How to grow spinach on a windowsill in an apartment?

A few decades ago this kind of greenery, like spinach, was not used by the average person. However, the plant is widely used not only in cooking for flavor and color, but also for medicinal purposes. Spinach has an increased content of such useful substances as iron, carotene, ascorbic acid and fiber. Therefore, it is extremely desirable for yourself to know how to grow spinach on the windowsill.

Benefits from the plant

Before you start the cultivation of greenery, first you need to understand how useful this plant is to the human body. Spinach is widely distributed among people who need to increase hemoglobin and stimulate metabolism. Also, the plant can be prescribed by many doctors for general strengthening of the body.

It is worth mentioning separately that keratin and ascorbic acid, which are in considerable quantity in greenery, are very resistant to heat treatment. When exposed to high temperatures, useful substances are not destroyed, which is a very important factor.

Thanks to modern technology, the plant is sold in supermarkets throughout the year. Therefore, many people do not even think whether it is possible to grow spinach on the windowsill. However, the greens grown in unknown conditions may not have such a huge amount of vitamins.

It is worth noting that this type of greenery grows well not only in the garden, when the street is warm and sunny, but also in an ordinary city apartment throughout the year. So, if you want to learn how to grow spinach on a windowsill, you need to know some tricks and features that will be described a bit later.

What should be the lighting

To grow spinach at home on a windowsill, you must first pay attention to proper lighting. This plant, like everyone else, is light-loving enough and, in the absence of proper lighting, it can simply wither, then a good harvest can not even go.

The ideal option for spinach would be its cultivation near a window that faces south. If this is not possible, then additional lighting should be created.

The most high-quality lighting items are fluorescent lamps or phyto-lamps. It is necessary to set these devices at a height of 60 cm, do not neglect this rule, since this distance will give the plant the necessary light.

It is necessary to take into account the fact that good growth of spinach requires at least 10 hours a day of good lighting. Therefore, factors of the year should be taken into account. For example, in winter it becomes lighter and darker before, therefore, additional lighting should be included for at least 4 hours a day. If the weather is cloudy on the street, the fluorescent lamps should work all day.

In what capacity can you grow spinach on the windowsill

To the delight of beginning gardeners, this plant is very unpretentious to the capacity in which it will need to grow. For this procedure, the usual flower pots (plastic, clay or ceramic), boxes and other containers that contain drainage holes for the removal of excess moisture can be used.

The main thing is to give the culture the necessary area for growth. A single plant needs a piece of land measuring 8 by 8 cm. Therefore, it is most convenient to make seedlings in a box, having previously divided it into squares.

At the bottom of the tank, it is necessary to fill the drainage layer, it should be about 3 cm. For this purpose, pebbles or expanded clay can ideally be used. In the absence of the above materials, broken brick can be used.

The soil

The land for a good harvest should be fertilized and friable. To achieve the best result, you can prepare the soil yourself. It is necessary to take the garden soil and humus, then mix in arbitrary proportions and put everything in the oven, at least for half an hour. Such a procedure completely destroys all pests and pathogens.

There is a more easy option - the acquisition of soil, which is intended for seedlings. However, it is necessary to take only not acid type of soil (without peat). Peat oxidizes the soil, and this does not favorably affect the development of the plant.

How to plant a variety of spinach

People who are wondering how to grow spinach on a windowsill at home, in most cases do not know what sort of ideal is suitable for home conditions. The best option will be early maturing varieties, in just one month you will be able to use the first harvest.

Before the planting, the seeds must be soaked in warm water for one day. Then they need to be pulled out and placed in a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate for 2 hours, then you can proceed directly to the sowing. Thanks to this simple procedure, the maturation process is greatly accelerated.

How to grow spinach on a windowsill: sowing

If everything is done correctly to create the best quality crop, then it is not necessary to sow the seeds immediately in a box or other container where the plant will develop, but in a special landing box (pot). After sowing seeds, you need to wait a while, when a few stronger leaves will appear. Only after this, spinach can be gently dived into a permanent habitat.

In the landing tank, you need to make small strips with a depth of 1 to 1.5 cm, then gently lay the pre-treated seeds. Then the strips should be filled with soil and irrigation should be done with the sprayer. When everything is done, it will only be necessary to create a greenhouse effect, for this, the container should be closed with film or glass. During the first week there will be shoots, only after that the glass (film) can be removed.

Care of the plant

This plant is very fond of moisture, so for a good harvest you need not only to regularly water the culture, but it is also necessary to irrigate the spray from every few days. If this is not possible, then you can put several containers on the windowsill, in which there will be water, of course, open.

Many people do not know how to grow spinach on the windowsill in the apartment and what is needed is the optimum temperature. With the temperature regime, everything is extremely simple, the ideal temperature for the plant is +15 degrees. At the same spinach can freeze, if the windowsill is less than +9, and if more than +16, then arrows appear that make the culture unfit for consumption.

When can you harvest

How to grow spinach at home on the windowsill is now clear. Now you need to decide when you can collect the fruits of labor. It is believed that the greens are fully suitable for consumption, when it grew by 7-8 cm and has about 5 large, dense sheets.

It is possible to cut off plant leaves for 2, and sometimes 3 months (depending on a particular variety). When the spinach leaves a flower arrow - it means that it can be removed and planted a new batch of greens.

Conclusion

Now you know how to grow spinach on a windowsill, follow such elementary rules, this culture will grow at home throughout the year.