Latest Soilless Cultivation Technology Tutorial and Method Guide for Chinese Chives

Chinese chives are a perennial herbaceous plant of the Liliaceae family, with strong adaptability, cold and heat tolerance, and are cultivated everywhere across the country. The leaves, flower stalks and flowers are all eaten as vegetables, and the seeds etc. can be used as medicine. Soilless cultivation of Chinese chives has the advantages of labor-saving management, high yield and great economic benefit, making it very suitable for urban household growing. Let us take a look together at the soilless cultivation technology for Chinese chives!

Growing Environment Conditions for Chinese Chives

1. Temperature: Chinese chives prefer cool conditions, tolerating both cold and heat. The optimum temperature for seed germination is above 12°C, the growing temperature is 15°C to 25°C, and the underground part can withstand relatively low temperatures.

2. Light: Chinese chives need moderate light intensity and have strong shade tolerance, but if the light is too weak, photosynthetic product accumulation is low, tillering is few and thin, yield is low, and premature aging occurs easily; if the light is too strong and the temperature too high, there are many fibers and poor quality.

3. Water: The suitable relative air humidity for Chinese chives is 60-70%, and the soil moisture is 80-90% of the maximum field water-holding capacity.

4. Nutrition: It has strong adaptability to soil texture, and the suitable pH is 5.5-6.5. It has a large fertilizer requirement and strong fertilizer tolerance.

Soilless Cultivation Technology for Chinese Chives

1. Use a flower pot (or wooden trough) 18-20 cm deep, filled with river sand of 1-2 mm particle size. Wash the river sand clean with water to prevent it from carrying bacteria.

2. Select open-field Chinese chive roots more than two years old, cut off the old roots and leaves, keep the shortened stem roots, and plant them into the pot, 3-4 plants per clump, with plant and row spacing of about 3.3 cm.

4. After planting, water thoroughly once, then water according to soil moisture conditions. After new roots appear, apply nutrient solution. Generally, water once and apply nutrient solution once every other day; in spring, summer and autumn water once every 1-2 days; in winter water once every 3-5 days. Do not apply nutrient solution on rainy days, in the afternoon or at night. Apply more nutrient solution when leaves are yellow and less when leaves are dark.

5. The nutrient solution formula for soilless cultivation of Chinese chives is 15 g urea (or 22.5 g ammonium sulfate), 22.5 g monopotassium phosphate, and 15 kg water, which can water 1.5 sq m (about 30 pots).

6. The suitable bed temperature for sand-cultured Chinese chives is 14°C and the air temperature is 16°C. They can also grow at a bed temperature of 6°C and an air temperature of about 10°C. In winter, cover with a small shed of bedding material for insulation.

7. Sand-cultured Chinese chives have a 30-day natural dormancy period around Frost's Descent. After the Beginning of Winter, cutting off the chive leaves allows them to continue growing.

Pest and Disease Control of Chinese Chives

1. In the early stage of Chinese chive gray mold and Chinese chive sclerotinia rot, on cloudy days use 10% procymidone smoke agent or 45% chlorothalonil smoke agent, 250 g per mu, divided into 6-8 points and lit, keeping the shed closed for 3-4 hours. In the evening, you can also dust 50% chlorothalonil dust, or 10% pyrimethanil dust, or 6.5% dimethomorph-procymidone dust, 1 kg per mu. You can also use 50% iprodione wettable powder 1000-fold solution, or 50% dimethomorph wettable powder 1000-fold solution spray for control.

3. In the early stage of Chinese chive phytophthora blight, use 72.2% propamocarb aqueous solution 600-800-fold, or 72% cymoxanil wettable powder 700-fold, or 60% fosetyl-aluminum wettable powder 1000-fold, or 25% metalaxyl wettable powder 800-fold; smoke agents and dust agents are the same as for gray mold, and the method of use is the same as for gray mold.

3. In the early stage of Chinese chive southern blight, use 15% triadimefon 1000-fold solution or 20% tolclofos-methyl 1200-fold solution to drench the roots.

4. In the early stage of Chinese chive rust, promptly spray 15% triadimefon wettable powder 1500-fold solution, or 20% triadimefon emulsifiable concentrate 2000-fold solution, or 97% natrium ferrichloratum wettable powder 1500-fold solution.

5. In the early stage of Chinese chive bacterial soft rot, use 77% copper hydroxide 500-fold solution, or potassium permanganate 1000-fold solution, or agricultural streptomycin 2500-fold solution, or chloramphenicol 3000-fold solution to drench the roots for control.

6. In the early stage of Chinese chive viral disease, spray the leaf surface with 1:40 soybean milk water or 0.2% monopotassium phosphate. The selected agents should be rotated and used alternately, generally applied once about every 7 days, for 2-3 consecutive times.

7. For chive maggots, at the peak emergence period of adults, select 48% chlorpyrifos emulsifiable concentrate 2000-fold solution, or 80% dichlorvos emulsifiable concentrate 800-fold solution, or 2.5% cyhalothrin emulsifiable concentrate 1500-2000-fold solution etc. for foliar spraying.