When do adzuki beans mature? An introduction to the maturity period

The adzuki bean is what we call the rice bean; it is grown on a large area in our country and has the effects of promoting diuresis to treat strangury and removing dampness to reduce jaundice. When do adzuki beans mature?

1. When do adzuki beans mature

Adzuki beans mainly mature in August-September, and harvesting begins in mid-September, with differences in timing among growing regions.

Adzuki beans have the habit of uneven maturity between the upper and lower pods, so when harvesting adzuki beans, attention should be paid to harvesting by stages by hand and appropriately extending the harvest time to promote after-ripening and increase grain weight. When the lower-middle stems of the adzuki bean turn yellow, the lower leaves fall off, the middle leaves turn yellow, and about 80% of the pods turn yellow and mature, this is the suitable harvest period. Mechanical harvesting can be done when the beans are colored, the pods turn yellow, and all the leaves have fallen off.

2. Cultivation of adzuki beans

1. Adzuki beans are not strict about soil requirements and can be planted in all types of soil; especially, planting adzuki beans in sandy loam soil can promote early maturity. Adzuki beans are not suitable for continuous cropping, because continuous cropping can worsen pests and diseases, cause weeds to grow rampant, lead to poor root development and fewer root nodules, and reduce yield and quality. Therefore, a plot planted with adzuki beans generally needs an interval of 3-4 years before it can be planted again.

2. There are two ways to plant adzuki beans. One is intercropping, and the other is sole cropping. Adzuki beans are suitable for intercropping or mixed cropping with crops such as corn, sorghum, and millet, which can make full use of soil fertility and increase yield. Sole cropping is currently less common on a large scale and is generally done on scattered plots. If field management of sole cropping keeps up and inputs are increased, the yield per mu can reach about 150 kg.

3. Adzuki beans have a relatively short growth period, and fertilization has a very significant effect on increasing yield. Therefore, the main approach should be to apply a heavy basal fertilizer once during land preparation, generally 750-1000 kg of high-quality farmyard manure per mu, and 15-20 kg of diammonium phosphate or triple superphosphate. If soil fertility is poor, a small amount of quick-acting nitrogen can be applied as a topdressing at the seedling stage, which can play a significant role in increasing yield. According to trials in other places: applying 15 kg of urea per mu as topdressing resulted in a 25.1% increase per mu compared with no topdressing, and the yield-increasing effect of adding phosphate fertilizer was even more significant. Therefore, when planting adzuki beans, appropriate topdressing must be emphasized, thoroughly changing the old habit of not fertilizing adzuki beans, so as to make adzuki beans more high-yielding.

4. On the premise of selecting plants and pods in the field, before sowing, broken grains, diseased grains, and impurities should be removed from the seeds, and plump, uniform, well-colored grains should be selected for a germination test; those with a germination rate of 90% or above can be used as seed.

5. Sowing at the right time is an important measure for increasing the yield of adzuki beans. Sowing can be done when the soil temperature at a depth of 5 cm steadily passes 10-12°C. The suitable sowing period in Jilin Province is mid-to-late May. Be sure to avoid sowing too early or too late. Sowing too early makes damping-off disease likely to occur; sowing too late means low temperatures at the seedling stage, which affects pod setting.

Adzuki beans have high nutritional value and help human gastrointestinal peristalsis and promote diuresis and reduce swelling; they can usually be used to make porridge, and can also be cooked in soup with fish.