How far apart should sesame be planted for best results?

Sesame is an annual upright herbaceous plant with high application value, and in China sesame is one of the main oil crops. So how far apart should sesame be planted for best results?

1. Sesame cultivation techniques

The sesame stem is upright and casts little shade, so sesame is often used for mixed cropping with short-statured crops. For example, it is mixed-cropped or intercropped with sweet potato, peanut, soybean and other crops. Generally, in sweet potato fields, one row of sesame is intercropped in every 1-2 furrows, or one row of sesame is intercropped every 2-4 rows of peanut. Sesame is relatively drought-tolerant, while legumes are relatively moisture-tolerant, so mixing sesame with legumes helps prevent both drought and waterlogging.

1. Land preparation

When soil moisture is high, the land can be finely harrowed in both directions after ploughing, and after sowing the soil can be harrowed to cover the seed; when soil moisture is low, sow immediately after harrowing, harrow to cover the seed, and press the soil to conserve moisture. Sesame is afraid of waterlogging, and its growing period falls in a time of relatively abundant rain, so when sesame is grown alone, beds should be made——about 2-3 m wide, with bed furrows, middle furrows and surrounding furrows opened level so as to allow timely irrigation and drainage.

2. Sowing

The suitable sowing period for summer sesame is late May to early June. The suitable sowing period for autumn sesame is early to mid July, and where heat conditions are good it can be delayed to late July.

The seeding rate per mu is 400 g for broadcast sowing, 350 g for drilling, and 250 g for dibbling.

There are three sowing methods: dibbling, broadcast sowing and drilling.

3. Fertilization

The key to fertilizing sesame lies in grasping the timing and method: seedling fertilizer should be “early”, bud fertilizer should be “skillful”, and flower fertilizer should be “heavy”. When fertilizing, attention should be paid to the combination of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace elements, and to combining organic fertilizer with inorganic fertilizer, so as to achieve the complete set of base fertilizer, seed fertilizer and topdressing, and scientific fertilization, so that sesame starts early, grows steadily and does not age prematurely.

In addition, management such as thinning and final singling of seedlings, intertillage and weeding, and irrigation and drainage also needs to be done well.

2. How far apart should sesame be planted for best results

Generally, a bed width of 1.5-2 m and a bed furrow width of about 30 cm are relatively suitable, but sesame planting density is also related to factors such as sowing time, variety and soil fertility, and the specific spacing should be based on the actual distance.

For summer sesame, the planting density of single-stem varieties is 8000-10000 plants per mu, and that of branching varieties is 6000-8000 plants; for autumn sesame, single-stem varieties are 10000-15000 plants per mu, and branching varieties are 8000-10000 plants.