Spinach Seeds (Palak)

Spinach comes with many health benefits and contains antioxidants. This plant is available year round.

How to grow Spinach(Palak) from Seeds:

Introduction and Uses: Spinach (Popeye’s favorite), is a superfood loaded with an array of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Its low calorie content makes it all the more unique. Consuming Spinach is considered beneficial for skin, hair and bones. Apart from this, its possible health benefits include improving blood glucose levels, lowering the risk of cancer, lowering high blood pressure, and minimizing the risk of asthma and much more.

Botanical Name: Spinacia oleracea

Sowing Season: Throughout the year. Best grown in winter.

Sowing method: Sow the seeds directly in raised beds or containers.

Sowing container: Use a shallow container with a minimum depth of 5 inches & bigger spread area (according to available space & requirement) like trays or crates.

Sowing medium: 2 part garden soil & 1 part any Organic Manure or 1 part garden soil, 1 part Coco Peat & 1 part Vermicompost.

Steps for seed sowing (Seed starting) in a container:

Select a container with uniform drainage holes at the bottom.

Fill the container with selected growing medium.

Spacing:

Make shallow holes (1 cm) at a distance of 3 x 3 inches throughout the surface of soil medium.

Sow 2-3 seeds per hole.

Push the seeds little in the soil medium with your fingers & cover them completely with the surrounding soil.

Water the sown seed bed immediately by a light shower with a watering can.

If seeds are planted in outdoor raised beds, protect them from heavy rain or direct sunlight by making a temporary roof plastic sheet for first few days.

Growth stages of Spinach(Palak) Plant:

Germination: Seeds will germinate within first six days or even much earlier & tiny seedlings will be visible with first leaves.

Thinning:

If more than one seed has germinated per hole, cut off the smaller seedlings & only keep one seedling per hole.

Baby spinach plants will be visible in 10-15 days.

Mature leaves will be ready to harvest in 30 days.

How to take care for Spinach(Palak) Plant:

Sunlight: Spinach requires partial sunlight (3-4 hours) in summer & it can withstand full sunlight in winters. So place your containers accordingly.

Watering: Water your spinach container / raised bed every day in the form of a light shower with a watering can. Sprinklers can be placed outdoors.

Manuring: As mentioned earlier, add good quality organic manure in the soil with 2:1 ratio before sowing seeds. Organic fertilizer can be well rotten cow dung manure, farmyard manure, compost or vermicompost.

Plant care: Always look for the early signs of any insect/fungal infection/ any other infections. Spray appropriate medicines as soon as any symptoms of such diseases are spotted.

Microgreens: If you plan to grow microgreens spinach. Grow it indoors in flat containers. Sow-scatter the seeds in a crowded manner. You can harvest it in 10-15 days by uprooting baby plants.

Harvesting: About 30 days after sowing, Spinach can be harvested by cutting the mature leaves using a scissor and leaving the tender growing base of the plant for the next harvest. This way you can collect for 4-5 times at intervals of 25-30 days.