Just snip leaves and tender new stems 6 to 8 inches (15-20 cm.) Harvest spinach when the leaves are tender and big enough to eat. provides fresh greens, similar in flavor and use to real spinach. However, harvesting spinach is not something hard to do. We plant it in the fall and it will make until early April. Baby spinach leaves have a sweeter flavor and more tender texture. There’s no trick to Malabar spinach harvesting. Growing onions and other alliums like chives with your spinach can help. If you miss this date, (usually the first 3 weeks of August for colder zones), you can still plant your spinach seeds up to 6 weeks before your first hard frost date. Spinach is a fast-growing vegetable, packed with essential nutrients, great flavor, and adaptable to a wide range of cooking styles. The leaves should then regrow for a second harvest within four weeks after the first cutting. leave the younger inner leave to grow out. Once the plant begins to bolt, gardeners can pull the whole plant to harvest the leaves before they become too bitter. If you read through this post – you’re ready to grow your own spinach. Always harvest early in the day, when leaves retain the most moisture for more succulent salads. Spinach plants produce separate male and female plants. Like many other leafy vegetables, it’s advisable to regularly harvest leaves from the plant to encourage faster and bushier growth. Is spinach easy to grow? Spinach is a relatively low-growing plant with leaves attached to tender little stalks. Picking spinach will accelerate its decay since the leaves don’t keep well. Spinach can be harvested by cutting the leaves at its stem. A fast-growing plant, it yields many leaves in a short time in the mild weather of spring and fall. Fresh spinach can be kept in the refrigerator for ten to fourteen days. The stalks can grow around 4 inches tall (1 decimeter) in spring and the leaves can grow to around 8 inches (2 decimeters). After harvesting spinach, use what leaves you can as a fresh vegetable. _____ Spinach Plant Growing Tips. This way you'll have yourself another harvest if the rest of the spinach leaves still need time to grow. Do you want to grow spinach? Harvesting Leaf Lettuce To clean leaves fill a sink with lukewarm water and swish the leaves around then lift the leaves and set them in a colander to drain; repeat this process if the soil remains. Even if you strip most of the leaves from the plant, the crop will grow new leaves in no time at all! It needs 6 weeks of cool weather from seed sowing to harvest. If you’re harvesting savoy or semi-savoy varieties, you’ll want to take extra care removing dirt (and bugs). Harvest spinach starting with the outermost leaves once leaves are large enough to eat. Common pests include aphids and slugs, and downy mildew is a common disease for spinach. Spinach tends to bolt and get bitter when temperatures soar, so harvest time is important to get the best leaves. They are pollinated easily by the wind, which can carry the pollen for several miles. Pick a pot that is about 20 centimetres deep, you will usually want to give each plant about 8 centimetres distance between spinach plants, but you can reduce this to 5 centimetres if you’re going to harvest early and keep them small. As the spinach is growing you simply pick off the larger leaves when they are 3–4 inches long from the outside of the plant. Choose a pot at least 300mm wide and deep and position in a sunny or part shade. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. It usually occurs when the climate gets warmer early in the growing season. Picking outer leaves first also delays bolting. This will ensure that you get a strong Fall harvest with large, tasty leaves. Spinach is a very cold hardy plant and will survive frost and freezing temperatures. As long as the plant hasn’t started continuously bolting, you can harvest from it. Harvest the outer leaves when 3 inches long. The most common problems gardeners encounter is when the spinach leaves turn yellow or "bolt". If you really can’t stand to see another ad again, then please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. Planting spinach needs lots of efforts. This will allow the plants to continue producing all season. Spinach can be grown to produce a crop all year round, making it a useful vegetable to grow when other greens might be in short supply. If you don’t have a large enough harvest from your spinach plants at one time to make a meal, you can always mix them with lettuce for a salad, or other leafy veggies such as kale or swiss chard for sauteed greens. Small spinach leaves can be harvested with scissors by simply cutting the leaves at the stem. When to Harvest Spinach Harvest spinach as … Spinach grows best between 60° and 65°F (15°-18°C)—commonly during spring or autumn. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. When to pick spinach is an important consideration in order to get the best tasting leaves and prevent bolting. Harvest and Preserving Tips. Take the outer/oldest leaves of each plant working around the center. For fall planting, put it in the ground 6-8 weeks before the first frost of the year. For more information, visit the Spinach page in our How to Grow section. Do you want to grow spinach? How to grow from seed? Spinach is a cool-weather vegetable related to beets and Swiss chard. So for the best chances of success, you should collect new seeds for the following year, every year. It’s a great idea to harvest your spinach seeds every year. Here’s a video I made on how to harvest spinach seeds … Using cold frames or heavyweight row covers, you can grow spinach all winter in many parts of the country. How To Harvest Spinach If you are saying yes, then follow the article. My spinach is in need of harvesting again, so I thought I'd show you how I harvest greens and then store them to keep them fresh. They're also low maintenance and require no care except for watering if you get no rain. The leaves grow somewhat upright and could also be classified as a semi-savoy spinach. To harvest spinach, you will cut individual leaves off of the plant when they are big enough to eat. Most varieties mature in 37 to 45 days and can be harvested as soon as it is a rosette with five or six leaves. Wait until the soil temperature is at least 40 degrees F and then plant spinach seeds into a moist and fertile garden area. Mustard spinach (Brassica rapa), also called tendergreen mustard or komatsuna, is an Asian green that is neither a mustard nor a spinach. Generally speaking, baby spinach is great eaten raw or sauteed gently because it is so tender. Cleaning and preparation. Some cultivars can be overwintered for an early spring harvest. Later in the season, when I go out to harvest more of the delicious leaves, I usually see that my spinach is bolting. When considering how to pick spinach, decide if you will use the entire plant immediately or just need a few leaves. How to grow spinach in a pot. Climbing, or Malabar, spinach (Basella spp.) Here’s a video I made on how to harvest spinach seeds from this year’s plants! Common Pests and Diseases. To harvest: To harvest your spinach, begin by removing outer leaves first. But I love that I can also enjoy them in the fall for a longer harvest time. Cut about an inch above the crown of the base of the plant and the leaves should regrow. Successive plantings should be made every two weeks during early spring. Eating spinach regularly may help normalize blood sugar levels, prevent cancer, promote stronger bones, and undo the damage done to our circulatory systems when we eat too many fats. The young plants will be spared the hottest sun and be ready for harvest in fall or winter. This article has been viewed 26,413 times. There are a few methods on how to harvest spinach as a complete harvest or continuous harvest. Spinach plants typically produce seeds about 4 … How to save spinach seeds from your garden. Spinach can be grown through the winter everywhere in a cold frame or plastic tunnel. It will take a little bit longer than if you directly seed your spinach plants All you need to do to have an extended winter harvest of spinach is plant a crop roughly 6 to 8 weeks before your first fall frost. Prepared and cooked properly, it is a tasty, versatile crop that can even be used in salads. Harvest spinach as soon as 5 weeks after sowing. In order to give spinach the required six weeks of cool weather from seeding to harvest, it’s important to seed as soon as you can. When to Harvest Spinach Keep a watchful eye on your spinach garden. How to Harvest Mustard Spinach So They Will Continue Growing. Saving them more than one year can often result in lower spinach germination rates. It's also easy to grow, both indoors and outdoors. Spinach should be soaked or rinsed several times to remove the dirt and any discolored or damaged leaves taken out of the harvest. How to grow spinach: Plant spinach at the right time. In fact, you can harvest your spinach almost anytime during its growth cycle, up to the time the plants begin bolting and going to seed.. Plant extra seeds in each row of spinach, and then thin out ultra-baby spinach seedlings, adding them to … How to Harvest Climbing Spinach. There are a lot of people who have already shared the best tips on how to harvest and store spinach. Spinach grows fast and requires a quick harvest for the best taste. As spinach leaves get larger, they can also get tougher, so by taking these off, you’re allowing the smaller leaves a chance to grow, and you’re avoiding mega large leaves that … If you plan to cook spinach, or can it or freeze it, you'll get better yields if you wait until the leaves are larger - … Baby spinach leaves have a sweeter flavor and more tender texture. When harvesting, cut the spinach leaves back to within 2 inches of the ground, taking care not to cut into the growing point. Feed it and water it and it will continue to make for months. Spinach leaves should be removed before they get yellow and within a week of full leaf formation. Crop in early August for harvest all the way into October or until freezing temperatures arrive causing! 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