Tetragonia tetragonioides
New Zealand spinach
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 40 cm, rows 60 cm
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Sowing
- Apr–May
- Harvest
- Jun–Oct
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 0 °C
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
New Zealand spinach is the summer substitute for true spinach. It loves heat and, unlike garden spinach, does not flower even on long days. The fleshy, triangular leaves grow above the ground and provide continuous harvest from June until the first frost. Because of its oxalic acid content, you should blanch the leaves briefly before eating.
Care instructions
Soak the hard seeds in lukewarm water for one day and sow from the end of April after frost danger in a sunny, nutrient-rich spot. Give each plant plenty of space because it spreads widely. Harvest the young shoot tips regularly; this keeps the plant bushy and productive until October.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingApr–May
HarvestJun–Oct
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 12 °C, ideally 22 °C
- Days to sprout
- 14 to 28 days
- Light
- Sprouts in light or dark
- Sowing depth
- 2 cm
- How to start
- Start indoors, then plant out
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
sandy, loamy, humus-rich, well-drained, nutrient-rich
Give New Zealand spinach a loose, well-drained soil. Sandy loam or loamy sand with plenty of humus is ideal; it does not tolerate waterlogging. It is salt-tolerant and even copes with slightly salty soils near the coast.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Apr–Aug
A few weeks before sowing in spring, work mature compost shallowly into the soil. On well-supplied garden soils that is usually enough as basic feeding. On soil poorer in nutrients you can mix in some horn shavings, which release nitrogen slowly. If the plant grows weakly in high summer, an occasional top-up with diluted nettle liquid helps.
Overwintering
New Zealand spinach does not tolerate frost and dies off in winter in the lowlands of Central Europe. Grow it as an annual crop and sow afresh in spring (start it indoors from February). Alternatively, pot up strong shoots in autumn and overwinter them in a bright, frost-free spot at about 5 to 10 degrees, and you will have ready young plants in spring.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
You propagate New Zealand spinach by seed only; vegetative methods are not practical for this annual species. The hard seed coat inhibits germination, so soak the seeds in lukewarm water for 24 hours before sowing; if you want to be sure, also carefully roughen the coat with a nail file. For an early start, from mid-February to March sow 2 to 3 seeds each, just under 1 cm deep, in pots at a room temperature of at least 20 °C. Germination takes 2 to 6 weeks depending on temperature. Patience is needed, and the soil must not dry out during this time. After the Ice Saints (from mid-May), plant the young plants outdoors 50 × 50 cm apart. Direct sowing outdoors is possible from May, as soon as the soil is permanently above 10 °C. To collect seed, let individual shoots ripen: the angular seeds turn brown and drop easily; harvest early and let them dry off further. Your own seed stays viable for about three years if stored cool, dry and dark.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
For your garden
Grow New Zealand spinach yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
Free, no time limit
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