Spinach Issues

[Stalemate]

I had trouble locating a similar issue in the archives.

In the Summer the spinich sprouts all failed.  The tips of the spinach went white and the plants eventually failed.  Retried in the fall, and the same resulting where the secondary leaves have dead pigment zones and fail.

any suggestions?

[Matt T.]

I get the feeling that this is due to the roots not being deep enough to pick up nutrients at an early stage of developement. It may come from all the salts/calcium (white stuff) that show up at the surface of the hydroton? I had this with nasturtiums I planted, but it went away when they got bigger. You could try spraying with water/maxicrop to give them their needed nutrients. Spinach may be like watercress, where it is better to start seedlings in a medium like coir first. Then rinse the coir from the roots and transplant into the GB when they reach a few inches in size. I do this and the plants all thrive well.

This is just my theory, so take it for what its worth...

[Matt T.]

Could also be an iron deficientcy? (Spelling?)