What are the growing conditions for yacon? A detailed explanation of environmental requirements
Yacon is a premium fruit in our daily lives. Yacon looks very similar to sweet potato on the outside, and many people confuse the two. In fact, yacon and sweet potato are quite different, and you cannot grow yacon using sweet potato growing methods, because yacon has strict environmental requirements. So what are the growing conditions for yacon? Below, the editor brings you the growing conditions for yacon. Let's take a look!
1. Soil
Growing yacon has relatively strict soil requirements. When planting, we should choose soil with strong permeability and good drainage and irrigation. Because yacon is not suitable for living in moist soil, we must prevent water accumulation in the soil, and the soil should be loose and somewhat sandy. This makes it easy to drain accumulated water. Pay attention to the soil's pH value. Before planting, an appropriate amount of lime powder can be scattered into the soil, using the heat released by the lime powder to kill insect eggs. This avoids severe pest damage later and prevents it from affecting yacon growth.
2. Temperature
Yacon is a temperature-loving crop, and the surrounding temperature must be well controlled during cultivation. The optimal temperature for yacon is around 25°C. If the temperature around the planting site varies greatly, growers should adjust their growing method, shifting from open-field cultivation to greenhouse cultivation. This is because greenhouse cultivation allows timely temperature adjustment and prevents excessively low temperatures from affecting yacon growth. Also, be sure to pay attention to temperature when sowing. If the temperature is too low, seeds will have difficulty germinating, so the sowing temperature should be controlled above 15°C.
3. Light
Yacon is very fond of light and has a very high demand for light during cultivation, so when choosing a planting site, we should choose a place with higher terrain. It is precisely because of light conditions that yacon's planting area is relatively small, and it can basically only be grown in high-altitude cities such as Tibet and Yunnan. If yacon lacks light during growth, its leaves become dull and lusterless, wilt and droop, photosynthesis decreases, and nutrient absorption is hindered. This prevents the tubers from expanding effectively, seriously affecting yield and quality, and leading to lower growing returns.
4. Nutrients
Yacon grows quickly and, under normal management, yields are relatively high, so its nutrient demand is very large. In addition to applying sufficient base fertilizer before sowing, we must also do a good job of topdressing at each important growth stage of yacon. In the early stage, the proportion of nitrogen fertilizer can be appropriately increased to promote seedling growth and strengthen root extension and nutrient absorption. In the middle and late stages, nitrogen fertilizer application should be controlled, because if there is too much nitrogen fertilizer, yacon may grow excessively, the flowering and fruiting rate may decline, and the economic benefits of cultivation may be affected.
The above is a brief introduction to the growing conditions for yacon. As mentioned earlier, due to these relatively harsh environmental requirements, yacon's planting area is small, and its annual output cannot meet market demand, so its growing prospects are still quite good. However, growing yacon is very risky, and everyone must consider it carefully before planting. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. Thank you for reading and supporting us.