Spinach
Baby Spinach, Savoy Spinach, Bloomsdale, Spinach, Spinach [Plant]
Most cold-hardy leafy green — tolerates hard freezes with row cover. Bolts rapidly in heat/long days. Sow 6 weeks before last frost and again in late summer for fall. Best flavor comes with light frosts. Harvest outer leaves; inner continues growing. Fall spinach often winters over in zone 6+ with protection.
- Germination
- 7–14 days
- Soil temperature
- 7–18 °C
- Harvest after sowing
- 40–50 days
- Spacing
- 8–15 cm
When to plant spinach
Sow outdoors 4–6 weeks before your last spring frost.
Dashed line: typical last spring frost in zone 7 (Apr 5). Zone dates are averages; most of the UK is zone 8–9, central Europe 6–7 and the Baltics and Scandinavia 4–6. In the app, Tomatograph uses your garden's own frost dates.
How to grow spinach
- 1
Sow in cool soil
Sow 1 cm deep in early spring, about 4–6 weeks before the last frost. Spinach germinates best in soil of 7–18 °C.
- 2
Beat the heat
Lengthening days and heat above about 24 °C make spinach bolt. Choose slow-bolting varieties for spring and harvest before midsummer.
- 3
Sow again in autumn
A sowing 4–6 weeks before your first autumn frost often gives the best crop. Under a cover it can survive winter and crop again in early spring.
- 4
Harvest
Start picking outer leaves once plants have 5–6 leaves, 40–50 days after sowing, or cut baby leaves at 7–8 cm and let them regrow.
Growing conditions
Light
Partial sun
Water
Medium water
Temperature
1–22 °C
Frost tolerance
Frost-hardy — tolerates frost
Days to maturity
45 days
Plant spacing
15 cm
Ideal soil pH
7–7.5
How Tomatograph watches your spinach
Tomatograph checks your local forecast every morning and only speaks up when one of these applies to your garden.
- First frost within 14 daysReminder to mulch the roots before winter.
- 3 days at 35 °C or aboveHeat-wave alert while plants are flowering or fruiting: shade and water early.
- Humidity above 80% for 48 hoursCheck for downy mildew, which thrives in those conditions.
- Within a week of maturityHarvest-window reminder based on when you planted.
Spinach questions
- When should I plant spinach?
- Sow outdoors 4–6 weeks before your last spring frost.
- How long do spinach seeds take to germinate?
- Usually 7–14 days at a soil temperature of 7–18 °C.
- How long until I can harvest spinach?
- About 40–50 days after sowing, depending on variety and weather.
- How far apart should I plant spinach?
- Allow 8–15 cm between plants.
- What grows well with spinach?
- Good neighbours include pea, radish, lettuce, beet.
Growing guide written by Tomatograph. Planting figures from openplantdb (CC0 1.0). Zone frost dates are averages from openplantdb (CC0 1.0).