Mung Bean Cultivation Methods Explained in Detail: How Long Until Flowering, Which Month to Sow and Harvest
Mung bean belongs to the Fabaceae family. Also known as green small bean, lu bean, zhi bean, etc., it has a cultivation history of more than two thousand years in China. So how long does it generally take to flower? In which month do you sow and harvest? What are the cultivation methods? According to cowpea genus data, the flowering period of mung bean is June to July for spring sowing, and the fruiting period is August. For summer sowing after wheat harvest, it flowers in August and the pods ripen in mid-to-late September. Erect types with short growth periods flower early. Vining tall types with long growth periods flower late. Flowering is continuous, gradually forming buds, flowers, and pods as it grows. From emergence to flowering, summer-sown varieties with short growth periods begin flowering in about 50 days. Spring-sown varieties with long growth periods begin flowering and fruiting in about 60 days.
In which month is mung bean sown and harvested?
1. If the woodland is idle, the sowing period can be arranged for early April; if there is a previous crop, it can be arranged to open beds and sow after the early spring harvest, and the suitable sowing period must be arranged before late May to ensure full seedlings and obtain high yields. Persist in seizing the time and soil moisture, and sow promptly when the soil is moist after rain; in case of drought, after sowing, drench the holes with clear manure water. Sow no more than 1 kg of seed per mu, and use 10 g of ammonium molybdate dissolved in 10 kg of water to dress the seed per mu (keep the unused water separately for later use), and sow after the moisture has dried. The sowing specifications are: for pure cropping, open beds at 2 m, with a row spacing of 50 cm and a hole spacing of 40 cm, sowing 3200-3400 holes per mu, 5-6 seeds per hole, thinning to 2-3 plants per hole, and about 9500 plants per mu after thinning; for fruit woodland, on the basis of leaving a spacing of 40 em from the base of the fruit trees, then open beds at 2 m, roughly the same as the sowing specifications for pure cropping; for intercropping, refer to the pure cropping specifications and determine the sowing rate per mu according to the situation. Base fertilizer application: generally use 20 kg of calcium magnesium phosphate fertilizer plus 1000 kg of ash fertilizer or 25 kg of plant ash per mu, then evenly mix with 300 kg of sandy loam soil to cover the seed. Using 15 kg of Tianbishi high-quality bio-organic fertilizer crushed and mixed with 300 kg of sandy loam soil per mu alone for covering the seed gives the best effect.
2. Mung bean begins to be harvested in August, and generally begins to appear on the market in the first half of August. Its ripening is uneven, and it should be picked as it ripens according to the situation. In large-scale planting, when a one-time harvest is often required, the sign for timely harvest should be when 2/3 of all mung bean pods turn brown-black. Under high temperature conditions, mature pods crack easily, so harvest in the early morning when the dew has not dried or in the evening. The harvested pods can be stored in the warehouse or sold after sun-drying, threshing, and cleaning.
What are the cultivation methods?
1. Apply sufficient base fertilizer. Although mung bean rhizobia have nitrogen-fixing ability, applying additional farmyard manure and phosphorus and potassium fertilizers has an obvious yield-increasing effect. Farmyard manure can be applied all at once before sowing, and then plowed into the soil after application. If there is no time to apply base fertilizer, a certain amount of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer should be applied in the early growth stage, that is, at branching and early flowering, to enhance the nitrogen-fixing ability of rhizobia and increase flower bud differentiation.
2. Sowing. Mung bean can be spring-sown or summer-sown. Spring sowing is from late April to early and mid-May. Summer sowing is in mid-to-late June, and early sowing should be strived for. Mung bean seeds contain 10% small hard seeds, which are difficult to germinate after sowing and easily cause missing seedlings and broken rows, so they should be screened out before sowing. The sowing rate per mu is generally 1.5-2 kg, and the sowing depth is preferably 3-5 cm.
3. Field management
1. Thinning and final thinning. When mung bean seedlings reach two leaves and one heart, the clustered seedlings should be removed. Final thinning is done at 4 leaves, with a plant spacing of 13-16 cm, a row spacing of about 40 cm for sole cropping, and preferably 10,000-12,500 plants per mu.
2. Intertillage and weeding. From emergence to flowering and canopy closure, mung bean is generally hoed at least four times, with intertillage depth going from shallow to deep and then to shallow again.
3. Irrigation and drainage. The flowering and podding stage of mung bean is the peak period of fertilizer and water demand. If drought occurs during this period, water promptly to keep the soil moist. However, the flowering and podding stage often occurs in the rainy season, causing excessive vegetative growth of stems and leaves, resulting in a large number of fallen flowers and pods, or death from waterlogging. Drain promptly to ensure normal growth of mung bean.
4. Intercropping and relay intercropping. Mung bean has strong shade tolerance and is often intercropped, relay intercropped, or mixed with tall crops in production. Several forms are introduced:
Spring corn relay intercropped with mung bean. Spring corn is planted in wide and narrow rows, with wide rows of 1 m, narrow rows of 50 cm, and plant spacing of 33 cm, about 2650 plants per mu; or wide rows of 1.6 m, narrow rows of 50 cm, and plant spacing of 26 cm, about 3000 plants per mu. After corn pollination, relay interplant 3-4 rows of early-maturing mung bean with a short growth period, small plants, and concentrated podding in the wide rows. The row ratio is 2:4, or the row ratio is 1:1, that is, single-row spring corn intercropped with single-row mung bean; this form makes mung bean too shaded and affects yield.
Summer corn intercropped with mung bean. Summer corn is planted in wide and narrow rows, and two rows of early-maturing mung bean are relay interplanted in the wide rows. If corn is relay interplanted in wheat fields and mung bean is also to be intercropped, mung bean can be sown immediately after wheat harvest after stubble clearing; if corn is replanted after wheat harvest, mung bean can be sown simultaneously with corn in a 2:2 form.
Mung bean mixed with summer sesame. After wheat harvest, mung bean and sesame are mixed and sown at the same time. After sesame harvest, mung bean is at the full flowering and podding stage, with sufficient light, which is favorable for mung bean growth and full grains.
Mung bean intercropped with foxtail millet. Mung bean is intercropped with summer foxtail millet, and after wheat harvest, it is interplanted at the same time as foxtail millet sowing in a 4:2 or 2:2 form. In short, when mung bean is intercropped or relay intercropped with corn, foxtail millet, sweet potato, etc., generally the row spacing is adjusted to relay interplant mung bean without affecting the density of the main crop. If mung bean is used as green manure, turning it under at the full flowering stage gives the best effect. If mung bean is relay interplanted in wheat rows, after wheat harvest, mung bean becomes a sole crop.
4. Pest and disease control
The main control target is the mung bean weevil. Adults lay eggs on bean grains or tender pods, and larvae hatch and bore into the bean grains to cause damage. Control methods: before storage, treat the bean grains at 50°C high temperature to kill insects; fumigate with 1.5 kg of sodium cyanide per thousand cubic meters for 48 hours, at a temperature above 20°C, with an insect-killing efficiency of 100%, and it does not affect the germination rate; store sealed with low oxygen; for small amounts, soak in boiling water for 20 minutes, remove and dry in the sun, and place in a jar, which can be stored for a very long time without affecting the germination rate.