How to grow celtuce so it grows thicker
Celtuce is a vegetable we often eat in our daily lives. It is nutritious and delicious, and has effects such as anti-cancer and cancer prevention, lowering blood pressure, and promoting gastrointestinal motility. Growing celtuce has also become a relatively popular planting project, so how should celtuce be grown to make it thick? Below, let's find out together!
How to make celtuce grow thicker
1. Variety selection: For overwintering celtuce and spring celtuce, choose varieties that are cold-tolerant, highly adaptable, and late in bolting, such as “Naihan Baiye Shi”, “Naihan Er Baipi”, “Ruoman Ye”, etc. For summer and autumn celtuce, choose heat-tolerant early-maturing varieties, such as “Naihan Baiye Shi”, “Naire Da Huaye”, etc.
2. Land preparation and fertilization: It is best to choose soil that is loose, well-drained, rich in organic matter, and strong in water and fertilizer retention. Deep plow and sun the land, apply 2-3 tons of decomposed farmyard manure per mu, sun the soil clods for 7-10 days, then finely prepare the land, making beds at 1.8-1.9 m, using flat beds for in-season cultivation and raised beds for off-season cultivation.
3. Sowing and seedling raising: Sow at the right time. The seeds can be directly broadcast on the seedling bed (before sowing, mix the seeds with Xinguozhimu film), then lightly rake the surface soil with a tooth rake so the seeds are planted into the soil, and spray the soil surface with 800-fold Xinguozhimu film solution to keep warm and preserve moisture, prevent soil crusting, and improve the seed germination rate.
4. Transplanting and field setting: Choose a plot with fertile surface soil and strong water retention for transplanting. Before field setting, apply sufficient base fertilizer and water thoroughly, and plant at a reasonable density, with a spacing of 20-26 cm square. After field setting, water to settle the roots, and combined with spraying 800-fold Xinguozhimu film solution, it can isolate pests and diseases, shorten the seedling recovery period, and help the seedlings grow healthily. 5. Field management: After transplanting and survival, water and topdress in time, cultivate and weed, and control pests and diseases. At the same time, during the rosette stage of celtuce and when the stem begins to expand, topdress each time with quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer and a small amount of potassium fertilizer, and combined with spraying Zhuangjingling, it can make the celtuce stem thick and strong, the plant lush, and the natural taste rich. It can also improve disaster resistance. It increases the efficiency of pesticides and fertilizers and reduces residual toxicity.
The growing environment of celtuce
1. Celtuce is a semi-cold-tolerant vegetable. It prefers cool conditions, tolerates light frost, and fears high temperatures. It grows poorly in hot seasons.
2. Celtuce is a long-day crop and needs sufficient light; it is sensitive to soil acidity and alkalinity and is suitable for growing in slightly acidic soil.
3. Celtuce has a shallow root system and weak absorption capacity, and has relatively high oxygen requirements. The best soil for growing celtuce is sandy loam or loam.
Seedling stage management
The seedling bed should be watered frequently to keep the soil moist and help seedlings emerge. After the seedlings emerge uniformly, thin them in time, and promptly prevent leggy growth caused by seedlings being too dense. Also spray 800-fold Xinguozhimu film solution at the right time to protect the seedlings, prevent pathogen infection, improve resistance to natural disasters, and protect the young plants so they grow strong.
Pest and disease control
1. Diseases
① Downy mildew: Downy mildew is especially serious in celtuce and easily occurs under high temperature and high humidity. Apply metalaxyl-mancozeb and duofun after 20 days of field setting. In the early stage of the disease, 687.5 g/L Infinito suspension concentrate 1000-1500-fold solution, 66.8% Mimdok wettable powder 1000-1500-fold solution, and 77.2% propamocarb aqueous solution 1000-1700-fold solution can be used to control downy mildew.
② Leaf spot and brown spot: 75% chlorothalonil (Daconil) wettable powder 1500-2000-fold solution; 10% Score (difenoconazole) water-dispersible granules 3000-3500-fold solution.
③ Sclerotinia rot: In recent years, the damage from sclerotinia rot has also been relatively serious. It is a low-temperature, high-humidity disease. When the temperature is around 5-15°C and the relative humidity is above 85%, it is favorable for the occurrence and invasion of the pathogen. It can be controlled with 50% iprodione wettable powder 1500-2000-fold solution, 50% procymidone wettable powder 2000-2500-fold solution, thiophanate-methyl, etc. In addition, for viral diseases, duxiao, haopu, etc. can be used for control.
2. Insect pests
① Aphids: 50% imidacloprid emulsifiable concentrate 3500-4000-fold solution.
② Leaf miners: For adults, 1.8% abamectin emulsifiable concentrate 4000-5000-fold solution can be used; for larvae, 75% Qianke (cyromazine) wettable powder 4500-5000-fold solution can be used for control.
The above is the celtuce growing method summarized for everyone. I hope it can help you! The flesh of celtuce is crisp and delicious, and its leaves are also a particularly tender and tasty green leafy vegetable. It has high nutritional value and is suitable for men, women, the elderly, and children. However, be careful to eat it in moderation and not too much.