How to Plant Spinach in Containers

Spinach grows quickly in containers.

Spinach is a cool-season vegetable and often one of the first planted in spring. Growing this leafy green in containers allows you to enjoy it even if you don't have room for a garden bed. Spinach is also a favorite of rabbits and other garden pests, but they cannot reach the spinach in a container so your crop remains safe until harvest. Plant spinach seeds in containers as soon as the soil is no longer frozen in spring, or once daytime temperatures are regularly above freezing.

Things You'll Need

• Container
• Potting soil
• Fertilizer
• Spinach seed

Instructions

1. Fill a container to within 1 inch of the rim with a well-draining potting soil. Use a container that has at least one drainage hole in the bottom.

2. Add ½ tbsp. of 10-10-10 analysis, slow-release fertilizer per every gallon of potting soil in the container. Mix the fertilizer with the soil and then water the pot until the soil is evenly moist throughout.

3. Sow two spinach seeds per every 6-square-inches of surface space in the container. Plant the seeds ¼ inch deep.

4. Water the soil when the top 1 inch begins to feel dry. Water from the top until the excess moisture begins draining from the bottom.

5. Thin the spinach seedlings once they produce their second set of leaves. Pluck the extra seedlings from the soil so there is only one plant per every 6-square-inches.

Tips & Warnings

• Spinach matures within four to six weeks depending on the variety planted.

• Grow spinach as a fall or early winter crop, as it also thrives in the cool temperatures of these seasons.

• Temperatures over 75 degrees Fahrenheit cause spinach to go to seed and stop producing.

References

• Colorado State Extension: The Year of the Spinach
• Ohio State University: Container Vegetable Gardening