What are the precautions for growing Chinese chives in summer and autumn
Chinese chives are a fairly commonly eaten vegetable in our daily lives, and there are many ways to eat them. Many people like them, and the most commonly eaten are scrambled eggs with Chinese chives, teppanyaki Chinese chives, and so on. But while there are many people who like eating Chinese chives, people who know about growing Chinese chives may not be so common!
Precautions for growing Chinese chives in summer and autumn
In summer, the fiber in Chinese chives increases and their edible value is very low, so harvesting should stop from late June to early August. Except for fields kept for seed, the rest should have the flower stalks cut and harvested for market in good time, to help nourish the roots. After heavy rain, drainage should be done promptly to prevent waterlogging. In hot rain, cold well water should be used to lower the temperature and increase the oxygen in the water, to prevent the root system from suffocating and dying. Chinese chives often lodge in summer, causing the leaves to rot, inducing blight, and causing the false stems and leaves to die. The measures to prevent lodging are: do not apply excessive nitrogen fertilizer in summer; do not overwater; prevent excessive vegetative growth of Chinese chives; when the leaves may lodge because they are too long, cut the leaves shorter so that the remaining 2/3 length of leaves can stand upright naturally; insert wooden stakes between the rows and run ropes to support the leaves and prevent lodging, etc. When there is drought, water should be applied, keeping the soil in a state of alternating dry and wet. When blight or leaf blight occurs, promptly spray 52.5% Yikuaijing 2000-fold solution or 72% Kelu 600-fold solution for control. In autumn, under rainless conditions, water every 5-7 days in August, and every 7-10 days in September, keeping the soil moist. In October, water about every 10 days, keeping the soil in a state of alternating dry and wet. Do not water too much, to avoid causing the plants to stay green and grow vigorously, which delays root return. From August to September, apply fertilizer once every 15 days, for a total of 3-4 applications. Each time, apply 150-225 kg of urea per hectare. The last 2 fertilizer applications should include additional phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, applying 225-300 kg of compound fertilizer per hectare. After each fertilizer application, water immediately 1-2 times. In October, fertilizer application should stop, to promote root return and dormancy, and prevent excessive vegetative growth.
In early August, spray 100×10-6 of the brassin 481 growth stimulant once, to increase the hormone concentration at the growing point, promote cell division, speed up leaf formation, increase chlorophyll content, raise photosynthetic intensity, and promote growth. From August to September, 1-2 harvests can be made, and harvesting stops after late September. For the last harvest, the stubble should be left a little higher. After stopping harvesting, spray once with a no-deep-plowing soil conditioner. Use 200 g of no-deep-plowing soil conditioner per mu, add 100 kg of water, and spray on the soil surface. After about 20 days, the soil at a depth of 50-100 cm can become loose and permeable. When winter begins, water once with freezing water.
Planting time for Chinese chives
1. Spring sowing: it is better early than late. In spring, when the local soil temperature stabilizes at 5-10°C, sowing can begin. At this time the ground has not completely thawed through, the slurry-return period has not arrived, and the surface is fairly moist, so seedlings emerge very easily. This sowing method also avoids weed damage, because after sowing the Chinese chive seedlings emerge fairly quickly, while the temperature at that time is still not suitable for weed germination, creating a time difference. So everyone is recommended to use this sowing method as much as possible.
2. Summer sowing: generally done after cucumbers and tomatoes are cleared from the field. At this time the temperature is high and drought and waterlogging easily occur. The sowing rate should be about one third greater than in spring, and the soil covering should not be too thick. Keep the soil moist to help full seedling emergence.
3. Autumn sowing: generally done around the Start of Autumn. The sowing rate should be double that of spring, and management should mainly keep the soil alternately dry and wet. In the later period, attention should be paid to weed damage. Autumn sowing is generally not recommended.
Growing conditions for Chinese chives
1. Temperature: Chinese chives like cool conditions, are tolerant of cold and also of heat. The suitable temperature for seed germination is above 12°C, the growth temperature is 15°C to 25°C, and the underground part can tolerate lower temperatures.
2. Light: medium light intensity, with strong shade tolerance. But if the light is too weak, photosynthetic products accumulate little, tillering is few and weak, yield is low, and early aging is easy. If the light is too strong and the temperature too high, there is more fiber and poor quality.
3. Water: the suitable relative air humidity is 60-70%, and the soil moisture is 80-90% of the field maximum water-holding capacity.
4. Soil: Chinese chives have strong adaptability to soil texture, and the suitable pH is 5.5-6.5. They need a large amount of fertilizer and have strong fertilizer tolerance.
Growing techniques for Chinese chives
1. Root nourishment: the number of harvests of Chinese chives should be appropriate. Generally, harvest 4-5 times per year, with 2-3 harvests in June and July in summer, and the rest of the time is mainly for nourishing the roots, letting the plants produce more tillers and laying the foundation for a high yield in autumn. The basic requirement for root nourishment is that when harvesting Chinese chives, the stubble height should be appropriate, generally harvesting about 4 cm above the ground at the rhizome. For each later harvest, the cutting point should be raised slightly. Within 2 days after cutting, it is not suitable to apply fertilizer or water, to avoid infection of the cut by pathogens, which causes pests and diseases and leads to root rot.
2. Root pruning: in early spring after the soil thaws and before Chinese chives sprout, use an iron rod to dig a trench about 6 cm deep and 6 cm wide in the soil at the root zone of the Chinese chives, remove the soil between the plants in each clump, to a depth reaching the roots. Expose the rhizomes, and at the same time remove dead root tillers and small tillers, spread the dug-out soil between the rows to dry, then press the rhizomes together and fill with fine soil to cover them well. When filling soil, it is best to add an appropriate amount of plant ash to control root maggots.
3. Root reversal: replanting old Chinese chive roots can restore their production potential, and also allows use of waste roots, lowering costs. It is faster than reseeding and also helps maintain variety purity. First use a four-tooth fork or hoe to turn up the Chinese chive roots, select rhizomes that are free of pests and diseases and still have production capacity, cut off overly long fibrous roots, remove rhizomes that have no tillering capacity and those that are rotten, and replant them. Either flat-bed or furrow cultivation can be used. In beds, the hole spacing for planting is 8-10 cm, with about 10 plants per hole; planting too sparsely will reduce yield. For furrow hole planting, the row spacing is 60 cm, the seedling band width is 30 cm, and 4 rows are planted.
4. Earthing up: the root system of Chinese chives "jumps roots" upward every year, forming enlarged root nodes, the so-called gourd heads. The larger the root nodes, the more nutrients they store, so in the second year the Chinese chives root earlier and yield more. Therefore, earthing up and fertilizing Chinese chives can promote the growth and development of new roots, prolong the life of the plants, and prevent lodging. The time for earthing up should be after the soil thaws and before the Chinese chive root system sprouts. The thickness of the earthing should be determined by the height of the "root jump," generally 3-4 cm is suitable.
5. Ash covering: when planting Chinese chives in autumn and winter, after applying sufficient base fertilizer and planting, cover the bed surface with 2-3 cm of fine crushed coal cinder, and apply an appropriate amount of water-soluble fertilizer during the growing period. This can make the Chinese chive soil loose and well aerated, make weeds less likely to grow, reduce pathogens, and give good heat preservation, moisture retention, fertilizer retention, and drought resistance. The Chinese chives that grow have deep green leaves, grow quickly, and have strong tillering ability. Not only is the yield high and the texture crisp and tender, but at harvest the meristematic tissue and accessory buds in the leaf sheaths are not damaged, which is even more favorable for the growth and harvest of the next crop of Chinese chives.
6. Sand culture: continuous year-after-year planting of Chinese chives easily causes relatively severe occurrence of Chinese chive maggots, and using sand culture can solve this problem. Use sand or other substrates as the growing substrate and apply nutrient solution. It has the characteristics of simple management, low investment, quick results, and high returns, and is especially suitable for cultivation in courtyards or idle land. The sand culture bed can be made into a square pool, diamond-shaped pool, or polygonal pool with equal length and width. The length and width depend on the site, and the bed height is 18-20 cm; river sand with a diameter of 1-2 mm is best.
In fact, Chinese chives can be planted in many time periods during the year. Apart from winter when the weather is too cold, they can be planted in spring, summer, and autumn, but the climate in each stage is different, and the effort growers must put into cultivating them is also different.