What are the environmental requirements for growing yardlong beans?
Yardlong beans, also called cowpeas, are a vegetable we often eat in our daily lives. Yardlong bean cultivation covers a fairly large area in China, and the market for yardlong beans is growing, yet many people still fail at growing them. In fact, growing yardlong beans is not as easy as it seems; the plant has certain environmental requirements. Below, the editor brings you the environmental conditions yardlong beans need. Let's take a look!
1. Soil
Yardlong beans have fairly strong adaptability and do not demand much of soil fertility, but if you want to grow high-yielding, high-quality yardlong beans, you should still choose deep, loose, well-aerated sandy soil as much as possible. The previous two crops in the soil should not be crops of the same family or genus, otherwise various pests and diseases are more likely to occur. In fact, the choice of soil for cultivated planting is quite important to the growth of yardlong beans; although they can grow normally in all kinds of soil, their yield and quality will certainly be affected to some degree.
2. Temperature
Yardlong beans are fairly fond of warmth, and the temperature should be neither too high nor too low; their heat and cold tolerance are both rather poor. After sowing, the temperature should be kept at around 22 degrees to promote seed germination; outside the range of 8-35 degrees, germination is extremely slow or may not happen at all. After the seedlings break through the soil, the temperature should be adjusted to around 19 degrees and must not fall below 13 degrees. Then, when the flowering and pod-setting stage arrives, the most suitable growing temperature is around 25 degrees. If the temperature is too high or too low, yardlong beans are very prone to flower and pod drop. Also, if the accumulated temperature after sowing is below 700 degrees, then even if flowers appear later, no pods will form, so in spring you must pay attention to the sowing time.
3. Light
The growth of yardlong beans does not demand much light, and light duration does not have a large effect on their growth. However, this mainly depends on the growth stage of the yardlong beans; during vigorous growth periods such as the flowering and pod-setting stage, they do have a certain demand for light. If the light requirements of yardlong beans are not met during the vigorous growth period, it easily leads to various physiological problems such as excessive vegetative growth and flower and pod drop. This has a relatively large impact on the growth of yardlong beans, so when planting we must manage light well and create a good growing environment for them.
4. Water
Yardlong beans like to grow in a moist environment, but they are not tolerant of waterlogging, though their drought tolerance is not poor. Therefore, during the growth period of yardlong beans, the soil should be kept in a moist state; the soil moisture content should be neither too much nor too little, and keeping it at around 65% is sufficient. If there is too little water, the flowering and pod-setting of yardlong beans will be affected, flowering will be delayed, and the number and quality of pods will be reduced. Yardlong bean seed germination also needs a certain amount of water, but it must not be excessive; too much easily causes seed rot and affects growing returns.
Therefore, when planting, we must do a good job of watering, both meeting the water needs of yardlong bean growth and preventing excess water from causing waterlogging, root rot, pests and diseases, and other problems that threaten the growth of yardlong beans. The above is a brief introduction to the environmental requirements of yardlong beans. This article is for reference only. Friends who want to learn more related information, please keep following us!