How to grow spinach

Inspired by practical growing advice from Charles Dowding on YouTube. This guide draws on Charles Dowding's "How to Grow Spinach | Best Sowing Times, Varieties & No Dig Growing" video, which covers variety selection and sowing timing in good detail. His explanation of why midsummer sowings almost always bolt is especially useful - and explains why most people's first attempt at spinach fails.

1. Know what you're actually growing

True spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is fast, tender, and wonderful - but it bolts readily in hot weather. Perpetual spinach (Beta vulgaris) is a chard relative that's much more tolerant of heat and drought. If you've had trouble with spinach bolting in summer, perpetual spinach is worth trying instead.

New Zealand spinach is another option for summer. It's not a true spinach but produces spinach-like leaves all through the warmest months. A good one to have alongside a main spring crop.

2. Sow at the right time

True spinach does best in cool conditions. The main sowing windows in the UK are March to May and again in August to September. Sowings made in June and July in warm years will often bolt before they produce a useful amount of leaf.

Autumn sowings can overwinter under cover - a cloche, cold frame, or polytunnel - and produce an early spring crop before anything else is ready. This is one of spinach's most useful tricks.

3. Prepare a rich, moisture-retentive bed

Spinach grows fast and needs a fertile soil. Add garden compost or well-rotted manure before sowing - the no-dig approach of laying compost on the surface works very well here. Spinach doesn't want compacted or stony ground.

Consistent moisture is as important as fertility. A soil that dries out and then gets drenched alternately encourages bolting. Mulching around plants once they're up helps enormously.

4. Sow direct in rows

Spinach is usually sown direct rather than in modules, as it doesn't love root disturbance. Make shallow drills 2 cm deep and 30 cm apart, and sow seed thinly. Cover, water gently, and wait.

Germination takes five to fourteen days depending on soil temperature. In cold conditions, cover the bed with fleece to warm things up and speed germination.

5. Thin and water regularly

Once seedlings are a few centimetres tall, thin to about 10–15 cm apart. The thinnings are perfectly edible - good in salads. Overcrowding reduces airflow and makes bolting more likely.

Water consistently, especially during dry spells. This is the single most important thing you can do to delay bolting. Don't wait until plants look stressed before watering.

6. Harvest a few leaves at a time

Pick outer leaves once plants are established, leaving the central growing point intact. This encourages the plant to keep producing rather than rushing to flower. A few leaves per plant, regularly, beats stripping a whole row at once.

Once a plant sends up a central flowering stem, it's done. Pull it and sow something else.

7. Keep sowing successionally

A single sowing gives you a short harvest window. Sow every three weeks from March through May for a longer spring supply, and again from August into September for autumn. It adds almost no effort and keeps leaves coming for months rather than weeks.

A late September sowing under cover - cloches, cold frame, or an unheated greenhouse - will usually survive the winter and give you very early spring leaves before outdoor crops are anywhere near ready.

When to call a handyman

Spinach is one of the simplest crops to grow yourself. That said, if you're starting a kitchen garden from scratch and need beds dug over, improved, and prepared properly, Richard can get a good-sized plot ready in a day. Worth a call before the growing season starts.