On Thu, 05 Jun 2003 14:46:06 GMT, Michael Beck
wrote:

I have a small urban garden, so I like to start my vegetables in pots
and then transplant. I am having a terrible time starting spinach. I
use commercial potting soil and mix in a handful of manure, wet the mix
and fill the pots. Then I add two seeds to each pot. Within two weeks,
everything sprouts, except spinach. I get one or two plants out of the
12 seeds every time. I have tried several brands of seeds. Same
results.

Any suggestions?


Ann Reilly in my seed-starting 'bible' - 'Park's Success
with Seeds' says the following about spinach:

'To hasten germination, seeds may be placed in the
refrigerator in moistened medium for one week prior to
sowing. Germination takes 8-10 days.'

So you might want to try refrigerating them in moistened
seed-starting mix.

I wouldn't mix manure into a seed-starting mixture.

Maybe you'd do better with Swiss chard.

It tastes very much like spinach (I like it better) but is
(IMHO) much easier to grow and you get a lot MORE of it as
it makes very large leaves, and is a cut-and-come-again
crop, and will produce all spring, summer, and fall.

Last year, my Swiss chard (which was in big pots) lived
until December, when the temperature hit 12 F. Then it gave
up. It wasn't protected from the weather in any way. I
think it would last through a mild winter with some
protection.

Pat