When is the best time to plant shepherd's purse? A detailed guide to balcony growing techniques!

When shepherd's purse is mentioned, everyone is surely familiar with it. It can not only be cooked as a dish, but also used as dumpling filling, so its edible value is extremely high. Many people are now growing it on balconies as well. So when is the best time to plant shepherd's purse? How do you grow it on a balcony?

1. Introduction to shepherd's purse:

1. What other names does shepherd's purse have?

Flat shovel vegetable, ji ji cai, di ding cai, di cai, ji, mi cao, hua hua cai, ling jiao cai, and others.

2. Where is shepherd's purse distributed?

It originated in Eastern Europe and Asia Minor and is very common all over the world. It is mainly distributed in temperate regions worldwide. It likes warmth but has strong cold resistance. It grows wild in fields and can also be cultivated artificially, growing on hillsides, field edges, and roadsides.

3. What is shepherd's purse?

Mustard is an annual or biennial herbaceous plant of the genus Brassica in the family Brassicaceae. It is a famous specialty vegetable of China, originally from China, and a commonly cultivated vegetable throughout the country, mostly distributed in the provinces south of the Yangtze River. The main and lateral roots of mustard are distributed within about 30 cm of the soil layer. The stem is a shortened stem, and the leaves grow on the shortened stem. They have elliptical, ovate, obovate, and lanceolate shapes, and the leaf color is green, dark green, light green, yellow-green, green with markings, or purplish red.

2. When is the best time to plant shepherd's purse?

Shepherd's purse can be planted three times a year, mainly in spring, summer, and autumn. It is harder to grow in winter because the weather is cold. Every year in spring around February to March, in summer around July to August, and in autumn around September, these are all good periods for planting shepherd's purse. Since shepherd's purse does not have high requirements for temperature and nutrients, planting it is very simple.

3. How many days does shepherd's purse take to sprout?

Changes in weather and temperature cause the sprouting time of planted shepherd's purse to vary. Generally, when the temperature is high, it can sprout in about 12 days, but when it is colder, it takes 20 days to sprout. If you are worried that the sprouting rate of shepherd's purse is not high, you can also let it sprout in a seedling tray, and after sprouts grow out, plant them in the ground.

4. How do you grow shepherd's purse on a balcony?

1. Pot: For growing shepherd's purse, it is generally better to choose a pot more than 10 cm high and more than 10 cm in diameter. This is because a pot that is too small can only hold one or two plants, while a larger one can hold several at the same time.

2. Soil: Remember to choose nutrient soil during the early seedling stage, as this is more beneficial for the nutritional needs of shepherd's purse in its early growth.

3. Seedling raising: If you are worried that the seeds will not sprout well, you can soak them in warm water for about 3 days, and plant them once the seeds have begun to grow tender sprouts. However, many people take the sprouted seedlings to a seedling tray before planting them.

4. Watering: Since shepherd's purse is not a plant that needs watering every day, watering it about 3 times a week is enough.

5. Fertilizing: We only need to apply organic fertilizer once during the middle stage of shepherd's purse growth, so the cost of growing shepherd's purse is low.

6. Harvesting: Shepherd's purse is not easy to pick, so it is best to dig it out of the soil with a tool, and it is best to eat it fresh on the same day it is harvested.

Overall, shepherd's purse is very easy to grow, and it can be planted in spring, summer, and autumn. However, if you want to grow shepherd's purse well on a balcony, you need to do a good job with basic management such as seedling raising, water, and fertilizer, so that you can get a high yield.