Planting guide

When to plant spinach

Tender, nutritious leaves that grow fast in cool weather and bolt in heat. In Melbourne it goes in Mar–Nov.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 5–8 wks
Spacing: 10 cm
Depth: 1.5 cm
Sun: Half a day (3–6 hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means spinach can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Melbourne	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Brisbane	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Perth	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Adelaide	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Gold Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Newcastle	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Canberra	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Central Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Geelong	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Wollongong	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Hobart	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Townsville	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Darwin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Mandurah	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Bendigo	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Launceston	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Mackay	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Bunbury	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Bundaberg	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Mildura	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Wellington	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Christchurch	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
London	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Manchester	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Edinburgh	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Dublin	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
New York City	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Los Angeles	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Chicago	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Seattle	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Austin	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Toronto	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Johannesburg	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Paris	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Berlin	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○

How to plant spinach

Sow seed 1 cm deep in cool soil.
Thin seedlings to 10 cm.
Keep soil moist and mulched.
Pick outer leaves; harvest whole plants before it bolts.

Spinach varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Bloomsdale Classicslow-bolting · heirloom · 6–8 wksCrinkled, dark leaves; slow to run to seed
English (Winter Giant) Classiccold-hardy · 6–9 wksHardy winter spinach with large smooth leaves
Perpetual Classicslow-bolting · heavy-cropper · 7–10 wksSilverbeet-like leaves that crop for many months
Viroflay Adventurousgiant · heirloom · 6–9 wksHuge French heirloom leaves
Malabar Red Adventurouscolourful · heat-tolerant · climbing · 8–11 wksSummer climbing spinach with burgundy stems
New Zealand Adventurousheat-tolerant · 8–11 wksHardy summer spinach substitute that loves heat
Amsterdam Giant Classicgiant · 5–8 wks
Baby Leaf Classichybrid · 5–8 wks
Black Glove Adventuroushybrid · colourful · 5–8 wks
Black Magic Adventurouscolourful · 5–8 wks
Bloomsdale Long Standing Classicheirloom · 5–8 wks
Carmel Classichybrid · 5–8 wks
Egyptian Classicheirloom · 5–8 wks
Galilee Classicheirloom · 5–8 wks
Giant Noble Classicheirloom · giant · 5–8 wks
Malabar (Ceylon) Green Classicheirloom · 5–8 wks
Matador Classicheirloom · pot-friendly · 5–8 wks
NZ Warigal Green Classicheirloom · 5–8 wks
Oceanside Classichybrid · 5–8 wks
Orient Express Classichybrid · 5–8 wks
Perpetual Gator Classicheirloom · pot-friendly · 5–8 wks
Pungi Classichybrid · 5–8 wks
Southern European Classic5–8 wks
Summer Jade Classic5–8 wks
VNS Classicheirloom · 5–8 wks
Winter Giant Classicgiant · cold-hardy · 5–8 wks

Where to buy seeds

Buy on Seeds of Plenty Buy on Happy Valley Seeds Buy on The Diggers Club Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Strawberry, Pea, Radish

Spinach by month

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

More to plant

Lettuce · Silverbeet · Kale · Rocket · Bok Choy · Celery

Not sure spinach is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now