How to Grow Cabbage Mustard (Er Cai)? Latest Planting Techniques and Method Tutorial

Er cai is a very unusual vegetable in the way it grows: when the seedling reaches a certain stage, the buds that emerge from the leaf axils keep swelling, until the swollen bud clusters take over, each bud cluster weighing 100-200 grams, with 15-20 bud clusters per plant, arranged in a pagoda shape, very attractive, rich in nutrients, fine and tender in quality, and delicious in taste. Let us take a look together at the cultivation techniques for er cai!

Sowing Techniques for Er Cai

1. Seed selection: Er cai has many local varieties, and different varieties differ greatly in disease resistance, external marketability, maturity period, yield and quality. Early-maturing varieties include Ji Zao Wa, Zao Wa No. 1, etc., while mid-to-late-maturing varieties include Duo Fu No. 1, etc., which have the advantages of attractive plant shape, high yield and good disease resistance. Early-maturing er cai and mid-to-late-maturing er cai have the same sowing period; they differ only in the length of the growth period and the earliness or lateness of the harvest period.

2. Seedbed: Choose a shaded area for the er cai seedbed. Deep, fertile, loose soil with convenient drainage and irrigation and free of pests and diseases is best, preferably loam or sandy loam. In early to mid-August, plow deep and let the soil weather. Spread 15-25 kg of quicklime per mu to disinfect and adjust the soil pH (neutral to slightly alkaline with a pH of 6.5-8). If only quicklime is spread, the land will become hard and poor, so add decomposed human and livestock manure plus calcium superphosphate and plant ash, as well as trace elements such as boron, magnesium and zinc, as a base fertilizer. Mix thoroughly with the seedbed soil, level and finely break up the soil, and make beds about 1.7 m wide for later use.

3. Sowing: To grow er cai well, the choice of sowing period is very important and is the key; different sowing periods produce completely different results. If sown too early, the temperature is too high, and the plants easily bolt into a club shape, flower, and become leggy. If sown too late, there are few or small buds, the plant takes on a pineapple shape, the buds do not develop well into empty plants, disease is likely, yield is low, and quality and marketability are lost.

Seedbed Raising of Er Cai Seedlings

1. Sowing: The suitable germination temperature for er cai seeds is about 20-28°C. Before sowing, splash decomposed manure water to moisten the bed surface. When sowing, make sure to broadcast evenly (sand may be mixed in). After thin sowing, cover with 0.5 cm of fine sand, stone grains or plant ash. After spraying pesticide, cover with rice straw or a shade net. When 75% of the seedlings have flat cotyledons, remove the rice straw or shade net promptly in the evening to prevent the young seedlings from becoming leggy. If there is continuous high temperature and drought, and the soil surface cracks, water in the evening and early morning to fight the drought and protect the seedlings, and set up a small arched frame with a shade net to provide shelter from the heat.

2. Thinning: Thin the er cai seedlings 2-3 times throughout the seedling period, and apply light human and livestock manure 2-3 times. When the seedlings have 4 true leaves, at about 25 days of seedling age, move them out of the seedbed with soil and prick them out at a spacing of 10*15 cm between plants and rows. Water with dilute human and livestock urine to settle the roots. After about 15-20 days of pricking out, once old sturdy seedlings have formed, they can be planted out. Before pricking out, pull out and discard the few particularly large or abnormal seedlings.

3. Sturdy seedlings: Seedlings sown before September 10 on the solar calendar must go through pricking out to recover and be cultivated into sturdy seedlings before planting out. Late-sown seedlings are cultivated for about 30 days into old sturdy seedlings and can be planted out directly. Er cai is suitable for planting old sturdy seedlings, not tender seedlings or tall seedlings. Professional seedling raising in nutrient pots or plug trays can also be used, planting out after old sturdy seedlings have formed in the nutrient pots or plug trays.

Field Management of Er Cai

1. Planting out: Choose sandy loam or loam plots or greenhouses with deep soil, shelter from wind and good sun exposure, good drainage, and convenient irrigation and drainage for planting out. In the south, paddy fields after rice harvest can be chosen for cultivation, using idle winter land to make efficient use of the land. After the rice harvest, open ditches promptly for drainage and make wide beds. Generally, the main ditch is 35-40 cm deep and 30-35 cm wide, and the wide bed width is controlled at about 3.5 m. Mechanically cut the harvested rice straw into pieces about 5 cm long and spread them over the field.

2. Land preparation: About 20 days before transplanting, plow the field. Before plowing, broadcast 50-80 kg per mu of compound fertilizer and organic fertilizer as a base fertilizer and plow deep more than 30 cm. After the land is leveled, make beds 1.8 m wide. Open holes 10 days before planting out, with 3 rows per bed. Mix decomposed compost with calcium superphosphate and soil, then use it as a bottom-hole fertilizer, cover it, and after covering with soil, spray herbicide to prevent weeds.

3. Transplanting: After 10 days, choose a cloudy or sunny day to transplant with soil. After planting out, water promptly with root-settling water. After the plants survive planting out, apply human and livestock manure water 1-2 times to help promote seedling growth. 35-40 days after planting out, around the Beginning of Winter, heavily apply the "opening plate" fertilizer. Apply 2500-3000 kg per mu of human and livestock urine, plus 20-30 kg of urea, plus 20 kg of calcium superphosphate, plus 15 kg of potassium sulfate, as well as a small amount of phosphate fertilizer, boron fertilizer or compound fertilizer. Open a small hole 15 cm from the plant, apply the fertilizer water into it, and cover with soil to protect the roots. About 60 days after planting out, when er cai is in the early stage of rapid swelling, apply a top dressing of human and livestock manure water or biogas slurry plus urea once.

Pest and Disease Control of Er Cai

1. After sowing in the seedbed and splashing manure and covering the seed, spray 500-800 times diluted solutions of pesticides such as 40% dimethoate, imidacloprid for aphids and whiteflies, acetamiprid, or imidacloprid on and around the bed surface to kill aphids, ants (to prevent them from carrying off er cai seeds) and related pests.

2. For damping-off disease during the er cai seedling stage, soak the seeds with 300-500 times diluted solutions of hymexazol, dexon, or Miaojundi. For the seedbed soil, mix 20 g of powder with 10-15 kg of fine soil to lay the bottom and surround the roots, or spray with a 600-800 times diluted solution.

3. For soft rot, in the early stage of the disease, spray 300 times diluted 14% copper complex nitrogen water solution, 2000 times diluted 72% agricultural streptomycin sulfate (500 mg/kg), or 1000 times diluted 3% Zhongshengmycin wettable powder, etc.

4. For viral disease, in the early stage of the disease, spray 300 times diluted 5% Zhi Bing Ling, or 400 times diluted 5% Jun Du Qing wettable powder, or 500-800 times diluted Du Ba Jun Ba, etc. If virus-infected plants are found, they must be pulled up by the roots, put in plastic bags, and destroyed outside the field.

5. For downy mildew, use 500-800 times diluted Shuang Yi Ba or Pu Shuang, or 500-700 times diluted 58% Ridomil or 70% Baidefu, spraying the undersides of leaves, once every 5-7 days, for 2-3 consecutive sprays. Downy mildew is likely to occur when the temperature is slightly high, with sudden hot and cold changes, or when it is rainy and humid.

6. For flea beetles, use 8-1000 times diluted 50-80% dichlorvos emulsifiable concentrate, 1500 times diluted 50% phoxim emulsifiable concentrate, or 2000 times diluted 40% pyrethroid emulsifiable concentrate, etc., spraying during the young larval stage of the flea beetles for control.

7. For root maggots, use 600-800 times diluted 50% isocarbophos, one tablespoon per plant poured at the roots.

8. For aphids, spray 1000 times diluted imidacloprid or compound insecticidal pesticides, or use yellow sticky boards to trap and kill them, once every 7-10 days. When the condition is severe, it will cause er cai to form no buds, or few or small buds, or to develop deformities such as bald heads, seriously affecting yield and benefits.

Note: Throughout the entire growth period of er cai, never apply urea dry. Fertilization should follow the principle of light and dilute first, then heavy, and control first, then top-dress. The excessive use of nitrogen fertilizer must be controlled to prevent the plants from becoming leggy and growing too vigorously and tenderly, which will delay bud formation time and result in small and few buds, inability to withstand frost, and serious effects on yield and the quality of the marketable vegetable. In autumn drought and early winter drought, frequently apply light manure water to protect the seedlings. If fertilizer and water are lacking during the growth period, boron fertilizer is lacking, or harvesting is not done in time, the upper part will show reddening in the later stage. Never deep-cultivate to remove weeds in er cai; deep cultivation easily damages roots and spreads disease, inducing disease. Instead, shallowly hoe 2-3 cm at the soil surface or pull weeds by hand. Er cai cultivation land that has grown related mustard crops for 2 or more years should not be replanted continuously, otherwise yield will be low and disease will be likely.