Spinach is a suitable crop for winter production in New Hampshire due to its ability to continue producing saleable leaves at very low-temperatures. Fall transplants into high tunnels can result in winter-long harvests and significant spring yields, providing an avenue for growers to meet strong consumer demand for local greens during the “off” season.
With the goal of providing recommendations for winter spinach production in high tunnels, we performed experiments over two winter seasons using fall-planted spinach seedlings. We focused primarily on three spinach varieties: Regiment, Space, and Tyee, and planted these varieties at six different dates throughout the fall, ranging from 20 September to 9 November. At our third planting date (9 Oct) we added five varieties to the study: Carmel, Corvair, Gazelle, Emperor and Renegade.
The study objectives were to:
- Determine yield potential of Regiment, Space, and Tyee for each fall transplant date and identify best transplant dates
- Evaluate all eight varieties for their suitability for winter production
- Assess the leaf sugar content among varieties throughout the winter season
- Identify discernable growth and leaf characteristics among varieties that may assist growers in choosing those best suited to their market/objectives.
Read more about Winter Spinach Production in High Tunnels
Written by: Kaitlyn Orde & Becky Sideman, UNH Extension Research assistance from Connor Eaton and technical support by Talia Levy.
