Soggy Texas soils are muddying up some spinach growers' harvest plans, Texas Cooperative Extension reports. Jose Pena of Uvalde, Extension economist, said while spinach benefited from the first wave of rain that occurred earlier during the season, the line between beneficial and detrimental rain has been crossed in some locations.
"Rains have been very concentrated," he said. "We're sitting on very wet muddy fields. Rain is good, but too much rain is good for nothing."

The rain has kept producers from the field, delaying harvest.

Early spinach is planted in September to November and harvested during November through March. When harvest is delayed, spinach's quality goes down.

"[Spinach] has to be harvested on time, when it is fresh and the leaves are tender," Pena said.

When a delayed harvest is paired with wet humid conditions, a new set of problems develop.

"Higher humidity favors a higher incidence of disease," Pena said. "The main disease risk is white rust."

Later in the season another disease can occur: Blue Mold, also called Downy Mildew, he said. White rust and Blue Mold develop best in moist cool weather.

"White rust appears as white spots on the lower leaf surface and can cause dead spots in severe cases," Pena said.

To combat diseases stimulated by humidity, producers have to use resistant varieties, spray more and increase other management practices.

Even with control methods, sometimes disease can still pose a problem.

"[Producers] can treat for white rust and Blue Mold and take precautions -- and [producers] do a good job -- but for an example, it's just like your lawn," Pena said. "You can spray it, fertilize it; you can do everything, but if it stays soggy and wet for a month, there's nothing you can do to fix that."

November was the fourth-wettest month on record. In many spots in Southwest Texas, November was the wettest month on record. "Without any other facts, that shows it's been very wet," Pena said.

In spite of weather-related problems, the season's not over for spinach in the Winter Garden of Southwest Texas, and the harvest could still be successful. Spinach was planted on time and harvest was began after the area had gotten a few days of sunshine, he said. Spinach thrives in cool mild temperatures and according to Pena, that's what the area has received.

Texas produces about 6,000 acres of spinach annually, grown in the Winter Garden.

"Spinach is very important to Texas," he said. "While Texas produces both fresh and processed spinach, production in Texas concentrates on the processed market, producing about a third of the U.S.'s demand of processed spinach. If you open a can of spinach, it probably came from this area."

Processed spinach is bought as a canned or frozen product. Combining both processed and fresh, Texas spinach has a cash value of about $11 million, Pena said.

Because spinach is important to Texas, the second International Spinach Conference will be held Dec. 16-18 in San Antonio. The first conference was conducted in San Antonio four years ago.

"We have people coming in from Europe and all over the world," Pena said.

"The conference will cover everything from A to Z, from growing it, to economics, to who does what."

For more information on the conference, contact Dr. Larry Stein at (830) 278-9151.