25 Best Spinach Varieties | Different Types of Spinach to Try
Last updated: 1/30/22
As a child growing up, I remember my Mom trying to get me to try different types of spinach.
I am pretty certain it did not include the same spinach varieties that are discussed here, but it was not visually appealing as it came out of a can.
Fast forward to today and I have grown countless spinach varieties in my backyard garden.
Spinach is an essential vegetable that was first discovered in ancient Persia. The ancient Persia is currently known as Iran.
It first spread to India than to China through an ancient Chinese who named it ‘Persia vegetable’.
Later, it spread to Spain, England, France and the rest of the countries. During the first world war, spinach juice was used to cure hemorrhage soldiers in France.
Since then, spinach is popularly used all over the world.
Green thumb Gardener occasionally links to product and/or services offered by vendors to assist you with all your gardening needs. Some of these may be affiliate links, meaning we earn a small commission if items are purchased.
Want to Download a Garden Hack Guide for FREE
Enter your email below and we will send you a guide to help you SAVE money in your garden.
Despite several varieties, spinach is essential vegetables with several health benefits. They are a great source of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber.
They contain a very low amount of calories and are therefore used as a remedy to weight loss and obesity.
Growing Spinach in your own backyard garden has several benefits.
- Replaces the cost of purchasing spinach in the store. You can also grow it organically if you choose.
- Vast health benefits that we discussed above such as high vitamin and mineral content.
- Growing during the winter time means that you will have fresh vegetables year round.
However, there are few factors to consider before growing spinach.
Factors To Consider Before Growing Spinach
1 | Type of Soil
As a gardener, you should know the best soil to plant and grow your spinach.
A good draining fertile soil is the best soil to plant and grow your spinach.
It prevents flooded and stagnant water that may destroy your spinach.
2 | Temperature
Spinach does not grow well in either extremely hot or cold temperature.
Temperature is, therefore, a factor to consider when planting and growing spinach.
The average favorite temperature for growing spinach is around 60- 70 degrees. It is also important to moisture your spinach regularly.
3 | Spinach Varieties
This is a very crucial factor to consider when growing spinach. Some spinach varieties do well in various temperature conditions. Some do well in cold and others do well at warm temperatures.
Some spinach varieties also require different spacing to others during planting. Spinach varieties also take different period to grow and harvest.
Some take longer and others shorter. Taste is also an important factor to consider. Some spinach varieties taste different from others.
It is obvious that everyone wants the best delicious tasting spinach. As a Gardener, it is therefore important to understand different spinach varieties.
There are three major varieties of spinach that exist. The Savoy, Semi-Savoy, and Flat or Smooth leaf spinach.
- Savoy Spinach has thick and deep crinkled leaves that are hard to clean.
- Semi-Savoy Spinach has less crinkled leaves. This type of spinach has partially straight leaves and is so easy to clean. More often than not, they are grown in home gardens.
- Smooth Leafed Spinach with smooth and flat leaves. They are very easy to clean and are mostly used as processed vegetables.
Mega List of Spinach Varieties
We broke down the different varieties of spinach by the types of leaves.
Savoy Spinach Types (1-4)
These are round and curled Savoy types of spinach. They have dark green leaves that are rich in fiber. They are delicious.
Most often than not, they are eaten raw or lightly cooked as salads. ‘
They have a fast growth rate and a harvest period of 27 days. They are also fast in bolting.
A Green thumb gardener favorite. These are savoy types of spinach. They have heavily curled leaves that have a medium-dark greenish color.
They have a medium growth rate and a harvest period of estimated 45 days. They are fast in bolting.
They are highly tolerant and do well in cold temperature. Above all, they are delicious when slightly cooked as a salad.
3 | Palco Spinach
Palco is a savoy type of spinach.
They have dark greenish, deeply curled, round and cupped leaves.
This spinach is adaptable to both high and low temperature.
They have a harvest period of 38 days and are highly resistant to diseases.
Palco Spinach also have a high bolting resistance that can hold for long without succumbing to mildew.
You can find these seeds here.
4 | Regiment Spinach
These are Savoy types of spinach. This spinach variety has large, tender, curly and deep green leaves that are edible when raw.
You may find they are delicious when slightly cooked as salads. This Spinach has 37 days of maturity and slow to bolt.
Grab these seeds here.
Semi-Savoy Spinach Types (5-17)
These spinach plants are fast-growing, upright, uniform and semi-savoy types of spinach. This type of spinach has attractive and dark green leaves.
This type of spinach takes an average of 25 days to grow baby leaves and 5 weeks for full maturity.
This spinach plant takes less time to turn into seeds therefore fast in bolting. They are tasty and commonly used to make a delicious salad.
This spinach variety are semi-Savoy types of spinach. This spinach plant has deep green leaves and long stem that are easy the bunching process.
They have a medium growth rate with a harvest period of 26 days.
Emperor spinach is slow to bolt and has a strong resistance to the mildew.
7 | Kookaburra Spinach
These are semi-Savoy types spinach. They have slightly curved and dark greenish leaves and are mostly found in home gardens.
They have a fast growth rate that takes 26 days to produce baby leaves and 37 days for mature leaves. They have medium bolting speed.
You can find these types of seeds here.
Acadia are semi-savoy types of spinach. They have oval, glossy and dark green leaves.
They have a medium growth and bolting rate with a harvest period of 27 days.
9 | Tasman Spinach
Tasman are semi-Savoy types of spinach with medium green leaves. They have fast growth that takes 4 weeks to harvest.
They also are fast bolting, so planting in the early spring or fall is best.
You can find these types of spinach seeds here.
10 | Reflect Spinach
Reflect are semi-savoy types of spinach. They have moderately straight and oval leaves that are medium green in color.
They have a medium growth rate with a harvest period of 28 days.
They also have medium bolting rate.
Further Reading
They are semi-Savoy types of spinach.
This spinach has smooth and slightly curled leaves that are medium-dark green.
They have a harvest period of 29 days, so this is an excellent variety that you can pick fairly quickly once it starts growing.
Kolibri spinach has a moderate level in bolting speed, so keep this in mind when you are considering your growing conditions.
12 | Teton Spinach
This is an upright and semi-Savoy type of spinach. It has oval and deep green leaves that are delicious and tasty when prepared as a salad.
Tetons have a harvest period of 6-7 weeks and are high resistance to mildew. They are therefore slow in bolting.
You can search for these types of seeds here.
13 | Indian Summer Spinach
They are semi-savoy types of spinach that are suitable for all the three seasons. I mean, fall, summer and spring season.
They have flat and slightly curled leaves that have a dark greenish color. They have a harvest period of approximately 7 weeks and high resistance to bolting.
You can find these seeds here.
14 | Catalina Spinach
This is a semi-savoy type of spinach. It has dark greenish, thick, slightly curled and spear-shaped leaves.
They have a harvest period of approximated 48 days and are moderate in bolting.
15 | Tyee Spinach
This is a semi-savoy type of spinach. It has heavy, oval and dark green leaves that have an amazing fragrance.
They make the most delicious vegetable salad. They have a harvest period of 45 days and slow in bolting.
You can find these seeds here.
16 | Crocodile Spinach
These are semi-Savoy types of spinach that are good tolerance to heat.
They have oval and bright green leaves. It takes approximately 4 weeks for baby leaves that are very tasty for salads.
However, its maturity or harvest period takes an estimated 56 days.
17 | Avon Spinach
This is another semi-Savoy type of spinach that has a perfect taste for salads.
It has slightly curly and dark green leaves that are large and suitable for freezing.
It has a harvest period of 6-7 weeks.
Smooth-Flat Leaf Spinach Types (18-25)
This variety of spinach is a flat-leafed type of spinach with smooth, round and dark green leaves.
This spinach plant has a fast growth rate with a harvest period of 40- 45 days.
This type of spinach is slow in bolting and can tolerate high heat.
This type of spinach are smooth, fine and straight leafed spinach. They have dark greenish leaves that are mid- oval and round. They also have long stems for easy bunching.
They have a fast growth rate with a harvest period of 26 days. They are suitable and yield well during the fall harvest season.
Gazelle spinach is fast in bolting with good resistance to mildew and diseases. They have good flavor and suitable for making a delicious salad.
These are smooth and straight leafed spinach. They have oval and upright leaves that have a dark greenish color.
They have a medium growth rate with a harvest period of 27 days. They are slow in bolting.
These are smooth, uniform and straight leafed types of spinach.
They have dark greenish leaves that are long with a sharp arrow tip. They have a fast growth rate of 27 days and a medium bolting speed.
These are straight leafed types of spinach.
They have straight, uniform and smooth leaves that are medium green in color with dark red veins.
This spinach has fast growth of 26- 30 days and should be harvested early. This is because they have very fast bolting speed.
23 | Wood Pecker Spinach
They are smooth, long and straight leafed spinach. They have a medium-dark green color and a medium growth rate.
They have a harvest period of 28 days. They are delicious and slow in bolting.
You can find these seeds here.
They are smooth and straight leafed types of spinach. They have small and spade-shaped leaves that are dark greens.
They have a harvest period of 30 estimated 30 days and slow bolting speed.
25 | Renegade Spinach
Renegade spinach has dark green leaves and tender stems making the best choice for salads.
They have a maturity period of 6-7 weeks and are highly resistant to diseases. They are slow in bolting.
It is therefore important to consider the above-explained varieties when planting and growing spinach.
What Next? | Take Spinach to the Next Level
Wow. There are so many varieties of spinach that you can grow in your backyard garden.
Growing spinach is one of the vegetables that you can grow at least twice a year in the cooler season.
It really makes sense to find a type of spinach that you will enjoy and try that one.
We tend to grow the heirloom varieties of spinach to save seeds, but we also grow some F1 varieties.
Take a look at our Monumental Spinach growing guide here for more information.
