Bolting is when certain vegetable , like lettuceand Spinacia oleracea , flower and seed untimely due to environmental condition . regrettably , the leave-taking of these plants taste sulfurous . When deal with bolting , prevention is primal since the campaign materialise week before the effects are detectable .

shopworn of your spinach bolt and becoming too acid to eat ? Taking some preventative step can stop that from happening . Discover the top seven method for preventing your Spinacia oleracea from bolting , and assure you ’re eating happy after harvest !

What Happens When Spinach Bolts?

Bolting is a appendage that spinach can go through where its flush begin to develop too apace . A bolt spinach plant will develop a tall flower base and terminate producing leaves .

Spinach can begin bolting due to several stressor , though the most common cause is vulnerability to 14 hours or more ofdirect sunlightdaily . Temperatures increase or decreasing from 75 degrees Fahrenheit also increase the likelihood that your Spinacia oleracea will bolt .

make steps to cease bolt from occurring is about maintain your spinach and its environment .

The three sisters growing in a garden

1. Water Frequently

Dry soil increase the chance that your prickly-seeded spinach could start bolt out , even in cold temperatures . keep the soilconsistently moistwill keep this from happen . Healthy spinachrequires about 1 to 2 inches of water each workweek . The tearing itself should be done daily so that the filth stays moist .

quash excessively saturating the soil at dark . Doing so can attract snails and slugs , which will eat your spinach plant foliage and causefungal diseaseslike downy mold and blank rust .

2. Choose a Bolt-Resistant Spinach Cultivar

Certain prickly-seeded spinach cultivar are course resistant to bolting , and some come with other benefits .

Three cultivars , ' Tyee , ' ' Skookum , ' and ' Olympia , ' are irksome to bolt and resistant todowny mold . The ' Bloomsdale Longstanding ' is both bolt - resistant and saporous .

Other ones have no fluffy mildew resistance but are still bolt - immune , like the ' distance ' and ' Indian Summer ' cultivars . Finally , the ' Correnta ' cultivar is resistant to run off , even when growing in hot or cold temperatures .

Gardener watering tomatoes in the vegetable patch

3. Moderate the Amount of Sunlight

Since more exposure to sunlight can cause your spinach to make off , controlling how long you give it sunlight is an in effect way to battle this issue .

The peril zona of spinach plant beetle off is when it receive around 13 to 14 hours or more of sunlight each day . Spinach want at least eight hours of sunlight to delay goodly but under the danger zona to avoid bolting .

There are legion ways to make ashaded area , like add umbrellas or awnings , found shady tree , ortransplanting your spinachto a shadier spot . Figuring out the good way to do it in your garden will be deserving it to store your spinach from bolting .

An image of outdoor curtains

4. Maintain the Temperature in the Air

Spinach can bolt from being in too cold or too red-hot of an environment , induce atmosphere temperature easing a decisive chore .

The temperature to aim for is 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit — the further you stray from these temperature , the higher the likelihood that your spinach plant will beetle off . you may maintain the temperature by offer your Spinacia oleracea with shade and keep the ground moist , which will all serve prevent make off . This is crucial to control during the high - temperature Clarence Day of spring .

5. Give Your Spinach Space

Without enough space , the rootage of your prickly-seeded spinach can become overcrowded , which is a stressor that can leave to bolting .

Giving your Spinacia oleracea 4 to 6 column inch of breathing way is all-important for the earlier stages when the roots are shallow . Since tension at the former stage is a common cause of bolting , giving the root space is vital . Good spacing even helps slack the spread of disease or pests set on your plants .

6. Plant at the Right Time

Choosing the veracious time of yr to plant your prickly-seeded spinach helps manage many stressors that cause bolting .

Early springand former fall are both time of year when spinach does well due to the cooler temperature . These temperatures prolong your spinach harvest by melt off the number of high - temperature daylight during your acquire time of year , thus prolong go off .

7. Harvest Your Spinach at the Right Time

leave your spinach to grow for too foresightful is another way to induce it to bolt . Harvestyour spinach about five week after sowing the seeds . take care for spinach plant with around eight leaves that are about 6 in long .

If you pick only the outermost leave , your spinach can produce even more for you to harvest later . you’re able to also cut the spinach off at the alkali to pull together the total plant life just before the season ends , and your spinach begin to bolt .

Keep Your Spinach Happy and Tasty

find that your Spinacia oleracea has gobble overnight is a ready way to ruin a day — luckily , you may block off this from happening .

ask the prison term to maintain the proper land and air consideration can help achieve this goal . Other preventative measures include take slow - dash cultivars and harvest your craw at the right time .

young spinach plant

Close-up shot of an old, droopy spinach plant

A watering can watering green plants, focus on the water.

A patch of flat leaf spinach in a flower bed.

A sunny patch of spinach in a garden

A plot of spinach in a shaded garden

Rows of spinach plants, lined up in a garden

A pair of dirt covered hands planting seedlings into a flower bed

Spinach that is ready to be harvested in a sunny garden