Choosing the right spinach companion plants can be hugely beneficial to the plant’s growth and flavor. Spinach is a bonafide superfood and a popular addition to any nutritious diet—plus it’s a cinch to grow!
Whether you’re a total beginner or you’ve been gardening for years, it’s time to add some spinach to your garden. Not only will you get to indulge in its crisp taste in salads, smoothies and so much more – but when paired with the right companion plants, spinach will totally flourish as well as benefit other plants in the garden. There’s no better way to ‘leaf’ your mark than with a luscious bed of spinach!
Ready to find out which plants will partner up best with your spinach? I’m going to give you the scoop so your garden will soon be growing healthy, delicious spinach plants. Let’s dive in, shall we?
Summary of How to Grow Spinach
Spinach really loves cooler weather and is quite content in both full sunshine and partial shade. It needs well-draining soil with plenty of compost so it can thrive.
To start growing spinach, drop spinach seeds about half an inch deep into the soil, spacing each seed out about 2-3 inches.
Before you know it, you’ll see spinach popping up (in around 7 to 14 days). Once they get going, thin them out to allow 4-6 inches of breathing room for each plant. Simple as that!
Pick spinach leaves when they’ve grown around 3-4 inches tall, and keep on harvesting! It’s essential for the plant’s health and to encourage new growth.
Spinach needs regular harvesting and also consistent watering and fertilizing.
With attention and care, your plants will dish up a plentiful harvest of nutritious, scrumptious greens.
Best Conditions for Growing Spinach
| Best Climate | Spinach prefers moderate temperatures, ideally between 50-70°F. It can tolerate some frost, but not extreme heat. |
| Plant Spacing | 4-6 inches |
| Planting Depth | 1/2 inch (12mm) |
| Time till Harvest | 4-6 weeks |
| Position | Full-sun or part shade |
| Life Cycle | Annual |
Best Spinach Companion Plants
Companion planting can supercharge your yields and protect your spinach plants from unwanted pests. Check out my top picks for the best spinach companion plants:
Radishes
Spinach and radishes are a match made in gardeners’ heaven! Radishes provide a bright, beautiful burst of color while also helping break up the hard soil around spinach—giving it better access to valuable nutrients.
In turn, spinach can provide refreshing shade for sensitive radish roots, keeping them cool and moist—a real-life saver! Thus, companion planting spinach and radishes is a win-win!
Lettuce
Companion planting spinach and lettuce in your garden is another excellent choice! Not only do they taste great together, but they also help each other thrive.
Sharing the same watering and soil needs, spinach and lettuce roots can both grow without bumping heads since they extend to different depths. A perfectly balanced team on the ground and on a plate!
Beans
Spinach companion planting with beans is another ideal pair. Beans are nitrogen-fixers, replenishing soil nutrients that spinach has drained.
On the other hand, spinach gives beans the perfect shade, maintaining cool and damp soil conditions – plus their different root depths mean they don’t fight for resources! It’s a win-win if ever there was one!
Carrots
Companion planting spinach and carrots really are a match made in heaven when it comes to vegetable gardening. Carrots can help loosen the soil, giving spinach the freedom to soak up all the nutrients and hydration without restriction.
In turn, spinach provides a lovely soil blanket that suppresses pesky weeds from taking over your carrot roots. Not only that, but they also share similar needs when it comes to water and soil, making them the ultimate pair in companion planting!
Worst Spinach Companion Plants
Just like any other plant, spinach has some seriously incompatible companion plants. To save you the trouble, here are a few that can’t be trusted:
Strawberries
Strawberries may be tasty, but they’re not the best option to plant next to spinach! That’s because strawberries are vulnerable to verticillium wilt, which isn’t great news for spinach plants either. So if you plant them together, the disease can run rampant between both crops – resulting in dismal growth and harvest yields.
Broccoli
Spinach companion planting with broccoli sounds brilliant! Unfortunately, though, these two just don’t play well together.
Broccoli secretes substances that can do serious damage to spinach’s growth and productivity. What’s worse is that they’re both big feeders; competing for essential nutrients only adds fuel to the fire.
Nightshades
Spinach and nightshades don’t mix – tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants are all part of the nightshade family! These plants really deplete the soil’s nutrients, leaving spinach out of luck and malnourished. Definitely not a good combination for your garden!
Melons
Don’t put melons – like cantaloupe and watermelon – anywhere near your spinach patch! These guys need a ton of room to thrive, so they can easily cast too much shade on your little spinach plants. Trust me, you don’t want to go there!
FAQs: Spinach Companion Planting
What can you not plant with spinach?
Don’t plant spinach too close to broccoli, strawberries, or nightshades. The brassica and nightshade family can be very competitive for nutrients and space. So keep them separate to avoid rivalry!
Are spinach and beets companion plants?
Yes, spinach and beets are considered good companion plants. They have similar soil and water requirements. Beets are helpful to shade spinach plants from the hot sun, which can help to prevent bolting.
What grows well with spinach?
Lettuce, radishes, beans, carrots, parsley, and onions are some of the best companion plants for spinach. These plants have similar soil and water requirements and can help deter pests like aphids and spider mites.
Also, planting spinach close to tall plants such as beans can provide shade and protection from the sun.
Final Words on Spinach Companion Plants
For spinach plants to really thrive, team them up with beans, peas, and radish friends as they make great spinach companion plants! Give them enough room to grow and thin plants out if they start to get overcrowded. Regular harvesting will help keep things neat, not to mention promote plenty of new growth.
Then all you have to do is wait for the leaves to reach their full size before harvesting a delicious crop of nutritionally-packed spinach for sautéing and salads.
Don’t forget that water is key and throwing some compost into the soil will amp up its fertility so your spinach can put on a show stopping performance! This way, you can benefit from all the amazing goodness that this superfood has to offer.
About the Author
Elle Reed is a passionate gardener and advocate for teaching beginner gardeners how to grow their own food. Elle’s mission is to inspire and empower people to get back to basics, grow their own produce, and embrace a sustainable lifestyle. “Whether it’s a few herb pots in an apartment, a potager or a full garden plot, we can all ‘start somewhere’ to grow our own food, and in doing so, provide healthier food for ourselves and those we love”.
