Last edited on November 01, 2026. View history
Japanese Spinach (Nz)
A variety of spinach
How to sow Japanese spinach (NZ): Direct seed outdoors, thin to 15cm when seedlings are 3cm high
Sun requirement for Japanese spinach (NZ): Plant in Full Sun
A rare, endangered New Zealand heritage spinach, said to have come from Land's End in southern England. Larger plants than regular spinach, growing much taller, with larger pointy leaves that are less crinkled, and large seed with sharp triangular corners. Tastes similar to regular spinach. A cool-season spinach for early spring and autumn. Sow in trays, prick out at 2.5 cm and transplant at 25 cm when 6 cm high. Partial shade in hot weather can delay bolting, and it does best sown after peas or beans. Seed was sourced from several Southland, Timaru and Christchurch collections.
- 0
- plantings
- 0
- harvests
- 0
- seed packets
Japanese spinach (nz) facts
Lifespan
Crop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For Japanese spinach (NZ), the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 2°C and a shortest growing cycle of 40 days at its best temperature, about 580 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your Japanese spinach (NZ) will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing Japanese spinach (NZ)
- Dig compost into the bed 1 week before sowing
- Water regularly at sowing every week
- Thin the seedlings 2 weeks after sowing
- Weed between the rows 3 weeks after sowing every 2 weeks
- Sow another batch 3 weeks after sowing every month
- Pick the outer leaves at first harvest every week
- Pull out plants that have bolted 6 weeks after first harvest
Plant Japanese spinach (NZ) with
Jerusalem artichoke
leek
Video
What people are saying about Japanese spinach (NZ)
Nobody has posted about Japanese spinach (NZ) yet.
Sign in or sign up to post your tips and experiences growing Japanese spinach (NZ).
Who's planted Japanese spinach (NZ)
Nobody has planted this crop yet.
Sign in or sign up to track your Japanese spinach (NZ) plantings.Japanese spinach (nz) harvests
Nobody has harvested this crop yet.
Sign in or sign up to track your Japanese spinach (NZ) harvests.Find Japanese spinach (NZ) seeds
There are no seeds available to trade on Growstuff right now.
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
- Sign in or sign up to list your seeds to trade.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Spinacia oleracea L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Caryophyllidae Caryophyllales Chenopodiaceae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: 0 °C, rest: -7 °C |
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | acaulescent (or rosette plants) |
| Optimal soil depth | shallow (20-50 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, light |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about Japanese spinach (NZ)
Resources outside Growstuff.
