What causes deformed sweet potatoes? With preventive measures
Sweet potato, also known as fan shu or di gua, is an annual herbaceous plant rich in protein, starch, vitamins and minerals, and also has anti-cancer, diabetes-preventing and weight-loss effects, combining edible and medicinal value. However, during sweet potato cultivation, deformed growth can occur, causing certain losses to farmers. So what causes deformed sweet potatoes? Let's take a look with Qin Nong Wang.
Causes of deformation
1. Continuous cropping and nutrient deficiency: If sweet potatoes are continuously cropped for a long time, pests and diseases can become more serious, thus causing deformation. In addition, during planting, many farmers habitually apply the three fertilizers nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, especially large amounts of nitrogen fertilizer, causing vigorous vine growth and affecting the plant's absorption of other trace nutrients. Calcium, boron and other elements are essential substances for plant growth. A lack of these trace elements causes the sweet potato skin to become thin and lose elasticity, thereby cracking and causing deformation.
2. Pesticide residues: During sweet potato planting, excessive use of pesticides on the previous crop leaves certain pesticide residues in the soil when sweet potatoes are planted. These pesticides affect the growth of sweet potatoes and, over time, cause deformed growth.
3. Application of organic fertilizer that is not fully decomposed: As mentioned above, trace elements are lacking, and organic fertilizer or farmyard manure is rich in these elements and can meet the growth needs of sweet potatoes. However, some farmers apply these organic fertilizers before they are fully decomposed, causing the organic fertilizer to release a large amount of heat during decomposition after application, resulting in root burn and deformed growth of sweet potato tubers.
4. Pests and diseases: Sweet potatoes suffer from many pests and diseases during cultivation, and these pests and diseases can all cause damage, such as stem nematodes, black spot disease, wireworms, white grubs and other pests and diseases, all of which can cause deformation.
There are many other causes of deformed sweet potatoes, such as variety, heavy clay soil or soil with large amounts of stones, rocks and other hard objects, improper water and fertilizer management, or weeds in the field competing for nutrients.
Preventive measures
In response to the above causes of deformation, take targeted measures to prevent deformation.
1. Continuous cropping causes serious pest and disease damage and leads to deformation, so during planting we should carry out reasonable crop rotation, rotating with other crops to avoid losses caused by continuous cropping. In addition, fertilization should be reasonably matched, and single or biased application should be avoided, so as not to cause excessive plant growth and affect the absorption of trace elements.
2. Pay attention to pesticide dosage and concentration, check pesticide residue conditions when planting, and try to avoid plots with pesticide residues exceeding the standard.
3. When applying organic fertilizer and farmyard manure, be sure to fully decompose them before application.
4. Great importance must be attached to the prevention and control of pests and diseases. When pests and diseases are found, deal with them promptly and take corresponding measures for prevention and control.
5. When planting, choose varieties with high yield, good quality and strong disease resistance. After planting, strengthen water and fertilizer management, and water and fertilize in a planned way according to plant growth conditions and climate changes, so as to avoid skin cracking and deformation when sweet potato roots are about to expand.
The above are the causes and preventive measures of deformed sweet potatoes brought to you by Qin Nong Wang. We hope they can help you. To learn more about sweet potato cultivation knowledge, please stay tuned to Qin Nong Wang.