Summer Broccoli Cultivation: Variety Selection, Seedling Raising, Transplanting, and Pest and Disease Control Techniques

Broccoli is also known as green cauliflower, Italian cauliflower, Italian kale, tree cauliflower, green broccoli, stem broccoli, and broccoli. It is easy to cultivate, has a long supply period, and has great development prospects. So which varieties can be selected for summer broccoli cultivation? How to raise seedlings and transplant? What are the pest and disease control techniques?

I. Variety Selection

For summer sowing, choose Xinxiu, Yousheng, and Japanese Lvxue, which are rain-tolerant, have slightly thicker flower buds, and are disease-resistant.

II. Seedling Raising

Because broccoli is a premium export vegetable, the seeds are expensive, so the soil must be finely prepared, sowing quality improved, and production costs reduced. For seedling bed raising, choose vegetable land with fertile, loose soil, good ventilation, light transmission, and convenient drainage and irrigation, apply sufficient base fertilizer, mix with fungicide to disinfect the soil, make a seedling bed with a high ridge 1-1.2 m wide, irrigate with sufficient bottom water, and then sow. Sow about 25-30 g per 6-7 sq m of seedling bed, which can provide seedlings for 1 mu of field. After sowing, scatter a layer of sieved culture soil made of half manure and half soil, just enough to cover the seeds. During the seedling bed period, spray with mancozeb or metalaxyl to control cabbage black leg. Transplant when there are 5-6 leaves.

III. Field Land Preparation and Transplanting

Choose a field with loose, fertile soil, good drainage, and no clubroot. Before plowing, apply 2000-3000 kg of organic fertilizer per mu, 30 kg/mu of phosphorus, potassium, and compound fertilizer, and 0.5 kg of borax. For acidic soil with a pH below 5.5, apply 50-100 kg of quicklime per mu before making beds to neutralize soil acidity, and make beds at 1.5-2 m including furrows.

Use high-bed cultivation. When transplanting, the plant spacing and row spacing should be about 40×40 cm.

IV. Field Management

From transplanting to establishment, pay attention to watering to help the seedlings recover. After establishment, appropriately reduce the number of waterings to promote root growth. During the vigorous vegetative growth period and curd formation period, increase the amount and frequency of irrigation to prevent drought. During the rainy season, pay attention to drainage to prevent waterlogging.

Broccoli has a high fertilizer requirement, so topdressing should be applied in a timely manner, following the principle of "promote early, control midway, push late." After transplanting and establishment, apply 10 kg of urea, 20 kg of calcium superphosphate, and 10 kg of potassium fertilizer per mu mixed with water. In the early budding stage of the curd, foliar spray boron fertilizer and molybdenum fertilizer at a concentration of about 0.2%. When the curd grows to 4-5 cm, apply 15 kg of urea, 20 kg of calcium superphosphate, and 10 kg of potassium fertilizer per mu mixed with water, and water after fertilizing. Every 10 days, spray once with 0.5% urea, 0.2% monopotassium phosphate, and 0.2% borax water to facilitate rapid growth of the main curd and development of axillary buds on side branches.

V. Pest and Disease Control

(I) Diseases

1. Downy mildew: spray with 69% Anke · mancozeb wettable powder 500 times dilution, or 80% mancozeb (Dasan) wettable powder 600 times dilution, or 72% cymoxanil · mancozeb (Kelu) 600 times dilution, or 25% metalaxyl wettable powder 800 times dilution, or 75% chlorothalonil wettable powder 700 times dilution, alternating the chemicals.

2. Black spot: spray with 10% difenoconazole (Shigao) water-dispersible granules 1000-1500 times dilution, or 50% iprodione (Puhaiyin) wettable powder 1000 times dilution.

3. Black rot: spray with 70% dexon wettable powder 1000 times dilution, or 72% agricultural streptomycin sulfate soluble powder 4000 times dilution, or 90% streptomycin? soil (Xinzhimeisu) soluble powder 4000 times dilution, or 77% copper calcium sulfate (Duoning) wettable powder 600 times dilution for control.

(II) Insect Pests

1. Aphids: spray with 50% pirimicarb wettable powder 2000 times dilution, or 10% imidacloprid wettable powder 4000 times dilution, or 2.5% deltamethrin 3000 times dilution for control.

2. Diamondback moth: use physical insect-killing lamps to trap and kill adults. Advocate the use of biological pesticides to reduce resistance and provide long-lasting control. You may choose 1.8% abamectin emulsifiable concentrate 4000 times dilution, or 10% chlorfenapyr (Chujin) suspension concentrate 1200-1500 times dilution, or 2.5% spinosad (Duoshamycin) suspension concentrate 1000-1500 times dilution, or 3% acetamiprid emulsifiable concentrate 1000-1500 times dilution for spray control.

3. Cabbage caterpillar: for chemical control, refer to diamondback moth.

4. Leafminer: remove vegetable residues damaged by leafminer; use fly-killing paper and yellow boards to trap and kill adults; begin spraying as soon as egg-laying marks and feeding holes are seen. Select the right pesticide and use them alternately. The following pesticides may be chosen for control: (1) 48% chlorpyrifos emulsifiable concentrate 50 milliliters added to 20-50 kg of water for uniform spraying; (2) 5% abamectin emulsifiable concentrate 3000 times dilution sprayed at the early stage of pest occurrence; (3) 75% cyromazine (Qianke) wettable powder 5000-7000 times dilution spray; (4) 5% flufenoxuron (Kashike) floating oil 2000 times dilution spray.