When is the best time to plant purple sweet potatoes? A detailed guide to raising seedlings
Purple sweet potato is a purple-colored tuber, a common alkaline food in daily life. Because of its good taste and high nutritional value, it has strong market prospects, and it is cultivated in many regions. So when is the best time to plant purple sweet potatoes? How do you raise seedlings?
1. Introduction to purple sweet potato:
1. Is purple sweet potato genetically modified?
Purple sweet potato is not a genetically modified food. The reason people think it is genetically modified is mainly that purple sweet potatoes are rarely seen on the market and the flesh color is too vivid, unlike something naturally grown, but in fact it is a natural product.
2. Can purple sweet potato be eaten raw?
Purple sweet potato can be eaten raw, but I personally do not recommend eating it raw, because purple sweet potato contains a large amount of starch, and eating it raw makes it hard for the human body to digest, so it is recommended to eat it after cooking. At the same time, the taste of raw purple sweet potato is not very good either.
2. When is the best time to plant purple sweet potatoes?
Purple sweet potatoes are generally best planted in mid-February, but because the climate varies from place to place, in some places it may be earlier and in others later. In general, as long as the temperature is around 15°C, they can be planted, and by mid-to-late October they can be harvested.
3. How do you raise purple sweet potato seedlings?
1. Choosing and preparing the land: What kind of land is suitable for planting?
Purple sweet potatoes are suitable for growing in places with loose, fertile soil, good air permeability, and sufficient sunlight, so when choosing land, try to plant them in sandy loam with sufficient sunlight. After choosing the land, plow the soil deeply to about 25cm, then spread an appropriate amount of farmyard manure, and finally level it for raising seedlings.
2. Seed selection: What kind of seedlings are good to choose?
Purple sweet potatoes used as seed stock are generally harvested in mid-to-late October, then left in the sun for one day to sterilize and disinfect them. If there is no rush to plant, they can first be stored in a cellar for a period of time, and when the temperature reaches around 15°C, select some seedlings that look robust and are free of damage and disease, and then they can be sown.
3. Sowing and raising seedlings: When is the best time to raise seedlings?
(1) Time for raising seedlings: spring.
(2) Seedling-raising technique: Plant the prepared sweet potato seedlings on the seedbed at a plant spacing of about 10cm and a row spacing of about 8cm, then cover with soil and put the plastic film in place.
4. Management techniques after raising seedlings: How do you manage them?
(1) Temperature requirements: After purple sweet potato seedlings are raised, keep the temperature at around 30°C, and do not let the difference between day and night temperatures be too large, as this can promote seedling growth. After the seedlings emerge, lower the temperature a little and keep it at around 25°C to prevent the seedlings from being burned to death.
(2) Water requirements: Try not to water before emergence, but if the soil is really too dry, spray an appropriate amount of water.
(3) Fertilizer requirements: Try not to fertilize before emergence. After emergence, apply some human manure, and when the plants grow to about 13cm, apply some human manure or urea. When fertilizing, never apply it directly onto the seedlings, to avoid burning the seedlings.
(4) Timely soil replenishment: When the seedlings grow to about 10cm, you can add soil once, and after another week add 3 to 5cm of soil. When adding soil, you can mix fertile loose soil, burnt mud ash, or decomposed compost together for earthing up, as this can promote rapid seedling growth.
The above is a detailed introduction to the planting time and seedling-raising techniques for purple sweet potatoes. I hope it is helpful to everyone.