My spinach sucks

[d000hg]

I recently re-dug a small (4ft square) bed with new topsoil and compost. The first thing I planted in it were two rows of spinach seeds - some bolt-resistant variety that claimed to be OK nearly all summer long.

I'm new to growing stuff so was pleased to see nice little spouts appear, but then nothing much happened to them for a week or two, until I noticed yesterday they have all fallen flat... still just two long thin leaves.

We've had quite a lot of rain and nothing else is showing signs of drying out but is that still the likely cause, or something else? I'd kind of assumed with the soil being nice and rich, I could pretty much plant them and leave them other than keeping it damp.

[WendyC]

Are they flat all the time or just in the heat of the day? Do they need thinning to give them space to bulk out. I don't grow spinach so am guessing here. A picture would help.

[d000hg]

They seem to have just fallen over the last day, before that not at all. They are about 6" apart but each plant is tiny, each plant looks like a pair of blades of grass so they are not anywhere near each other.

Actually this is what mine look[ed] like:

[WendyC]

So have they rotted at the base? Something nibbled it?

[d000hg]

I hadn't noticed it - we have quite a few snails around which have been eating other things, but they don't look eaten.

[kathyd]

Heavy rain knocked them over? Something trampled them? Birds attacking them? Getting too hot? Do they stand up again once they've fallen down? Are they still attached to their roots, are the roots still in the ground when the plant falls over? My spinach hasn't even germinated this year, so you're way ahead of me anyway . I shall sow more!!

[Penellype]

I find the slugs and snails eat all my spinach unless I grow it in pots. My method is to scatter the seed quite thickly over the whole pot (18" square) and not thin it, and that way I get enough to actually cook as a vegetable. Spinach doesn't like hot weather, and this year has not been great, which essentially means it bolts before it produces many leaves of any useful size.

[d000hg]

Heavy rain might be an issue, had a few proper downpours. I think I'll just plant more.