Garden calendar for the kitchen garden - vegetables and herbs. See what to plant right now and for next month.

Growing Spinach, also English spinach

(Spinacia oleracea)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
		P	P	P

(Best months for planting Spinach in Australia - temperate regions)

P = Plant direct in garden where they are to grow.

Easy to grow. Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 10°C and 25°C. (Show °F/in)
Space plants: 20 - 30 cm apart
Harvest in 5-11 weeks.
Compatible with: Broad beans (fava), cabbage, cauliflower, celery, eggplant (aubergine), onion, peas, strawberry, santolina

Baby spinach
Young spinach

Green leaf crop. Spinach grows best in cooler weather and quickly runs to seed in warm weather.

Not recommended to grow in warm areas. Alternatives suitable for warm areas are Swiss Chard (Silverbeet) or NZ spinach.

Will not grow well in acid soil.

Succession sowing will provide a supply through the winter months.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Spinach

Use young leaves in salad.
Steam and add to other vegetables.

Your comments and tips

09 Oct 11, Donna (Australia - temperate climate): I have a few mature (about 6 months old) spinach plants in my garden that have grown quite large. The leaves have started to get curly. What causes this? Now that the plants are larger they are a bit crowded, could this be the cause? Is it because summer is coming on and they are getting more sun? Not enough fertiliser/food???? Please help.
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03 Jul 11, Pru (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Liz, the white butterflies are cabbage moths, their larvae will eat the spinach. I cover my spinach with a light net so the moths cant land on them. Works a treat.
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28 May 11, Jacob (Australia - temperate climate): Hi, about three weeks ago I planted three different types of Spinach "direct where they are to grow". I planted three or four seeds in each hole. Some of them have germinated but around 50% haven't. Would I be better off waiting or digging up the soil and planting new ones. Also, I am using open pollinated, or heirloom, seeds. Would this have something to do with the germination speed. Someone told me that when sowing open pollinated varieties to pour warm water over the area where they were planted. Help on this would be greatly appreciated, thank you :)
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23 Apr 11, Liz Strauss (Australia - temperate climate): I planted spinach seedlings from garden centre in my newly created no dig garden last week. they seem to be settling in ok except the outer leaves are yellow. I'm hoping this is just a settling in thing or should I be doing something about it now. Also discovered a little white /pale yellow butterfly visiting vegetables. I looked under leaves and have been squashing tiny white single eggs. How do I deter these butterflies or moths.
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11 Apr 11, Donna (Australia - temperate climate): I planted spinach a couple of weeks ago and they have sprouted successfully, however, because I planted a few seeds in each hole - they have sprouted together. Rather than pull any out and lose them, is it possible to wait until they get to a certain size and then transplant them to a different area of my garden (as if they were a seedling). And if so, at what stage can I do that (ie. when they are how many centimetres tall)?
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07 Jun 11, (Australia - cool/mountain climate): I've found spinach don't transplant very well - they tend to shoot to seed - so I just pull out the extras and leave them on the ground as mulch.
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03 Apr 11, Liz Strauss (Australia - temperate climate): I am starting a no dig veg garden in my not very sunny garden and am starting with spinach and potatoes. Wonder if kale in a good companion for either of these . I live on the shores of Lake Macquarie between Sydney and Newcastle.
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14 Dec 10, Alana Smith (Australia - tropical climate): I purchased what is meant to be English Spinache at the local markets, but the plants have a purple/black berry on them is this normal?
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05 Dec 10, Colin (Australia - temperate climate): I've been told recently that the spinach we get in Australia, is not true spinach. The claim is that it is the tops of a (?) root vegetable and that the real (English) Spinach is much darker in the leaves and is not a root vegetable. Can you please enlighten me?
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17 Feb 11, Daniel (Australia - temperate climate): Sam is right. Real spinach is called "Spinacea Oleracea" while the commonly known Spinach in Australia is actually Silverbeet or "BETA VULGARIS" and is from the Beet family. Also real spinach is harvested much smaller than silverbeet so the spacing only needs to be 8cm and not 15-20cm as advised on this page which is the spacing for silverbeet. (Opinions seem to vary on this - some gardeners recommend 10 - 20cm)
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See planting calendar for these countries and climate zones

Australia - arid, Australia - cool/mountain, Australia - sub-tropical, Australia - temperate, Australia - tropical, New Zealand - cool/mountain, New Zealand - sub-tropical, New Zealand - temperate, South Africa - Dry summer sub-tropical, South Africa - Humid sub-tropical, South Africa - Semi-arid, South Africa - Summer rainfall, United Kingdom - cool/temperate, United Kingdom - warm/temperate, USA - Central West Coast, USA - Maritime Northwest, USA - Mid-Atlantic, USA - North East, USA - South East and Gulf States, USA - South West, USA - Upper Midwest

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This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. Gardenate is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.

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