Is blood amaranth the same as red amaranth? What is the difference between the two

Red amaranth has purplish-red tender leaves and contains relatively large amounts of minerals such as iron and calcium, as well as relatively large amounts of carotene and vitamin C. It is one of the main leafy green vegetables of summer that people love. So, is blood amaranth the same as red amaranth?

1. Is blood amaranth the same as red amaranth?

Blood amaranth is not red amaranth. Blood amaranth belongs to the Amaranthaceae family and is an annual herbaceous plant grown for its tender stems and leaves. Blood amaranth is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Gynura in the Asteraceae family, and it can be used as a vegetable as well as for medicinal purposes.

2. What are the cultivation techniques for red amaranth?

1. Soil

Amaranth has strong adaptability to soil. You can choose flat clay or sandy soil with convenient drainage and irrigation, and slightly alkaline soil is most suitable. Planting under conditions of sufficient moisture and fertile soil is more conducive to improving yield and quality.

2. Land preparation and fertilization

Before land preparation, apply base fertilizer at 2000 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer per mu. After fertilizing, plow deeply, then make beds, using soil to form bed ridges 10 cm high, with a bed surface width of 1 m; the bed length depends on the plot. After the beds are made, apply base fertilizer once more, using a compound fertilizer with a nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content of 15:15:15, at 50 kg per mu. Broadcast it evenly to avoid excessive local fertilization burning the seeds. Use a rake to go over the soil once and mix the soil and fertilizer evenly. Because amaranth seeds are relatively small, when raking, make the ground level and the soil fine to help emergence.

3. Sowing

Because amaranth seeds are relatively small, it is not easy to broadcast them evenly. Before sowing, mix fine sand and seeds evenly at a ratio of 1:5, then sow directly on the ground. The amount of pure amaranth seed used per mu is about 0.6 kg. After sowing, rake over the bed surface once so that the amaranth seeds are covered with a layer of soil, then tread over the bed surface once and press it level to prevent the seeds from being washed away when watering, which would cause uneven germination.

4. Watering

When watering, use a mist-like spray to avoid washing pits into the bed surface, where there would be no seeds in the pits, and to prevent too strong a flow from washing the seeds away. When sowing amaranth in spring, because there is little rainfall and the air is dry, after watering the surface evaporation is high, which easily makes the soil surface harden and crack, so after amaranth seeds sprout they cannot break through the surface soil and do not emerge. After the water has fully infiltrated the soil, cover the bed surface with plastic film and press the edges of the film firmly with soil. This can raise the ground temperature and promote the seeds to germinate as soon as possible. Before amaranth emerges, no watering is needed.

5. Field management

Weeding: Amaranth seedlings are relatively small, and in just over ten days weeds grow much taller than the seedlings, so they must be pulled out in time; otherwise, they compete with the amaranth for nutrients and affect the amaranth's access to light.

Topdressing: About 20 days after sowing, when the seedlings have grown more than 2 leaves, carry out the first topdressing. Choose a sunny day, apply 15 kg of ammonium sulfate per mu, and water promptly after fertilizing. Carry out the second topdressing 12-15 days after the first topdressing. Carry out the third topdressing after the first thinning and harvesting, using the same method as above, to promote the vigorous growth of the smaller amaranth after harvesting. Note that after each fertilization, water promptly and pull out weeds.

6. Pest and disease control

Common diseases of amaranth include powdery mildew, anthracnose, brown spot, and viral disease. The common pest is the mole cricket.

Control methods:

1. Carry out paddy-upland rotation and intensive cultivation. Apply fully decomposed organic fertilizer.

2. Poison bait trapping: Cook grain chaff, mix it with 90% trichlorfon, and scatter it on the field bed surface, in the sowing furrows, and at the tunnels where mole crickets are active.

3. Manual capture: In early spring, based on the false openings of the tunnels made by mole crickets, find the insect burrows and capture them.

4. Chemical method: Apply 1-1.5 kg of 5% phoxim granules per mu on the ground, then rake them into the soil.

Both blood amaranth and red amaranth have purplish-red tender leaves, but the two are different vegetables, so everyone should pay attention to distinguishing them when buying.