A Detailed Guide to Quinoa Planting Time and Cultivation Techniques
SummarySite selection: choose a place with convenient irrigation, plow before planting, and irrigate during the cold season. Fertilization: apply base fertilizer, and topdress and apply compound fertilizer as needed. Sowing: choose relatively plump seeds. Spacing: keep the number of seedlings at around 8,000 plants per mu. Management: when the seedlings grow to 8-12 cm, consider transplanting and weeding. Pests and diseases: mainly ground pests, and scarab beetles must be prevented. Harvesting: harvest promptly after maturity.
Quinoa may not be familiar to everyone, but it is a relatively precious and diverse food grain in our lives. Quinoa has many advantages, including complete protein, which can meet people's basic nutritional needs, but growing it is still quite demanding. The high price of quinoa is precisely because it is relatively difficult to grow. Let's learn about quinoa cultivation together below.
Quinoa Planting and Cultivation Techniques
1. Choosing the cultivated land
Growing quinoa requires choosing a place with convenient irrigation. Before planting, plowing is needed, and irrigation is needed during the cold season. Before sowing, the requirements are to plow the entire plot, break the soil into fine pieces, and keep the land relatively flat.
2. Reasonable fertilization
First apply base fertilizer, then topdress according to the situation, and determine fertilizer application by comparing yields. Fertility must be medium or above. When planting seedlings, a relatively good compound fertilizer needs to be applied, in an amount between 40 and 50 kg. Also needed are 100 kg of bio-organic fertilizer and 50 kg of oil residue. Applying urea is not recommended.
3. Selecting varieties and sowing
It is necessary to choose varieties that are drought-resistant, cold-resistant, lodging-resistant, and high-yielding for planting. When selecting seeds, choose relatively plump grains. Sun-dry those of poorer quality and those that are not plump, or mix them with a chemical agent, which can improve their disease resistance and drought resistance.
4. Controlling planting spacing
Generally, when planting, a manual push-type seeder or specialized mechanical sowing is used. This requires consistent sowing hole depth, generally within 2 cm. When sowing, you can make a hole and place 2 to 3 seeds in it. When the soil fertility is medium or above, control the seedling spacing at 40×20 cm, which is about more than 8,000 plants per mu, and no less than about 7,500 plants.
5. Field management
The seedling stage is generally between 50 and 60 days. If there are weeds when the seedlings emerge and the seedlings are too small, you can consider not weeding at this time. Wait until the seedlings grow to 8 to 12 cm, then consider transplanting seedlings while removing weeds. When weeding, watering is needed, and fertilizer also needs to be applied. At a certain period, sufficient water and fertilizer are needed. Relatively diseased and weak seedlings can be pulled out or fertilized.
6. Pest and disease control
The main pests in quinoa cultivation are ground pests, among which scarab beetles must be prevented and are also the most serious. Seedlings that have just emerged or grown tender shoots are very susceptible to this kind of damage. In severe cases, it can cause the death of a large number of seedlings in the field. Usually in this situation, comprehensive prevention is needed.
7. Timely harvesting
When quinoa matures, it needs to be harvested in time. Usually when mature, its leaves turn yellow and red, and there is excessive shedding. The stems also begin to dry out. At this time, it can be harvested.
Quinoa Planting Time
The most suitable sowing time for quinoa is from April 20 to May 20. It is also often planted around mid-May, which also depends on the local temperature. The quinoa growth period is between 90 days and 220 days. Usually, the earlier it is planted, the longer its growth period. The planting conditions require selecting an area with more than 100 frost-free days, an altitude above 1,500 m, and a temperature below 32 degrees.
Quinoa is relatively drought-tolerant and has very low water requirements, so it is suitable for desert planting. Places with relatively high rainfall are not suitable for planting it, as it is easy to cause poor growth and lower nutritional value. Therefore, before considering planting this kind of plant, you need to first consider whether its various factors are suitable.