How to grow spinach on the windowsill

Spinach is one of the most useful plants suitable for growing at home. Large amounts of vitamins make it extraordinarily common among those who care about their health and prefer vegetarian food. Spinach is also excellent as a seasoning for meat and fish dishes. In order for even the fierce winter to eat the young, green shoots of this plant, you need to know about the rules for growing spinach at home on the windowsill.

Spinach Popularity

In European countries, spinach is a very popular plant. Salads are made from it, added with canning, used almost everywhere and always. Spinach received such a prevalence among the foreign population due to the high content of organic iron compounds, vitamins of various groups, as well as amino acids.The healthy plant is eaten not only by adults: since the age of 4 months they include mashed spinach in the child’s diet, so that the baby’s body is better saturated with the necessary vitamins.

In Russia, spinach is not as popular as in Europe, but every year people began to notice its positive properties and gradually used it as food. Today, spinach is widely used by those who care about their proper diet or vegetarians. Due to the fact that spinach is suitable for consumption only in fresh form, there is an urgent need for year-round cultivation of this crop.

What you need to know about spinach

1. Spinach is a plant that grows only with a long day. If you are going to grow spinach in the autumn-winter period, it is necessary to provide seedlings with an additional source of light.
2. The plant is able to withstand cold up to +8 degrees Celsius, but the most optimal temperature can be considered +15 degrees. In hot weather, spinach quickly goes into the rifle phase and eating leaves becomes impossible.That is why the best place in the house for growing spinach can be considered a windowsill on the north side or a balcony.
3. Spinach does not have a high ripening time. Just 40 days after planting, you can get the first leaves, ready to eat.
4. The plant is not suitable for long-term growth. Already after 2-3 slices, the leaves stop growing and arrows with seeds begin to form. Therefore, it is effective to plant three pots with a plant at once, in order to continuously saturate your body with beneficial vitamins.
5. Culture prefers neutral or slightly alkaline soils. Special attention should be paid to this, since in an acidic environment yellow spots may appear on the surface of the leaves or the seedlings will begin to wither by themselves.
6. Spinach is a moisture-loving plant that does not tolerate drying or large amounts of water. Before planting it is necessary to take care of drainage and a small hole in the bottom of the pot. If you are going to grow spinach at home, where the humidity of the air is constantly low, you need to spray the leaves with ordinary water from a sprayer twice a week.

Rules for growing spinach on the windowsill

In order for all your efforts not to be in vain, and you could get a big harvest of healthy spinach shoots, you need to take a responsible approach to planting. By following the simple rules, you will simplify the process of planting and will enjoy the result.

1. The first thing you need to think about - dishes for growing. It should not be too deep, wide or long - an ordinary flower pot, in which a drainage hole must be made, can be considered ideal.
2. The next step is soil preparation. In principle, spinach is not a demanding plant; ordinary street soil may be suitable for it, as long as it is not acidic. In this case, you will need to think about feeding a variety of water-soluble or dry substances. But the most suitable for spinach is the soil consisting of one part of biohumus and two parts of special coconut fiber.
3. Before laying the pot in the pot, you need to take care of drainage. To do this, at the very bottom of the dishes should lay out a layer of expanded clay or foam with sand. This will prevent the plant from flooding - excess water will flow down and go to the roots only when necessary.
4. Do not rush to plant seeds immediately in the soil! Spinach seeds have a very hard, dense outer surface. If you do not keep the kernels in water, the sprouts will begin to emerge only after 2-3 weeks. The best option is to leave the seeds for a day in the water, then drain the water and pour the water (light crimson) weakly tinted with potassium permanganate. In a disinfectant solution, the seeds should also be kept for about a day.
5. Two days later, you can do landing. Seeds should not be deeply immersed in the ground - you should not go deeper by more than 1 cm. If you are going to swoop down shoots, you can often plant seeds in one pot. If you plan to immediately distribute the seeds of 2-3 pieces per pot, dive such shoots in the future is no longer necessary.
6. Each pot with planted spinach seeds must be closed with a plastic bag to create the greenhouse effect. In such conditions, you can get shoots after 6 or 7 days.
7. If the seeds of the plant were planted frequently and spinach needs to be dived, these activities can be performed after the appearance of 2 or 3 leaves on the plant. Carefully removing one sprout from the damp earth, it must immediately be planted in a separate bowl with the same soil composition and drainage. Do not try to locate shoots close to each other.Put 3 pieces of spinach (in the shape of a triangle) in a round pot.
8. Spinach should be watered as it dries, not overflowing or keeping dry. It will be possible to cut the leaves after 3-4 weeks from the appearance of shoots. The leaves will be 100% useful, free of pesticides, additives and other harmful substances, which filled the shelves in supermarkets.

What to do, if…

Spinach is ideal for those who only know the technique of growing plants, but want to provide themselves and their families with a natural and healthy product. Here are a few helpful tips to help answer the main concerns:

What to do if the ascended seeds are pulled up without giving the first leaf?The plant does not have enough light! If you grow spinach in the fall or winter, be sure to provide the plant with additional light, install a lamp.

Are spinach leaves weak, does the plant grow slowly? This can usually be noticed if the soil is weak and there are no useful trace elements. Fertilizer will help you solve this situation.

Spinach is a healthy and unpretentious plant. Growing it yourself on the windowsill, you will provide the whole family with useful vitamins throughout the year.