Vegetables · annual

Spinach from seed

Spinacia oleracea

Germination temperature: 65 to 75°F (18 to 24°C)
Minimum soil temperature: 32°F (0°C)
Sowing depth: ½ in (12 mm)
Days to germinate: 6 to 14 days
Light: Either; light is not critical
Before sowing: Nothing needed
Sow outdoors: 4 to 2 weeks before the last frost
Spacing: 4 to 6 in (10 to 15 cm)

Your dates from your last frost Seed not coming up?

Sowing

Sow direct as soon as the soil is workable. Spinach germinates best at 65 to 75°F (18 to 24°C) and fails above about 85°F (29°C), so it is a spring and autumn crop.

Care and transplanting

Thin to the final spacing and keep moist. Harvest outer leaves before it bolts in lengthening days.

Problems

No emergence in warm soil is heat. Bolting is long days and warmth. Yellow, mottled leaves can be aphid-borne virus or downy mildew.

Saving seed

Spinach plants are male or female, so grow several. Collect seed once the plants brown and dry.