How to select sweet elephant grass seeds? What are the seedling raising methods?
Sweet elephant grass is a high-yield, high-quality forage grass introduced from Taiwan, China, with a yield of 200-400 tons per hectare, and it is relatively cold-tolerant, recovers growth quickly after overwintering, and has strong resistance. Sweet elephant grass is used to feed cattle, sheep, rabbits, grass carp and other animals with a very obvious weight-gain effect; generally 750kg of fresh Taiwan sweet elephant grass can fatten one mutton sheep to market weight, and compared with other forage grasses it has quite a few advantages. So in the process of planting sweet elephant grass, how should the seeds be selected? What are the seedling raising methods? Let's find out together.
How to select sweet elephant grass seeds?
The good sowing time for sweet elephant grass seeds is March to May and August to October each year; sweet elephant grass seeds sown during this period have the highest germination rate and grow best. When selecting seeds, choose high-quality, plump seeds, and choose flat terrain, sunny, fertile soil for sowing and seedling raising.
What are the seedling raising methods?
1. Land preparation and deep ploughing
Ploughing should be deeper, generally 25-35 cm, to achieve coordination of the soil environment and create good soil conditions for the sowing, growth and development of sweet elephant grass. After ploughing and leveling, apply 3000 kg of farmyard manure and 5-10 kg of diammonium per mu.
2. Sowing and seedling raising
Sweet elephant grass has strong adaptability to the environment; generally in areas without frost in winter it can be planted all year round, and in places with frost, March to June is the period. If the sowing area is not too large, manual spot sowing or broadcast sowing can be used; otherwise, machine sowing can be used. Note that the seeds must not be buried too deep; a depth of 1-2 cm is enough, otherwise it is not conducive to sprouting.
3. Planting density
Generally plant at a spacing of 50 cm × 80 cm. For timely early sowing in soil, if drilling is used, the row spacing is 40 cm, and cover with 4 cm of soil.
4. Water and fertilizer management
Deep ploughing is combined with the application of farmyard manure. After cutting, mainly urea is used, by broadcast application or band application, preferably in small amounts many times; apply topdressing once at the jointing stage, with 5 kg of urea per mu. In addition, irrigate when drought occurs during the growing season, and after each cutting combine topdressing with timely irrigation, which is beneficial for regrowth. Especially in the late growth stage, when the stems are tall and the leaves are dense, the water demand is large, and drought affects yield.
As a high-quality forage grass, sweet elephant grass is now widely planted in our country. If you want it to grow smoothly, increase yield and boost income, you must plant it correctly and do a good job of care.
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