How to cultivate dandelions? Master these growing techniques

Soil preparation and fertilization

Choose loose, fertile, moist, well-drained sandy soil for planting. Deeply plow 20-25 cm, level and harrow fine, make beds 10-20 cm long, 1.2-1.5 m wide and 15 cm high, or make small ridges 45 cm wide for planting. Apply 4000-4500 kg of organic fertilizer and 15 kg of superphosphate per mu, evenly scattered into the beds.

Sowing

Seed treatment: Soak the seeds in 50°C water, then place them at 25°C to germinate. The seeds have no dormancy period and can be sown in the open field at any time from spring to autumn, and can be sown in a greenhouse in winter.

Field sowing: Use either drilling or broadcasting on the bed surface or ridges. Drilling: Open shallow transverse furrows on the bed surface at a row spacing of 25-30 cm, with a sowing width of about 10 cm. After sowing the seeds, cover with 1 cm of soil, then press down lightly. The sowing rate is 50 g per mu. Broadcasting: Broadcast on a flat bed, using about 1000 g of seed per mu. After sowing, cover with grass to keep warm and moist, and remove the grass when seedlings emerge; seedlings emerge in about 7-10 days.

Greenhouse sowing: Sow from late November to early December, and transplant seedlings. If cultivating in a large greenhouse or small and medium-sized arched shed, cover with agricultural film between February and March of the following year, and harvest new shoots in late March, when market prices are relatively high, which can increase income.

Field management

During the growth period of dandelions, cultivate, loosen the soil and weed frequently; thereafter cultivate and weed about once every 10 days until the rows close. After the rows close, pull weeds by hand, and carry out thinning and final thinning. The plant spacing for thinning is 3-5 cm, and the plant spacing for final thinning is 8-10 cm. In the greenhouse, the plant spacing for broadcasting is 6 cm.

Fertilizer and water management

Keeping the soil moist and maintaining soil fertility is the key to dandelion growth. After each thinning and each harvest, apply a quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer together with watering. Do not water within 3-4 days after harvest to prevent root rot. During the growth period, apply topdressing 1-2 times, each time applying 10-14 kg of urea and 5-6 kg of monopotassium phosphate per mu. Water frequently to keep the soil moist. For autumn-sown plants, water with freezing water and apply overwintering fertilizer before winter. Apply 2500 kg of organic fertilizer and 20 kg of superphosphate per mu on the bed surface. After green-up following the Spring Festival, apply 10-15 kg of urea and 8 kg of superphosphate together with watering.

Harvesting

In the first year, harvest once or not at all. During the seedling stage, you can pick the outer large leaves in batches for consumption, or cut the leaves other than the heart leaves with a knife for consumption. From the second year on, cut once every 15-20 days. When the leaf base grows to 10-15 cm, the whole plant can be cut at one time, tied into bundles and sold on the market. It can be harvested 2-4 times per year, namely: 1-2 times in spring and 1-2 times in autumn.