🍃 When to Plant Spinach

The cold-hardiest salad green in the garden. Pick your zone below for exact dates, or read the quick reference.

Season type
Cool-season
hardy
Spacing
4″ / 12″
plants / rows
Days to maturity
40–50
from sowing

Spinach germinates poorly in warm soil, so spring sowings go in very early. In zones 6 and warmer, a September sowing can overwinter under mulch for the earliest spring harvest of anything you grow.

Spinach planting windows by zone

ZoneMain planting window
Zone 1 May 4 – May 18 direct sow
Zone 2 Apr 18 – May 2 direct sow
Zone 3 Apr 3 – Apr 17 direct sow
Zone 4 Mar 24 – Apr 7 direct sow
Zone 5 Mar 11 – Mar 25 direct sow
Zone 6 Feb 27 – Mar 13 direct sow
Zone 7 Feb 16 – Mar 2 direct sow
Zone 8 Feb 1 – Feb 15 direct sow
Zone 9 Jan 9 – Jan 23 direct sow
Zone 10 Dec 14 – Dec 28 direct sow
Zone 11 Coolest months (Oct–Mar) frost-free
Zone 12 Coolest months (Oct–Mar) frost-free
Zone 13 Coolest months (Oct–Mar) frost-free

Each zone link above has the complete schedule — direct sowing, fall planting, and season-fit notes. Zone dates are typical medians; for windows built on your own city's frost dates, use the frost date lookup and planting calendar.