Do you want to learn How To Grow Spinach Using Aeroponics (Tower garden)? Then read this article to learn all about it.
Amaranthaceae family. It is an annual plant that grows from 6 to 12 inches to 1 to 3 feet high.
Spinach stem and leaves are mostly consumed as food. The leaves vary from 1 to 12 inches long and are 0.4–5.9 inches broad.
A most advanced version of farming has been developed called Aeroponics, and we are going to discuss how to grow Aeroponics Spinach.
Why Is Spinach Called A Superfood?
It is a dark green to light green leafy plant, mostly made up of water and full of nutrition including beta carotene, iron, zinc, calcium, Vitamin B, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Dietary fiber, and Protein with a Negligible amount of Fat.
- It hydrates you with its water content and keeps your stomach issues at bay due to its fiber content.
- The minerals and vitamins keep your skin healthy.
- It improves our blood flow and keeps our heart healthy.
- It plays a key role and supports the function of red blood cells, maintaining oxygen supply to cells and providing energy for D.N.A. synthesis.
- It improves our eyesight and also protects us from colon cancer.
How Much Spinach Is Produced By The world?
Since ancient times spinach has had its roots in Asia, and China and Persia claim it as one of its first cultivators.
Currently, China is the world’s largest producer of spinach, followed by the USA, UK, Japan, Kenya, and Turkey. However, it is a popular vegetable grown worldwide for its taste and health benefits.
Worldwide, more than 30 million tonnes of spinach is produced annually.
China, among others, produced 28.5 million tons of spinach using its advanced farming techniques, which is estimated to be 90% of the world’s spinach production.
Why Should We Grow More Spinach?
In the current pandemic scenario, Vitamin C is proved to be very effective in fighting airborne diseases, and 100 grams of raw spinach provides you with 28 mg of Vitamin C, which is 34% of a person’s daily recommended amount and improves your immunity against coronavirus.
Heart health is the biggest ongoing disease in the world. Spinach is a valuable source of iron – 2.71 mg per 100 grams of raw spinach, 21% of a person’s daily recommended amount that helps us transport oxygen in the blood, maintaining our heart health.
Spinach also provides us with Vitamin K, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus, improving our bone health.
According to much current research, spinach also has polyphenols, which contain anti-cancer properties and protect against colon cancer.
Spinach contains health-promoting carotenoids like beta-Carotene, lutein zeaxanthin, and Vitamin A, and its equivalents promote good eyesight and help us prevent cataract growth in our eyes.
Click Below To Buy
Is Growing Spinach Using Aeroponics Practical?
In this era of modern farming and booming population, the area required for farming and urbanization is essential. In Aeroponics, we practiced vertical gardening, saving land, and increasing vegetable productivity.
Growing leafy green veggies like spinach, lettuce, basil, and kale will grow very well with Aeroponics. In six weeks, you can harvest short-life leaf vegetables like lettuce, spinach, basil, and kale as the nutrient solution is directly sprayed in the form of mist to the roots.
It is a soil-free farming practice that is organic and pest free, so you don’t have to spray any additional pesticides. Your nutrient solution includes all micro and macro nutrients necessary for plant growth and protection.
Initially, Aeroponics takes time for plants to develop their root system, but in the case of spinach, it is less as it is a dark green leafy vegetable with more chlorophylls in its plant cell.
When it comes to water savings, it saves up to 95 percent of water, and due to the direct supply of nutrient mist on its root, it absorbs maximum nutrients in it and provides excellent oxygen to the root and shoot of the spinach plant.
Growing Spinach Using Aeroponics
Spinach farming using Aeroponics yields higher nutrient value and taste due to the extra oxygen and increased amount of nutrients in its growth stages.
As no growing supplement or soil is used and the roots are fully exposed to air, the spinach grown using Aeroponics is significantly faster than traditional farming methods.
By spraying a fine mist onto the roots of Spinach, all the root surfaces are soaked with nutrient solution, the number of nutrients Spinach absorbs, resulting in less waste and lower cost. And it yields within six weeks using Aeroponics.
Optimum Factors for Spinach Growth Using Aeroponics:
| SEVEN STEPS TO FOLLOW | STEPS FOR GROWING AEROPONIC SPINACH |
| STEP 1 | Store your seeds in a refrigerator for a few weeks before planting for rapid growth. |
| STEP 2 | The seedlings are prepared in a dark room with a maximum temperature of 20 degrees centigrade. |
| STEP 3 | The optimum temperature for Spinach Growth is 15°C – 25°C |
| STEP 4 | Keep the p.H for growth: 5.5-6 |
| STEP 5 | Growth duration: six weeks, including three weeks for germination, then transplanted on your aeroponic tower for growth. |
| STEP 6 | The humidity of the air surrounding needs to be maintained, so when the plant rises, the transpiration rate falls. |
| STEP 7 | Sunlight is usually required as 12 hours on and off Spinach |
A variety of Spinach can be grown using Aeroponics:
The best thing about Aeroponics is that you can produce more than 37 types of spinach in a single garden three times faster than any other technique. Some of them are:
| Acadia Spinach |
| Auroch Spinach |
| Baby’s Leaf Spinach |
| Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach |
| Butterfly Spinach |
| Carmel Spinach |
| Corvair Spinach |
| Indian Summer Spinach |
| Emperor Spinach |
| Flamingo Spinach |
| Red Tabby Spinach |
| Seaside Spinach |
| Catalina Spinach |
Steps To Grow Spinach Using Aeroponics
Spinach grows extraordinarily well on Aeroponic Tower Garden, producing a superior, robust, healthy, delicious crop. Hence for the best result, use the following steps:
- Spinach is a cool-weather crop that usually germinates best when the seeds are new, planted in an area with no sunlight, and the temperature is no more than 20 degrees centigrade.
- Plant at least three to four seeds in your Rockwool cube, and after three weeks, when seedlings are prepared, transport them to the Aeroponic tower next three weeks to grow.
- Fill your containers with nutrient-rich water as per your spinach seed requirements.
- Supply mist to the roots of spinach plants with tiny size droplets using a high Aeroponic system for best results
- After three weeks, spinach can be harvested by pulling the whole plant with its roots out of the tower.
- In case of any pest attack on your spinach plant leaf or growth of unhealthy leaves, remove the infected leaves immediately from the plant.
Importance of Growing Spinach Using Aeroponics:
1. Better Quality
It produces higher carotene content in spinach than traditionally farmed spinach, which is crucial in maintaining healthy skin, mucus membranes, a robust immune system, and good eyesight.
2. Extended Variety
Aeroponics has been successfully used to grow the widest variety of spinach in a minimum duration of 3-6 weeks.
3. Uses Fewer Nutrients
Growing spinach using Aeroponics uses 30% less nutrient solution than even hydroponics resulting in more phenolics, total flavonoids, and antioxidant properties in spinach.
4. Better Taste & Longer Shelf-Life
Spinach produced using Aeroponics is tastier and has a better shelf life due to a controlled environment that makes pest control much more effortless, and spinach is delicious and organic.
5. Improved Growing Environment
As spinach is a flowering plant that requires particular light schedules and more space, Aeroponic works well in this regard.
You can easily adjust the nutrients of your spinach seed, making it an excellent option for first-timers.
6. Saves Precious Water
Aeroponics uses 95 less water than other methods, even hydroponics, making it an excellent choice for growing spinach in those areas where water availability is deficient.
7. Easy To Set Up
Aeroponics towers are easy to set up; if you already have the parts, it will take less than an hour to assemble them all together.
8. Minimum Labor Required
Minimum labor is required to maintain your garden; only one or two people can easily manage your spinach garden.
9. Eliminates Spoilage Risk
Due to Aeroponics, spinach roots are suspended in the air, eliminate the risk of soil disease in your spinach, and are healthier than local produce.
How to Grow Aeroponics Spinach FAQS
Q: What Is The Optimum PH To Grow Aeroponics Spinach?
The optimum pH to grow spinach using Aeroponics is 5.5-6 for healthy growth.
Q: How Quickly Does Spinach Grow In Aeroponics?
It takes at least three to six weeks for spinach to grow using Aeroponics, including the germination period.
Q: What Is The Optimum Temperature To Grow Aeroponics Spinach?
The optimum temperature to grow Aeroponics spinach is a minimum of 7 degrees centigrade and a maximum of 23 centigrade. Still, it’s ideal for maintaining your tower garden between 15 and 20 degrees centigrade.
Q: How Much Sunlight Is Needed By Aeroponics Spinach?
It requires at least 12 hours on and of sunlight for its optimum growth.
Q: Why Is Spinach Initially Kept In The Darkroom?
Spinach is initially kept in the darkroom for its seed to germinate as it is a photosensitive plant, and its baby leaves can burn in bright sunlight.
Final words:
Aeroponics is an efficient and economical farming technique that saves water, land, and time and produces spinach with higher nutrient content which will work well in both developing and developed countries simultaneously.
So we should learn how to grow Aeroponics spinach to produce more healthy spinach.
My name is Olivia, and I live in the United States and love having plants in my garden. Lots of plants are there on my balcony, indoor and outdoor garden also. Here I am trying to share useful gardening tips, how to grow and care for various plants, etc.
