Latest Technical Method Tutorial for Soilless Cultivation of Water Spinach
Water spinach grown with soilless cultivation technology, through clean production and the application of organic fertilizer, reduces pesticide use, improves the vegetable growing environment, overcomes soil continuous cropping obstacles, and saves production costs. Moreover, the vegetables grow quickly, yields are high, and product quality is good. It is a pollution-free vegetable and is very popular in market sales, meeting the requirements of current ecological agriculture development. Now let us take a look at the soilless cultivation technology for water spinach!
Cultivation System for Water Spinach
1. Build cultivation troughs: The cultivation troughs are 25-30 cm high and 50 cm wide, with a trough spacing of 70 cm, running north-south, high in the north and low in the south. The brick seams can be bonded with cement mortar, or filled flat with mud (lay 1 layer of old film at the bottom of the trough).
2. Cultivation substrate: Mix mushroom residue and furnace slag at a ratio of 1:1-1.5. To 1 cubic meter of mixed substrate, add 10 kg of disinfected expanded chicken manure and 2 kg of ternary compound fertilizer. Where conditions permit, fine sand, peat, vermiculite, and organic fertilizer can also be mixed at a ratio of 2:1:1:2 to make a compound substrate. Chicken manure and sheep manure are best for the organic fertilizer.
3. Filling the troughs: Spread sand in the troughs to a thickness of about 5 cm. Load the evenly mixed substrate into the prepared troughs, level it, and water the substrate thoroughly with a large amount of water. After the water has completely drained down, cover with film for 10-15 days to allow the fertilizer to fully decompose.
Sowing and Seedling Raising of Water Spinach
1. Seed soaking and germination: Before sowing water spinach seeds, soak them in hot water at 50-60°C for 30 minutes, then soak in clean water for 24 hours. After soaking, remove and wash them, then germinate them at 30°C. During germination, rinse once daily with warm water. After about 5-7 days, the seeds can be sown once they have sprouted.
2. Plug tray and substrate preparation: For water spinach seedling raising, the plug tray specifications generally use 72-cell or 128-cell trays. Lightweight substrates such as peat, vermiculite, or perlite should be used. These substrates have low specific gravity and good water retention and air permeability. When using lightweight substrates for seedling raising, the general substrate mixing ratio is peat:vermiculite:decomposed organic fertilizer = 2:1:1. The substrate must be treated for insect killing and disease elimination to cultivate disease-free strong seedlings. Generally, for 1 cubic meter of substrate, use 150 g each of 50% carbendazim wettable powder and phoxim emulsifiable concentrate.
3. Filling trays with substrate and sowing: When sowing, first fill the seedling substrate into the plug trays, scrape off excess substrate, and water the substrate thoroughly. After the water drains down, stack 2-3 empty plug trays of the same specification and press out the sowing holes. After sowing, cover with 1 layer of vermiculite, cover with film to retain moisture, and after seedlings emerge, remove the covering in time to allow ventilation and light.
4. Seedbed management: Keep the daytime temperature at around 25°C and nighttime above 10°C. Water management is the key to success in seedling raising. Throughout the seedling raising period, the seedling substrate should always be kept in a moist state. When the seedlings are 5-7 cm tall, spray 1 application of foliar fertilizer, commonly at a concentration of 0.2% urea or monopotassium phosphate. When the seedlings grow to 10-15 cm, they can be transplanted.
Soilless Cultivation of Water Spinach
1. Transplanting: The plant and row spacing for water spinach is about 15 cm × 15 cm. Transplanting is generally carried out in the afternoon. Before transplanting, water thoroughly to establish bottom moisture. After the water drains down, plant the seedlings into the substrate, burying 2-3 nodes appropriately deep. With substrate cultivation, there is almost no seedling recovery period, and normal growth begins quickly.
2. Fertilizer and water management: After transplanting, water spinach can be harvested continuously multiple times. In cultivation, sufficient base fertilizer should be applied, and after each harvest, timely topdressing is needed to achieve high yields, applying 2-4 kg of urea. Water spinach likes moisture and has a relatively large water requirement, so it should be watered frequently to always maintain a moist state. Under normal conditions, during the harvest period, water once every 4-5 days, and water thoroughly each time.
3. Pest and disease control: In organic ecological soilless cultivation, water spinach pests and diseases are relatively mild, mainly including damping-off, stem rot, white rust, whitefly, snails, cabbage caterpillars, red spiders, locusts, aphids, bean moths, etc. Generally, insect-proof nets are used to prevent the spread of pests and reduce pesticide use.