When to Plant Mustard Greens? A Detailed Guide to the Latest Sowing Times
Mustard greens are a famous specialty vegetable of China, with very strong adaptability. In both the north and south of our country, autumn sowing is the main practice; in the Yangtze River basin and the southwest and south China regions, they are harvested in winter or the following spring, while in the north they are harvested before frost. Leaf mustard, grown for its young plants as food, can be sown in spring or summer in the south. Let us take a look together below at when to plant mustard greens!
When to Plant Mustard Greens?
Mustard greens grown in open fields can be planted in both spring and autumn in the Yangtze and Huanghuai regions, generally with autumn sowing as the main practice. Sowing can proceed successively from late July to October, with harvest ending from mid-September to March of the following year, but the yield is highest when sown in August. Sowing too early means hot, dry weather with frequent heavy rain, making emergence difficult, so shade netting should be used for coverage. Sowing too late means the seedlings, at 2 to 3 true leaves, may encounter cold waves and are prone to frost damage. Spring sowing can use solar greenhouses or plastic tunnels to bring the crop to market earlier or later.
How Are Mustard Green Seeds Sown?
Mustard green seeds are tiny, so the soil must be leveled and finely worked, with weeds and debris picked out, and deep furrows with high beds should be made for drainage and irrigation. The bed width is generally 2.5 m (including the furrow). The sowing rate per mu is 1.5 to 2 kg for spring sowing, 3 to 4 kg for summer sowing, and 2 to 3 kg for autumn sowing. Broadcasting is generally used, but it should be as even as possible. After sowing, lightly tread over the bed surface with the foot so that the seeds make close contact with the soil, helping the seeds absorb water and emerge earlier. For summer and autumn sowing, the soil can be watered 1 to 2 days before land preparation, then prepared and formed into beds. If freshly harvested new seeds are used for sowing, since the seeds have not yet left dormancy, they should be placed in a 2 to 7°C environment (refrigerator) to germinate before sowing.
Mustard Green Cultivation and Management Techniques
1. Timely transplanting: Mustard greens adapt to a fairly wide range of soils, but for high yields of heading mustard, sandy loam whose previous crop was rice should be chosen, with sufficient base fertilizer applied. Holes are made for transplanting, in two rows, with a plant spacing of 40 to 50 cm; later-maturing varieties should be spaced somewhat more thinly. Mustard greens root slowly, so when transplanting, as much soil as possible should be kept and root damage avoided, and the roots should be placed into the soil without bending, to increase the survival rate.
2. Reasonable fertilization: Mustard greens generally emerge 3 to 4 days after autumn sowing, and spring-sown mustard greens generally emerge 6 to 15 days after sowing. When the seedlings have 2 true leaves, carry out the first topdressing, applying 1000 kg per mu of 0.3% urea solution. The second topdressing is done 7 to 10 days before harvest, and thereafter topdress once after each harvest.
3. Watering and weeding: Mustard green seeds are small and easily affected by soil moisture, so before emergence, water to keep the soil moist, with watering times preferably in the morning and evening. Grasp the principle of light and frequent watering, and do not soak the soil through in one go. Mustard green plants are short, and sowing is usually by broadcasting; weeds grow mixed in with the mustard greens, making weeding relatively difficult and labor-intensive, so weeds should be pulled out along with harvesting.
4. Pest and disease control: Mustard greens have few infectious diseases, mainly viral disease on leaf mustard, mostly during the hot, dry seedling period and the early growth stage after transplanting, spread by aphids. For thorough control, spray once every 7 to 10 days while also watering promptly; keeping the soil moist and reducing the heat is also very useful. Besides aphid damage, there are also striped flea beetles, which mainly harm the roots of mustard greens, so pesticides such as phoxim should be sprayed promptly.
5. Timely harvesting: Mustard greens are harvested in stages, and each harvest should take the large and leave the small, with the remaining plants kept even and appropriate. For early-autumn sown shepherd's purse, harvest at 10 to 13 true leaves, 30 to 35 days after sowing, then harvest in stages 4 to 5 times, ending in late March of the following year, with a total yield per mu of 2500 to 3000 kg. Autumn shepherd's purse sown in early October requires 45 to 60 days before harvest can begin. Shepherd's purse sown in late February is harvested and brought to market in early April. Spring sowing generally gives 1 to 2 harvests, with a yield per mu of about 1000 kg.