Detailed Explanation of Cultivation Points and Planting Techniques for New Zealand Spinach

Land preparation, base fertilizer application and bed making are the same as for ordinary spinach. In spring, sow early at the right time; early sowing means early harvest, and sowing between February and March is preferable. New Zealand spinach can be sown directly or raised as seedlings for transplanting. Because its root regeneration capacity is weak and seedlings recover slowly after transplanting, direct sowing is mostly used. Sowing methods include broadcast sowing, row sowing and hill sowing, with hill sowing being more common. First open holes 2-3 cm deep, with row spacing and plant spacing of 50 x 30 cm, and sow 4-5 seeds per hole. The seed coat is hard and poorly permeable to water, so it is advisable to soak the seeds for 24 hours before sowing. It generally takes more than 20 days to emerge. When the seedlings have 4-5 true leaves, they can be thinned and harvested and the stand can be finalized, leaving 1-2 robust seedlings per hole. The seed requirement per mu is 8-10 kg.

After emergence, management work such as thinning, intertillage and weeding, watering and fertilizing should be done well, keeping the soil moist. After each harvest, applying 5-6 kg of urea liquid fertilizer per mu gives good results.

For harvesting New Zealand spinach, tender shoots are harvested successively as the plants grow. In summer and autumn, under conditions of sufficient fertilizer and water, it can be picked once every 10-15 days, and harvesting can continue until Frost's Descent. The product must be boiled thoroughly in boiling water to remove the astringency before it can be served as a cold dish, stir-fried or used in soup. If cooking is not done properly and the astringency-removal treatment is omitted, it is often unfit to eat, and attention should be paid to this.