Spinach: Cultivation and useful qualities

Spinach is a plant from the family of the mare, a relative of the swans. In culture first appeared in Iran. In the 16th century, spinach was already known in Europe, and in the 19th century it spread to Russia. Today it is grown everywhere, but in small quantities.

Spinach is a promising culture, unusually useful and suitable for dietary nutrition. It contains a lot of iron and calcium. Carotene in spinach is even more than in carrots, and with cold storage, its amount rises. Also, spinach is rich in iodine, contains a whole complex of vitamins and trace elements. Due to this, the consumption of spinach is indicated in diseases associated with iodine deficiency. Spinach is very useful for blood, because it has a lot of chlorophyll. When heat treatment, chlorophyll is converted to pheophytin, a substance that is close in composition to hemoglobin of the blood. It is pheophytin that gives the boiled spinach a brownish hue. According to one data, there are few acids in spinach, so it is suitable for stomach diseases. And although it contains ascorbic, folic, apple, lemon, oxalic and other acids, but in small amounts, so health is not a hindrance. In addition, it is rich in potassium, so it is very useful for the heart. Spinach perfectly cleanses the intestines, stimulates digestion and promotes weight loss.

For food use spinach leaves, fresh or after heat treatment. Remove it when the plant has 5-6 leaves, but it is necessary until the appearance of a flower arrow, since after that the leaves become inedible. The reason for the lack of popularity of spinach is that it does not have its own distinct taste, so it's best to cook multicomponent dishes with it. With spinach, you can make an excellent omelet, soup, you can add it to pizza, pies, garnishes ...

This plant is cold-resistant, the seeds germinate best at a temperature of + 4-5 degrees. A grown up specimen (when an outlet is formed) can withstand a temperature of -10-15 (under snow and up to -20). This feature allows you to sow it under the winter to get an early spring of young spinach. Cultivation of this culture is not too complicated, but it has some specific features.

How to grow spinach? It is necessary to know that the optimum growth temperature of this plant is + 15-18, at a higher temperature it quickly shoots. Spring and autumn are the most suitable time to grow spinach. Cultivation begins in early spring and continues to sow until the summer, hoping that the period from sprouting to harvesting spinach is 30-40 days (depending on the variety). Growing seedlings, too, you can get a very early harvest. Sow in autumn or late summer start when the temperature drops below +23. The soil needs fertile, well-cultivated. It is desirable that all fertilizers are introduced under the previous crops, or in the fall. Direct spinning of phosphate-potassium fertilizers causes early lightning.

Spinach can be fed with mineral nitrogen fertilizers, but moderately, as it can accumulate nitrates (like all green crops). Organic top dressing (slurry, bird droppings) are undesirable, they impair taste. The acidity of the soil must be neutral, weakly acidic or slightly alkaline, only then it is possible to grow a good spinach. Cultivation of this culture on acidic or alkaline soils is completely impossible. Spin the spinach a little, but evenly, avoiding drying. It is desirable to mulch the soil between plants. Spinach needs to create the most favorable conditions, any stress (uneven watering, temperature changes, lack or excess of nutrients and especially heat) causes it to eject the arrow.

Landing

Spinach is sown in rows, the distance between which should be 15-20 cm, to a depth of 1-2 cm. When the shoots appear, thin out so that the distance between the plants becomes 5-7 cm. When the spinach forms 3-4 leaves, it is again thinned (Pulled out plants are used for food) leaving a distance of 15 cm. You can "compact" the beds with spinach with other, late-ripening plants, for example, with cabbage. This will save space and increase yield. Before the ripening of the main crop, you will already gather the spinach. Growing spinach is possible in the apartment (on a window sill or balcony).