How to grow spinach?

balaji27

Hello Team,

My spinach produces more shoots than leaves as seen in the pics, what's that I am doing wrong here and how to rectify it?? Please advise.

Thanks

Balaji.

JacobZ

Hi @balaji27,

From what I can see, it looks like your spinach is starting to bolt. This is when the plant shifts from producing leaves to sending up flower shoots, which is why you’re seeing more stems than foliage.

Bolting is usually triggered by stress such as heat, inconsistent watering, insect attack or simply the plant reaching maturity. In your case, there is some evidence of insect damage, so I would be looking at what insects are around and acting accordingly. Keeping leaf litter to a minimum and keeping your garden beds tidy will go a long way to reducing the risk of insect attack.

To slow it down, you can also try:

• Harvesting regularly to encourage leaf growth
• Keeping the soil consistently moist with even watering
• Removing any flower stalks as soon as they appear
• Providing some protection from heat if temperatures are fluctuating.

That said, once spinach has started bolting, it tends to decline pretty quickly in quality and leaf production. At this point, it’s usually best to remove the plants and start again with a fresh batch.

With your new plants, you can follow the guidance in How To Grow And Harvest Spinach to achieve better harvests.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob