Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is a cool-season, leafy annual grown for its edible, nutrient-dense leaves. It forms a rosette of tender to savoyed foliage and may bolt to produce small, inconspicuous green flowers in warm or lengthening-day conditions.
Sow in cool conditions; spinach bolts quickly in heat and long days. Direct sow 1–2 cm deep in moist, well-prepared soil; keep evenly watered for good germination. Thin seedlings to about 10 cm spacing (wider for large-leaf types) and sow successively every 2–3 weeks in spring and again in late summer/autumn. For trays/modules, sow 1–2 seeds per cell and transplant young plants promptly with minimal root disturbance; harden off before planting out. Provide consistent moisture and, in warm weather, light shade to slow bolting.
✂️ Pruning:
Harvest by picking outer leaves regularly, or cut the whole rosette 2–3 cm above soil for a single main cut (regrowth may be limited).