant is poured, mold will quickly develop in the pot and the roots will start to rot. A drainage layer can be used to regulate the moisture in the pot.

If the greens are watered a little, then the leaves begin to harden, becoming tough and tasteless.
If the room humidity is low, it is recommended to spray with a spray gun.

back to content ↑ Spinach varieties

• Strawberry. This variety is unpretentious. In this variety of spinach, both berries and leaves are edible. The berries have a bland strawberry flavor and aroma. Their color ranges from bright red to ruby, and they ripen at the end of August.
• Gigantic.It has lettuce-colored leaves. Such a plant is used for the manufacture of baby food, conservation. And you can harvest the crop within a month after planting.
• Victoria. This type of spinach takes a long time to ripen (it can take up to forty days). The bushes are lightweight.
• Matador. This variety has a high yield, and its leaves are oval in shape with a smooth surface. The bushes are frost-resistant.

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Spinach is an annual herb with succulent leafy greens and is widely used in cooking. The high concentration of minerals and vitamins in combination with low calorie content makes the product indispensable in dietary, medical and baby food. This is probably why growing spinach has become so popular lately. The plant adapts well to any conditions, and the high cold resistance of the culture allows it to be grown all year round - in spring and summer in the garden, in winter - on the windowsill.

Spinach varieties

The cultivation of any crop begins with the choice of seeds, since the quality, quantity and time of harvesting to a certain extent depends on the varietal characteristics. Among the variety of varieties of spinach greens, for planting on the windowsill, you should choose high-yielding hybrid varieties, as early as possible and with good taste characteristics:

1. Victoria. Differs in small, rounded leaves with barely noticeable small pimples, collected in a dense small rosette. The variety is not early maturing (the ripening period is 25-40 days), however, the compactness of the bush allows planting the plant on a windowsill.
2. Strawberry (berry). The leaves of this variety are characterized by a light strawberry aroma, and its peculiarity is that you can eat not only greens, but also fruits. This is a very early ripening variety - it is harvested in the early spring on the garden bed, and on the windowsill the first greens can be cut 2-3 weeks after planting.
3. Matador. Late high-yielding variety with juicy, smooth, grayish leaves that look like sorrel. The ripening period is 40-50 days. Matador is highly resistant to cold, disease and other adverse factors, as it is a hybrid and well-adapted variety.
4. Gigantic. Medium-sized leaves of a light green shade form a dense rosette, which is recommended to be cut off completely. Greens have a delicate taste, are often used for baby food, canning. The ripening period of the culture is up to 30 days.
5. Fatty. Mid-season variety with slightly embossed leaves, collected in a small rosette 20-30 cm in diameter. Ripening period is 30-40 days.

The above are several varieties that have been bred recently, the cultivation of which at home is the most popular. These species are distinguished by the compactness of the leaf part and good adaptation to growing conditions, however, any of the varieties you like can be used for sowing on the windowsill.

Video "How to grow greens at home"

Demonstration video with the necessary recommendations.

Agricultural technology of cultivation

To sow spinach with seeds on the windowsill, it is necessary to prepare the seed, soil mixture and containers in which the greenery will be grown. The preparation of seeds involves soaking them for a day in warm water, and then for a few more hours in a solution of potassium permanganate - this procedure is needed to disinfect the material.

Next, you need to prepare the soil for growing crops. Spinach grows well in a light, nutritious and permeable soil mixture with neutral acidity, which can be prepared from 2 parts of coconut fiber and 1 part of vermicompost. When planting, it is imperative to use drainage, since the culture loves abundant watering, but at the same time stagnation of moisture is harmful for it.

When choosing a container in which you plan to plant spinach, immediately decide how the greens will be grown: in this very pot, or with subsequent picking into separate containers. If transplanting seedlings is not expected, then it is better to immediately take a large pot or plastic box. If young sprouts dive, then the capacity may be small, since excess plants will still be removed.

After the drainage is laid in the pot and the substrate is filled up, the seeds can be planted. Before sowing the seeds, the soil must be well moistened, then small depressions must be made in it, into which the planting material must be sealed by 1-1.5 cm. It should be borne in mind that each plant requires 8-10 cm of usable area. After sowing the seeds, the container is covered with glass until the first shoots appear.

Spinach is a cold-resistant plant and its seeds can germinate even at a temperature of +6 ° C, however, if the culture is kept on a windowsill, the optimum temperature is + 15-17 ° C. Under such conditions, the first shoots appear in about a week. When the plants have 2-3 leaves, they can be dived into separate pots.

Care

Further cultivation of spinach greens on the windowsill is to create conditions that are as close to natural as possible. Illumination plays a big role in culture. If spinach is sown in spring, and the window on which it grows faces the sunny side, then we can assume that the light regime is provided for it. If the plants had to be planted in winter, additional lighting is indispensable. Artificial lighting in winter or cloudy time should be at least 2 hours a day.

The temperature regime is no less important for the growth of greenery. Temperatures above 20 ° C accelerate the growth of the green mass and lead to the rapid release of the peduncle. To prevent this from happening, you must always maintain an optimal degree and monitor the humidity of the air. In indoor conditions, spinach should be sprayed with water daily, and in hot and dry periods, several times a day.

Watering is carried out regularly, but as needed, since both drying out and excessive moisture are equally detrimental to plants. After watering, the soil should be slightly loosened. Considering that the cultivation of spinach greens lasts no more than 2 months, feeding during the growing season can be omitted. However, if the re-sowing of the culture is to be carried out in the pot, then any organic fertilizing must be added to the soil. If there is no organic matter in urban conditions, then in a flower shop you can buy fertilizer with humates.

Collection and storage

Spinach begins to be harvested when the plant has 5-7 leaves - in early maturing varieties this happens about 3-4 weeks from the moment the seeds are sown. Leaves can be plucked all at once, leaving only the middle of the outlet, but experienced gardeners recommend removing about half of the greenery at a time - this technique allows you to extend the harvest period by several weeks. Spinach leaves must be carefully broken off or cut off - you cannot pull and tear off, as this can damage the entire bush. Harvesting is best done in the morning or late evening, as the greens harvested during the day will wither quickly. Also, do not pick spinach during or after rain - wet leaves rot faster. Like all herbal crops, spinach greens are harvested until the time when flower stalks form on the bush - after flowering, the leaves become tough and bitter.

Fresh spinach can be stored at 0 to +1 ° C for 5-8 days. In this case, the leaves laid for storage must be dry. However, it should be borne in mind that in the refrigerator, greens lose their nutritional properties over time, so it is advisable to use them in food as soon as possible.

In many supermarkets, you can find vacuum-packed spinach leaves - this method allows you to keep the greens fresh for longer. But in this case, you need to open the vacuum package immediately before use. For longer storage, fresh spinach greens can be frozen, dried, salted, canned and mashed.

Freezing is the easiest and most useful way of harvesting, since all nutrients and vitamins are preserved during freezing. And the simplicity of the process lies in the fact that the leaves just need to be washed well, dried a little, cut off the roots, and, if desired, cut - however, it is easier to freeze the whole leaves. Some housewives blanch the greens before freezing, and only after that they are placed in the freezer.

Herbs in the form of mashed potatoes can be preserved as well as frozen. To do this, rinse the leaves, dry, then grind in a blender until puree. If freezing is supposed, then the spinach mass is poured into portioned containers, and then placed in the cold. For canning, spinach puree is blanched, then poured into sterilized jars and covered with lids. Alternatively, blanched puree can also be frozen.

Until now, there are housewives who, in the old-fashioned way, grease all the greens for the winter. This method consists in the fact that fresh prepared greens, laid in layers in jars, are sprinkled with salt. Such blanks are stored only in a cold place, and not for very long. Like any greens, spinach leaves can be dried. Before that, they need to be washed, dried on a towel, cut, then placed in a dry, shaded place in the open air, and covered with gauze. After a couple of days, the dried herbs are put into jars or cloth bags for further storage.

Video "Useful properties of spinach"

Informational video with information on the beneficial properties of greens.