Detailed Explanation of the Key Points of Soilless Cultivation Techniques for Water Spinach
Water spinach is a vegetable we often eat. The nutritional value of water spinach is very high; it not only supplies a large amount of vitamins, but eating it regularly can also fight cancer and prevent cancer, beautify the skin, nourish the face, and detoxify, among other benefits. So do you know how water spinach should be grown? How is water spinach cultivated soillessly?
Soilless Cultivation Techniques for Water Spinach
1. Build cultivation troughs: The cultivation troughs are 25-30 cm high and 50 cm wide, with a trough spacing of 70 cm, running north-south, high in the north and low in the south. The brick gaps can be bonded with cement mortar, or filled flat with mud (lay 1 layer of old film on the bottom of the trough).
2. Cultivation substrate: Mix mushroom residue and furnace slag at a ratio of 1:1-1.5. To 1 cubic meter of mixed substrate, add 10 kg of disinfected expanded chicken manure and 2 kg of ternary compound fertilizer. Where conditions permit, a compound substrate can also be made by mixing fine sand, peat, vermiculite, and organic fertilizer at a ratio of 2:1:1:2. For the organic fertilizer, chicken manure and sheep manure are best.
3. Fill the troughs: Spread sand in the troughs to a thickness of about 5 cm. Put the evenly mixed substrate into the prepared troughs, level it, and water the substrate thoroughly with a large amount of water. After the water has completely seeped down, cover with film for 10-15 days to facilitate the full decomposition of the fertilizer.
Growing Environment of Water Spinach
Water spinach is a type of amphibious plant that can live both in dry land and in paddy fields, but it still grows vigorously when there is more water, and it is most suitable for planting in fertile paddy fields or fields near livestock sheds where manure water is frequently discharged. It can also be planted in relatively fertile dry land; planting in dry land can promote the formation of more seeds, so when saving seeds, it can be cultivated in dry land.
Water spinach has strong adaptability to soil. It is both tolerant of fertilizer and tolerant of waterlogging, and also has a certain tolerance to poor soil. However, under artificial cultivation conditions, in order to achieve high yield, cultivation in clay loam or loam rich in organic matter is most suitable. Water spinach is not drought-tolerant.
Water spinach seeds begin to germinate at around 15°C, and the suitable growth temperature is 20-35°C. When the temperature reaches above 30°C during the initial stage of axillary bud germination on the seed vines, germination is fast. Sufficient light is needed, but it has strong adaptability to dense planting. It belongs to the short-day type. In particular, vine water spinach has stricter short-day requirements than seed water spinach; if the daylight is slightly longer, it is difficult for it to flower and set fruit, so asexual propagation is commonly used.
Water spinach has two cultivation methods: dry planting and water planting. In the north, dry planting is predominant; in the south, dry planting and water planting coexist. For early-maturing cultivation, dry planting is predominant, while for mid- and late-maturing cultivation, water planting is mostly used.
Sowing and Planting
1. Seed soaking and germination: Before sowing water spinach seeds, soak them in hot water at 50-60°C for 30 minutes, then soak them in clean water for 24 hours. After soaking, remove and wash them, then germinate them at 30°C. During germination, rinse once a day with warm water. After about 5-7 days, the seeds can be sown once they show white sprouts.
2. Preparation of plug trays and substrate: For water spinach seedling raising, the plug tray specifications generally use 72-cell or 128-cell trays. The substrate should use light substrates such as peat, vermiculite, or perlite. These substrates have low specific gravity and good water retention and air permeability. When using light substrates for seedling raising, the substrate mixing ratio is generally peat:vermiculite:decomposed organic fertilizer = 2:1:1. The substrate must be treated to kill insects and eliminate disease in order to cultivate disease-free strong seedlings. Generally, for 1 cubic meter of substrate, the dosage is 150 g each of 50% carbendazim water powder and phoxim emulsifiable concentrate.
3. Filling trays with substrate and sowing: When sowing, first put the seedling substrate into the plug trays, scrape off excess substrate, and water the substrate thoroughly. After the water seeps down, stack 2-3 empty plug trays of the same specification and press out the sowing holes. After sowing, cover with 1 layer of vermiculite, cover with film to retain moisture, and after seedlings emerge, remove the covering in time to allow ventilation and light.
4. Seedbed management: Keep the daytime temperature at around 25°C and the nighttime temperature above 10°C. Water management is the key to the success or failure of seedling raising. Throughout the seedling raising period, the seedling substrate should always be kept in a moist state. When the seedlings are 5-7 cm tall, spray 1 time with foliar fertilizer, commonly at a concentration of 0.2% urea or potassium dihydrogen phosphate. When the seedlings grow to 10-15 cm, they can be planted out.
Field Management
1. Fertilizer and water management
After water spinach is planted out, it can be harvested continuously many times. In cultivation, sufficient base fertilizer should be applied, and after each harvest, fertilizer should be applied promptly in order to achieve high yield. Apply 2-4 kg of urea as topdressing. Water spinach likes moisture and has a relatively large water requirement, so it should be watered frequently to always maintain a moist state. Under normal circumstances, during the harvest period, water once every 4-5 d, and water thoroughly each time.
2. Pest and disease control
In organic ecological soilless cultivation, pests and diseases of water spinach are relatively mild. The main ones include damping-off, stem rot, white rust, whitefly, snails, cabbage caterpillars, red spiders, locusts, aphids, bean moths, and so on. In our city and surrounding areas, snails and cabbage caterpillars are especially the most serious pests. Generally, insect-proof nets are used to prevent the spread of pests and reduce pesticide use.
Through the above content, I believe everyone has gained some understanding of water spinach cultivation. Most of the water spinach we commonly see is planted in soil, but in fact water spinach can also be planted in paddy fields! In fact, after eating too much rich meat and fish in daily life, regularly eating some green vegetables is also very good for the stomach and intestines and for the body!