A different spinach — heat-resistant, productive, and with a surprisingly decorative habit in borders or containers.
About the variety. New Zealand Spinach is not common spinach: it is a hardy, semi-early, potentially biennial plant with soft, fleshy leaves and a mild flavour. It grows best in rich, well-drained soils, reaching up to 40 cm in height.
Itinerário técnico
Como cultivar new zealand spinach?
Um guia de cultivo passo a passo, da sementeira à colheita.
pH ideal 6.0 to 7.0Temperatura ideal 18 to 28 °CCompasso 20 cm in the row, 40 cm between rows
Sementeira
Sow direct two or three centimetres deep after the last frosts. The seed has a very hard coat and germination is slow and uneven: soak the seed for twenty four hours in warm water before sowing, which makes all the difference. Germination takes two to three weeks. Thin to twenty centimetres in the row, with forty between rows, and expect the runners to spread beyond the bed. At about 40 centimetres tall, this variety grows well in a pot twenty centimetres deep with drainage holes. Use a pot at least twenty five centimetres deep with drainage holes, and expect to water more often, because a pot dries out far faster than open ground.
Solo
It adapts to almost any soil, poor, sandy and saline ground included, at a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. It is one of the few vegetables that grows well in a coastal garden exposed to salt spray. It does not need rich soil. Over rich soil gives large but soft leaves: the compost left from the previous crop is enough.
Clima
Unlike true spinach it is a heat lover and thrives between 18 °C and 28 °C without bolting. That is exactly why it is worth growing: it solves the green leaf problem in the middle of an Iberian summer. It does not survive frost and the cycle ends with the first cold. On the Portuguese coast the crop starts slowly because nights stay cool and morning fog keeps the leaves wet for hours, so pick the sunniest spot you have, shelter it from wind and space the plants generously so air moves through. Inland in Portugal and Spain heat rather than cold is the limiting factor: in weeks above 35 °C the leaves toughen and lose quality, so light shade over midday pays for itself. In France outdoor growing is reliable from the centre southwards, while in northern France and in Germany a greenhouse, a polytunnel or a warm south facing wall makes the difference, and planting out should wait until after the mid May cold snap.
Fertilização
Its needs are moderate. One to two kilos of mature compost per square metre worked in before sowing covers most of the cycle. If the leaves pale, one watering with a balanced liquid organic feed halfway through is enough. Never use fresh manure, which burns roots and encourages disease.
Rega
Water moderately. It is drought resistant once established, but regular watering keeps the leaf tender and more plentiful. It needs far less water than cool season leaf crops.
Controlo de Infestantes
The critical period is the first month, before the foliage covers the ground. Hand weed in that phase and, once the vines start to run, stop disturbing the soil: from then on the plant smothers weeds itself. A straw mulch under the runners keeps the leaves free of soil and holds moisture at the height of summer.
Controlo de Pragas
It is remarkably little attacked. Watch for slugs and snails on the seedlings and aphids on the soft shoots, treated with potassium soap. Snails climb the runners on damp late summer nights and eat the new tips: an ash barrier around the bed stops them. Once established it gives practically no trouble. Watch for cutworm on the newly emerged seedlings, which it severs at ground level at night.
Doenças
Very resistant. The only real risk is root rot in waterlogged soil. Ensure drainage and avoid overwatering. In very humid summers some leaf spot can appear on the old lower leaves: remove them and let air move between the runners. Clear the whole plant at the first cold and do not sow it twice running in the same spot, so as not to leave inoculum in the soil.
Colheita
Pick the shoot tips at five to ten centimetres as they grow, which makes the plant branch and produce more. Pick often through the whole summer. It contains oxalic acid and should always be blanched or cooked before eating, never eaten raw in quantity. The reference colour is green, and that is what tells you it is ready.
