A Detailed Guide to the Latest Key Points on Water and Fertilizer Management for Spinach
Spinach is also called Persian spinach, parrot vegetable, etc. It is an annual herbaceous plant of the Chenopodiaceae family. It is an extremely common vegetable in our country. Spinach has high nutritional value; it can be eaten and also has certain medicinal value. So now spinach cultivation is also extremely common. When growing spinach, watering and fertilizing are very important. And today, the editor has brought you the key points of spinach water and fertilizer management. Let's take a look below!
1. Key points of watering
Spinach has a very developed root system and generally likes to grow in soil rich in humus with a pH of around 6.5. However, spinach has relatively poor waterlogging tolerance, and soil moisture should be maintained at around 20%. If it exceeds this, it can easily cause spinach root rot and death. In the early growth stage of spinach, the water requirement is not large, but in order to ensure full and strong seedlings, sufficient water should still be poured before sowing. After sowing and before emergence, there is no need to water. During the period from spinach seed germination to the growth of 3 leaves, the amount of watering should also be controlled to avoid diseases such as damping-off.
After entering the middle and late growth stages of spinach, the water requirement of spinach increases. During this period, it should be watered about 4 times to keep the soil in a moist state. Then, when planting overwintering spinach, sufficient antifreeze water should be poured. When entering the high-temperature summer season, watering should avoid noon and should be done in the morning and evening, so as to lower the temperature and promote the growth of seedlings. And after each fertilization, water once. Finally, before harvest, in order to ensure the quality of spinach, watering should be stopped to avoid excessive humidity causing diseases.
2. Application of base fertilizer
Spring spinach is sown relatively early, so the land preparation and fertilization work can be carried out in the previous year. The base fertilizer is mainly decomposed farmyard manure, applied at about 4500kg per mu, then the soil is deeply plowed about 22 cm, and then the soil is raked flat to make beds. Then, when the early spring soil thaws to about 8 cm, it can be sown. The fertilizer and amount for autumn spinach are similar to those for spring spinach, mainly using high beds or flat beds. For overwintering spinach, soil with sufficient fertility, deep soil layer, and good fertilizer and water retention should be selected. Compared with other seasons, the amount of base fertilizer should be appropriately increased, and the soil should be deeply plowed to fully mix the soil and fertilizer to promote seedling emergence.
3. Topdressing methods
In the early growth stage of spring spinach, no topdressing is needed. By the middle and late stages, the demand for fertilizer and water in spinach increases, and fertilizers such as ammonium sulfate can be appropriately applied as topdressing, with the amount controlled at about 40 jin. The growth period of spring spinach is not long. Ensuring sufficient nitrogen fertilizer can effectively enhance leaf growth ability and delay the bolting period of spinach. When autumn spinach grows to 5 true leaves, quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer should be applied about 3 times, such as ammonium sulfate, urea, etc. The growth period of overwintering spinach is relatively long, so topdressing should be applied about 3 times in the three periods before winter, during overwintering, and in early spring. The fertilizers are also mainly sulfuric acid, farmyard manure, and other fertilizers.
The above is a brief introduction to the key points of spinach water and fertilizer management. That's all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and I hope it can help everyone!