How to Grow Chinese Water Chestnut? A Detailed Explanation of the Key Cultivation Techniques
The Chinese water chestnut, also known as matai or water chestnut, is called "ground chestnut" because its appearance and effects are similar to those of the chestnut and it grows in the soil. It is crisp and sweet, and we have all eaten it; it can be eaten raw as a fruit and also used as a vegetable. So do you know how it is grown? Let's take a look together at QinNongWang.
1. Field Selection
The Chinese water chestnut has low requirements for soil and can adapt to various soil environments, but neutral and slightly acidic soil is the best choice. The planting site requires convenient irrigation and drainage, and there is one more point to note: it is not suitable for continuous cropping. It is best to rotate with other crops at an interval of 2-3 years to reduce the probability of disease occurrence and lessen the impact of disease on yield and quality.
2. Seed Selection and Seedling Raising
The Chinese water chestnut reproduces asexually through corms. When sowing, select corms with undamaged skin, strong apical and lateral buds, a dark brown color, and a large size as seed. Generally, only fifty or sixty corms are needed per mu, and this should be done in late March or early April, as far as possible before Qingming Festival. Before sowing, first soak the corms for one day in a 600-fold dilution of 50% carbendazim wettable powder for disinfection. After disinfection, arrange the corms in the seedbed with the bud tips pointing upward. After arranging them, cover with a layer of fine soil, then water to keep the seedbed moist.
3. Temporary Planting
When the young shoots in the seedbed have grown to 10-15 cm and have 3-4 lateral buds, temporary planting can be carried out, generally in late April or early May. An early rice field can be chosen as the temporary planting site. Before temporary planting, first prepare the land and apply fertilizer: apply 1000 kg of manure, 25 kg of ammonium bicarbonate, and 25 kg of compound fertilizer per mu. During temporary planting, pull out the sprouted Chinese water chestnuts and plant them in the rice field, maintaining a plant-row spacing of 40×50 cm. Keep the water depth at 1-2 cm in the early stage, then deepen it to 2-3 cm later, strengthen fertilizer and water management, and when the seedlings are 40 cm tall, they can be finally planted.
4. Final Planting
During final planting, likewise prepare the land and apply fertilizer. Deep plowing of 20 cm is required, and the soil should be broken up finely and harrowed thoroughly, with sufficient base fertilizer applied. Pull out the seedlings that have been temporarily planted; when pulling the seedlings, dig them out together with the corms. Remove the male Chinese water chestnut seedlings whose leaf-like stems are clustered and slender. If the seedlings are too tall, cut off a section from the tips of the leaf-like stems to prevent wind from affecting root establishment after final planting. Then wash the seedling roots clean, soak them for 1 hour in a 600-fold dilution of 25% carbendazim wettable powder for disinfection, and after applying some rooting powder, they can be planted. The planting depth is 8-12 cm, so that the roots make perfect contact with the soil. Plant about 4000 plants per mu, maintaining a plant-row spacing of 60×30 cm.
5. Field Management
Strengthen fertilizer and water management, adopting the method of shallow-water transplanting and deep-water survival. For final planting, plant in shallow water with a water level of 2-3 cm. After planting, deepen the water level to 5-9 cm. After survival, lower the water level to 2-3 cm. During the corm formation stage, keep the water level at 8-10 cm. When the corms mature, stop irrigation and simply keep the soil moist. Fertilization should be mainly base fertilizer, with topdressing as a supplement. Topdressing mainly uses nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers, with nitrogen fertilizer dominant in the early stage and phosphorus and potassium fertilizers dominant in the later stage. When fertilizing, combine with intertillage and weeding to remove weeds so as to prevent them from competing with the plants for nutrients. When weeding, if diseased or weak seedlings are found, they can also be pulled out directly.
The above is the cultivation technique for Chinese water chestnut brought to you by QinNongWang. We hope it can help you. To learn more about Chinese water chestnut plants, please stay tuned to QinNongWang.