A Detailed Guide to the Latest Sweet Potato Seedling Raising Times and Methods
Sweet potato holds a very important place in our daily life. The nutritional value of sweet potato is extremely high; not only can its tuberous roots be eaten, but its vines and leaves are also very popular. Nowadays more and more people are growing sweet potatoes, and when we grow sweet potatoes, the seedling raising work is very important. So when should sweet potatoes be raised as seedlings? How exactly should it be done? Below, the editor will introduce it to everyone, so let's take a look!
1. Seedling raising time
The seedling raising time for sweet potato should be determined according to the growing region and growing season, but it is usually concentrated around March. When raising seedlings in spring, it is generally done around the time of Awakening of Insects. In the south, it must begin in February, while in northern regions it usually must be completed before Qingming Festival. During seedling raising, because the temperature is relatively low, hotbeds are usually the main method, and after starting seedling raising, attention must be paid to keeping them warm. We should also reasonably control the seedling raising time according to planting, marketing and other schedules. Seedling raising should begin 4-5 weeks before planting the seedlings.
2. Seedling raising methods
Hibernation seedling raising with sweet potato vines
Hibernation seedling raising means that after harvesting sweet potatoes in autumn, the sweet potato vines are cultivated as the seedlings for the following year. First, after harvesting, we should select thick, strong sweet potato vines free of pests and diseases, remove the leaves from the vines, and keep the petioles at about 1-2 cm. Then soak the sweet potato vines in an Amfetling agent for 3 minutes, remove them and dry them. Then pick out obvious large stones, pebbles and so on from the ground. Dig a storage pit, place the sweet potato vines flat in the pit, then cover with fine sand to force the sweet potato vines into hibernation. In areas with low temperatures and frost, cover with film as appropriate. When the environment is suitable the following year, the sweet potato vines can be directly dug out for cutting propagation and seedling raising.
Seedling raising with sweet potato roots
Likewise, after all sweet potatoes are harvested in autumn, select thick, strong sweet potato roots that are free of wounds. Keep about 3 nodes on each root and remove the leaves. Then control the area of the seedling raising site according to the number of seedlings to be raised. If raising seedlings in a greenhouse, pay attention to controlling the plant spacing and digging the seedling holes well. After planting the sweet potato roots, set up wire according to the planting spacing of plants and rows, then connect the sweet potato roots to the wire. After the sweet potato roots sprout, select about 3 new shoots on each sweet potato root. Each new shoot should correspond to a string, making it convenient for the sweet potato vines to climb along the strings as they grow later.
3. Points to note
Because of differences in temperature, climate and other environmental factors, each region has different seedling raising times. They also have different seedling raising methods. When raising seedlings, we should pay attention to reasonably choosing the seedling raising method according to our own growing techniques and region. The root seedling raising method can make full use of growing space, and its seedling output is very large, which can effectively increase yield. Each seedling raising method has different advantages and disadvantages, but no matter which seedling raising method is used, the temperature must be strictly controlled during seedling raising to create a good growing environment for sweet potatoes.
The above is a brief introduction to sweet potato seedling raising times and methods. The quality of sweet potato seedling raising is directly related to the growth and yield of sweet potatoes in the middle and later stages, so everyone must pay close attention! That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and we hope it can help everyone!