Spinach (Matador)

Botanical Interests Matador Spinach Seeds

Dark green, smooth, oval-shaped leaves are a versatile addition to the kitchen! 'Matador' has a great, sweet flavor as a mature plant that can also be enjoyed as a baby green in salad mixes, and has the perfect texture for cooked dishes, such as risotto. Productive plants yield smooth, easy-to-clean leaves. Grows especially well when sown for fall harvest. 

Sowing Information:

• Light: Full sun
• When to Start Inside: Not recommended; roots are sensitive to disturbance.
• When to Sow Outside: RECOMMENDED. 4 to 6 weeks before your average last frost date, and when the soil temperature is above 40°F; ideally 50°–75°F. Successive Sowings: Every 3 weeks until 4 weeks before your average first fall frost date. If mulched, spinach can overwinter in sub-zero temperatures. Soil temperatures above 85°F will halt germination.
• Days to Emerge: 5–10 days
• Seed Depth: ½ inch
• Seed Spacing: Plant a group of 3 seeds every 6 inches.
• Row Spacing: 12 inches
• Thinning: When 2 inches tall thin to 1 every 6 inches.

Growing Notes:

• Harvesting: Pick individual leaves from the outer edges of the plant as they become big enough to use or cut the whole plant 1" above the ground; new leaves will be produced. When picking individual leaves, also removing the leaf stem at the same time is best; this reduces vulnerability to disease during die-back and conserves plant energy. Harvest before the plant sends up a flower stalk (bolting). Just prior to bolting, leaves take on an "arrowhead" shape, adding small keel shapes to the base of the leaf.
• Attributes: Good for containers, heat tolerant
• Hardiness: Frost-tolerant annual. Very cold hardy; fall-sown plants may overwinter even in climates with sub-zero temperatures.