When Is the Best Time to Plant A-choy? A Detailed Guide to Growing Methods

A-choy is a fairly common vegetable, similar in appearance to lettuce leaves, and rich in vitamins and various trace elements, so many people like to eat it. At present, many regions in China like to grow it on their own balconies, so when is the best time to plant A-choy? How do you grow it?

Planting time for A-choy:

A-choy has particularly strong adaptability and good heat and cold tolerance, and can be planted all year round. Generally, we can plant it in spring and harvest in autumn, or plant it in summer and harvest in autumn, and we can also plant it in early autumn and harvest before New Year's Day. For winter in the north, it is still best to choose indoor planting as much as possible.

Growing methods for A-choy:

1. Variety selection

To grow A-choy, you must first choose a variety that is heat-tolerant, disease-resistant, high-quality and high-yielding, such as Xiang A-choy.

2. Seed treatment

Because the seedling period of summer-crop A-choy falls in a season of high temperatures, drought and frequent rain, in order to ensure uniform and strong seedlings, it is best to soak and sprout the seeds before sowing. Wrap the seeds in gauze and soak them in cool water for about 1 hour, then take them out and place them under conditions of 15°C-20°C to sprout. After 2-3 days, once the seeds show white sprouts, they can be sown.

3. Cultivation management

Choose a plot with higher terrain, fertile soil and good permeability that has not previously grown Asteraceae crops. Apply sufficient base fertilizer: 5000 kg of high-quality organic fertilizer, 40 kg of diammonium phosphate and 20 kg of urea per mu. For open-field seedling raising, after sowing, build a small arched shed on the seedbed with 2-meter-long bamboo strips, then cover the small arched shed with a layer of old plastic film to prevent rain and lower the temperature. Throughout the entire growth and development period, keep the field moist and the soil loose. During the growing period, apply foliar fertilizer 2-3 times in combination with watering, generally spraying with a 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution.

4. Harvest at the right time

When the number of A-choy leaves reaches 20-25 and the plant height is 30-40 cm, it can be harvested all at once at 2-3 cm above the ground.