How much do purple sweet potato seedlings cost? With detailed growing methods

Purple sweet potato is also known as black sweet potato, shao sweet potato, etc. It is a twining vine of the genus Ipomoea in the Convolvulaceae family. Its flesh is purple to deep purple. Besides containing the nutrients of ordinary sweet potato, it is also rich in selenium and anthocyanins, and has special benefits such as relieving constipation and detoxifying, preventing and fighting cancer, slowing aging, and aiding weight loss. Let us take a look below at purple sweet potato seedling prices and growing methods!

How much does a purple sweet potato seedling cost?

The price of purple sweet potato seedlings is about 0.1 to 0.15 yuan per plant, but prices vary depending on variety, quality, place of origin and market. The planting time for purple sweet potato is generally when the temperature reaches about 15 degrees in mid-February. Before raising seedlings, first prepare the seedbed, place the purple sweet potato seeds horizontally in connected rows on the seedbed with a row spacing of about 5 cm, cover with fine soil, moisten the soil with a sprayer, cover well with plastic film to retain moisture and heat, and when the sprouts grow to more than 20 cm they can be cut and inserted into the field.

What varieties of purple sweet potato are there?

1. Xuzishu No. 1: A new high-yield, purple-fleshed variety with red skin and purple heart and fairly good eating quality. A density of about 3300 plants per mu is suitable, and fresh tuber yield is stable at more than 2000 kg per mu. It is suitable for planting in most areas of northern China and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

2. Zhezishu No. 1: Good sprouting ability, vigorous growth at the seedling stage, long stems and vines, heart-shaped leaves with toothed edges, green leaf color, concentrated tuber formation, relatively many tubers, average tuber number per plant 5.1, average single tuber weight 106.1 grams, average fresh tuber yield per mu 2148.7 kg.

3. Guangzishu No. 1: The top leaves are purple at the edges, the leaf shape is shallowly compound, the veins are purple, the stems are green with purple, the plant form is semi-erect, the tubers have purple-red skin and purple flower-colored flesh, good storage tolerance, good sprouting ability, moderate resistance to sweet potato blight, average fresh tuber yield per mu 2375.0 kg.

4. Jingshu No. 6: Bred by crossing Brazilian sweet potato with Chinese sweet potato. Long stems and vines, both skin and flesh purple, high sweetness, good quality, yield 1500 to 2000 kg per mu, high dry matter rate, mainly used for deep processing and pigment extraction.

5. Japanese Lingzi: A new black sweet potato variety introduced from Japan. The tubers are long spindle-shaped, the skin is purple-red and glossy, the flesh is purple-black and nearly black after cooking, strong disease resistance and storage tolerance, drought tolerance, tolerance of poor soil, strong adaptability, spring sweet potato yield 3000 kg per mu, summer sweet potato yield 2000 kg per mu.

Growing methods for purple sweet potato

1. Variety selection: Purple sweet potato can be divided by use into fresh-eating type and processing type. For the fresh-eating type, choose varieties with good taste, moderate pigment content, good disease resistance and attractive tuber shape; for the processing type, choose varieties with high pigment, good disease resistance and high dry matter rate.

2. Seedling raising and seed selection: Purple sweet potato can be taken out of the cellar for seedling raising in mid-February when the temperature reaches about 15 degrees. Prepare the seedbed well, place the seeds horizontally in connected rows on the seedbed, cover with fine soil and plastic film, and when the sprouts grow to more than 20 cm, cut and insert them into the field.

3. Apply enough base fertilizer: When planting purple sweet potato, apply enough base fertilizer. Generally apply 40 to 50 loads of high-quality organic fertilizer per mu, and 35 to 50 kg of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and compound fertilizer. All the organic fertilizer is broadcast before plowing, and the compound fertilizer is used as a core fertilizer when forming ridges.

4. Cultivation management: After ridging the purple sweet potato, while the soil is moist, apply a herbicide once to prevent weed growth. Cultivate 2 to 3 times, and combine cultivation with earthing up and repairing the ridges. It is afraid of waterlogging, and in severe drought, if conditions permit, drought relief should be carried out in time.

5. Lift the vines at the right time: Purple sweet potato vines grow vigorously and have many adventitious roots at the nodes. Lifting the vines is key to increasing purple sweet potato yield. Do not disrupt the direction, but do not turn the vines over, because turning the vines disrupts nutrient transport and generally reduces yield by 30%.

6. Harvest and storage: For seed use, purple sweet potato should be harvested in mid-to-late October, while for the fresh-eating type it can be delayed until early November. It must all be harvested before frost. In the early storage period, pay attention to ventilation and reducing humidity, and in the later period, pay attention to heat and moisture retention.

Pest and disease control of purple sweet potato

1. Black spot disease

[Symptoms] The lesions mostly occur on wounds, appearing black to brown, round or irregular, with the center slightly sunken.

[Control] Soak seeds for 10 minutes with 50% carbendazim wettable powder at 1000 times, or soak seedlings with 50% carbendazim at 500 to 700 times.

2. Soft rot

[Symptoms] Diseased tubers become soft and rotten with much water, which farmers call “water rot”, and the tuber flesh becomes pale yellow-white and gives off a fragrant alcoholic smell.

[Control] Soak tubers 1 to 2 times with 50 to 70% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder at 500 to 700 times solution, with good results.

3. Root rot

[Symptoms] When roots are infected, dark brown spots form; when leaves are infected, they appear wilted; when tubers are infected, deformed tubers form.

[Control] Spray 2 times with 50% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder at 700 to 1000 times solution, with good results.

4. Sweet potato weevil

[Damage] Adults gnaw on young buds, stems, vines and the cortex of leaf stalks and bite the tuberous roots, affecting yield in severe cases.

[Control] In the early stage, you can use Nongdile diluted with water to pour over the potato heads, or spray with a mixed solution of 600 times trichlorfon plus Kung Fu.