How to manage Chinese yam well? Master these planting and management key points
Chinese yam, also commonly known as huai shan, has effects such as nourishing the body, aiding digestion and improving sleep. There are now quite a few ways to prepare Chinese yam, and it tastes both crisp and starchy, suitable for most people to eat. The yield of Chinese yam cultivation cannot be considered very high, and it even cannot meet market demand. A large part of the reason is that growers do not fully grasp the management techniques for growing Chinese yam. Below, let Qinnongwang tell everyone how to manage Chinese yam in the field well.
1. Intertillage and weeding
During the growth process of Chinese yam, we need to carry out intertillage and weeding multiple times. One purpose is to remove all the weeds in the field and reduce nutrient loss, and the second is to enhance soil permeability, which can promote tuber growth. At least four rounds of intertillage and weeding are needed each year. First, we can weed according to the growth of the weeds, and second, we need to weed according to the growth of the Chinese yam seedlings.
2. Trellis management
Although the usable part of Chinese yam is its tuber, and the tuber is located in the soil, many growers neglect management of the Chinese yam seedlings and let them creep along the ground. In fact, this has a huge impact on the growth of the Chinese yam tuber. First, the vines densely cover the soil, which makes soil permeability worse; second, it very easily triggers various diseases, causing the plants to wither or rot. Therefore, we need to set up trellises for Chinese yam. Generally, trellising begins when the Chinese yam seedlings have just grown about ten cm, and a support needs to be set up beside each plant. When the plants grow to a certain extent, if they have not grown along the supports, then we also need to manually help the seedlings climb up. Finally, the supports must not be reused, because they very likely carry pathogens and affect plant growth.
3. Water and fertilizer management
Chinese yam has extremely strong drought resistance, but it is extremely intolerant of waterlogging, so basically throughout the year there is almost no need to water much. At most, water only once or twice. If it is a dry year, then two more waterings need to be added on top of the original amount. Finally, for example, in the Hunan region, whenever summer comes there is relatively more rain, so we must drain the water in time, otherwise it will lead to various fungal diseases such as anthracnose, phytophthora blight, leaf blight and soft rot. As for fertilizing, apart from the base fertilizer each year, two to three topdressings are still needed. Among them, the most important are potassium fertilizer and boron fertilizer that promote tuber growth, and the amounts must be controlled well. On average, about one hundred jin of potassium fertilizer and about thirty jin of boron fertilizer are needed per mu.
4. Disease control
The prevention and control of diseases and insect pests in Chinese yam is mainly based on prevention. The peak period for the occurrence of diseases and insect pests is around June and July in summer. Because of high temperature and high humidity, fungal diseases spread relatively quickly, so at least three to four applications of insecticides and fungicides are needed. However, note that spraying should stop about one month before harvest. Even if spraying is necessary, only low-toxicity pesticides may be used, and spraying absolutely must not be done within ten days before harvest.