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Summer spinach

farmerjesse
Sat, 05 Jan 2019 00:07:17 GMT

I really want to grow summer spinach. It's hot here and humid (ky 6b). Spinach mostly just bolts after early June. I would have to transplant, I assume, but who has some tips for growing it deeper into the summer?

Dawson Mehalko
Sun, 06 Jan 2019 05:31:48 GMT

Interesting idea. I think you may be correct that it'd be a little bit more stress resistant but if you cannot get it to germinate in the heat you're just kind of stuck with transplanting. I personally prefer transplanting most crops just because I'm able to achieve better germination and get a faster crop out of my limited amount of space.

broomandbrinefarm
Sun, 06 Jan 2019 08:11:41 GMT

what about laying shade cloth straight on top of your beds until they get up an inch or so? I would have thought it would keep the moisture up and keep that brutal heat off

Dylan House
Sun, 06 Jan 2019 15:37:20 GMT

Direct seeded spinach last summer in hot and humid Southwest VA (6b). After lots and lots of watering and shade cloth we did get decent stands, but they were one cut wonders. I've been thinking of trying some transplanting this season. Oh and I keep my shade cloth covering both ends of the bed but about 6"-8" off the ground on the sides for better air flow.

farmerjesse
Sun, 06 Jan 2019 15:47:25 GMT

Thanks, Dylan. Yeah. Our soils just get too hot I fear to germinate spinach mid-summer. We're going to paperpot next year and I'm going to try some spinach and see how that goes. Germinating in trays is easy, transplanting that much spinach is a nightmare. Hopefully the paper pot will help

Dylan House
Sun, 06 Jan 2019 16:34:44 GMT

Yeah Jesse, hand transplanting the volume of spinach my market demands is a cringe worthy thought for sure. Be sure to keep us posted on the PP use. One thing I forgot to mention was after seeding I applied a thin layer of compost over the bed and soaked everything well, similar to carrots. I got good germination that way. To combat some of that soil heat this season I'm going to try putting the shade cloth up a couple of days before planting, we'll see if it helps.

nicklocke
Sun, 06 Jan 2019 18:56:40 GMT

I would try pre germination in a cool place and just before the roots start to come out go and broadcast on bed and then cover with light layer of compost and thin layer of mulch just to keep the ground cool, or shade cloth. we put shade cloth straight on ground for carrots and beets.

Dawson Mehalko
Mon, 07 Jan 2019 01:48:00 GMT

Southpaw, This past summer I had shade cloth on 24/7 and it was still to hot to germinate a crop like spinach.

Dawson Mehalko
Mon, 07 Jan 2019 01:49:17 GMT

Dylan, and Jesse, Have y'all thought about only growing a little bit of what the market would demand in the summer and hand transplanting thus being able to charge a higher price and grow it more as a "specialty" crop?

broomandbrinefarm
Mon, 07 Jan 2019 02:35:47 GMT

Dawson, Wow yeah im lucky in terms of that summer heat. Max for me is a few days of 35c. Mostly sitting around 24-28c

nicklocke
Mon, 07 Jan 2019 04:46:02 GMT

24-28c is late winter early spring daytime temp for us! after a -2c frost..

alexekins
Mon, 14 Jan 2019 22:56:25 GMT

I do 8 row on 30” with Jang. Lj-24 with open brush, no felt. Drop about 150g per bed. Then I water in heavy! The soil should shine for 20 seconds after water passes over, this shows saturation. Do this every day until complete germination. Or prime your seeds. Soak seed and allow for enzyme production to occur, then lay seed out on drying screens until you can handle without sticking. This is how Jeremy Mueller does his spinach. That and proper cool storage of seed. I also prefer to seed in the evening and not the morning. This way your seed can be watered in after seeding and sit in the moist cooler soil overnight and into the next day before temps hit high mark. A prime and night seeding will buy you those 18-24 hrs of cooler germ times.

staleyfarms
Mon, 25 Mar 2019 02:05:35 GMT

Does anyone know if there are row covers that provide shade? Or maybe I should ask what you guys use as shade cloth. When I think shade cloth I think heavier material I guess.

farmerjesse
Mon, 25 Mar 2019 08:27:32 GMT

Great question. So any row cover will provide some amount of shade. Same with plastic. The trick is keeping it from also holding in or increasing the heat. Shade cloth breaths so that is a huge advantage. You can secure it to the ground and not worry about it preserving or increasing high temperatures.

staleyfarms
Tue, 26 Mar 2019 12:48:14 GMT

Thanks farmerJesse, Do you still utilize hoops like with row covers? I guess I'm trying to figure how to do a bit of extension on lettuce and carrots. It's already pretty dang hot here (on the border of central/South Tx). I dont think I want to lay something to shade directly on top of the plants do I? Typical 30" rows but at 50'. I know Caterpillar tunnels with a shade cloth would probably work the best, but wondered how it could be done with individual rows. If any of that makes sense.

Dawson Mehalko
Sat, 13 Apr 2019 17:04:14 GMT

Staley Farms, I would definitely suspend the cloth above the crops, weather with hoops or something else. It is that space between the cloth and crop that is what really helps cool things off. Plus if you use the standard black shade cloth it gets very hot. I'm located in north TX.

staleyfarms
Sun, 14 Apr 2019 18:04:40 GMT

Dawson, I really appreciate the response. I tried looking up summer row cover info but it always wants to talk frost covering. So I'm sure its done a bit differently for extreme heat , and add in a good dose of humidity. A couple, probably obvious questions. One is the material. Is it still agribon type stuff? For instance I use 19 for winter protection, but are you using that same stuff throughout the hot periods? I'm thinking you probably go down in size? I believe I saw 15, and maybe there are more options. I guess my next concern is creating a greenhouse effect in there? Are you keeping the ends open? And maybe this isn't a concern if the material is more breathable than what I have now. Again, much thanks for the guidance. Chris

Dawson Mehalko
Thu, 18 Apr 2019 21:53:11 GMT

I would never use any kind of row cover as shade during summer because it is built to hold in heat/warm the area it is covering which is not what you want. It also holds in humidity/does not have much airflow which also causes problems in humidity (this is why I don't use the agribon insect netting). I use a bonafide shade cloth. I purchased the 50% grade from Farmers Friend. It is a big piece but it works well for me as I cover everything for the duration of its life with it during mid-summer. The material is just woven black plastic mesh that blocks 50% of the light. It is breathable and allows water through fairly well.

staleyfarms
Fri, 19 Apr 2019 04:28:01 GMT

Ok I'm with ya now, thanks for the clarification. I will go look at FF to get an even better idea on sizes available.

erikdtz
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 05:06:25 GMT

I have no experience growing spinach in the summer but at a workshop I went to at Singing Frogs Farm they would cover their DS crops, post watering, with burlap material. They said it helped keep moisture in and cool the beds down.

dcfarm
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 08:32:52 GMT

My concept is a bed in natural afternoon shade created by a large oak to the southwest. I've been prepping the bed for some time. This summer will tell the tale.

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