All about Growing Spinach
(Page 2 of 3)
October/November 2008
By Barbara Pleasant
Saving Seeds
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Spinach is pollinated by wind, so select a group of closely spaced plants to get seed from an open-pollinated variety. Spinach plants can be male or female. Male plants quickly grow tall and release pollen from clusters of fringelike structures, while females are stockier and hold their flower clusters close to the main stem. If you save seeds, allow seed-bearing plants to stand in the garden until they begin to dry.
In wet weather, pull them up and let them finish drying in a warm, well-ventilated place. Strip the seeds from the plants and let them air dry for a few days before cleaning and sorting them. Store in a cool, dark place for up to three years. When placed atop hospitable soil, seed-bearing plants often shed enough seed to start a fall crop.
Open-pollinated Options
Hybrid spinach varieties such as ‘Tyee’ (savoyed) and ‘Space’ (smooth-leaf) deliver high levels of disease resistance, but homegrown spinach rarely faces serious disease pressure. Among open-pollinated varieties, ‘Monnopa’ and ‘Butterflay’ are lower in oxalic acid compared to other varieties, which gives them a mild, sweet flavor. ‘Giant Winter’ and ‘Monstrueux de Viroflay’ produce leaves twice the size of regular spinach.
Spinach Pest and Disease Prevention Tips
Keep plants widely spaced to help prevent problems that are encouraged by moist conditions, such as slugs and mildew diseases.
Avoid growing spinach where beets or chard were grown in the previous season. These crops are closely related to spinach, make similar demands on the soil and host the same soilborne diseases.
Gently squash leaf miners with your fingers or remove infested leaves. Spinach leaf miners are the larvae of small flies that make meandering pale tunnels as they feed inside spinach leaves. Where pressure is serious, use row covers to exclude the flies.
Pull back mulch to limit slug habitat, and trap them under boards or with beer-baited pit traps. Slugs make holes with clean edges in spinach leaves.
