What are the reasons for turning sweet potato vines and what are the precautions?
Sweet potato is a common crop in our lives, nutritious and delicious. There are many varieties of sweet potato. Sweet potato is a vine crop propagated by cuttings, and its main stem can grow to more than 1 m long, with stem nodes prone to growing adventitious roots. These adventitious roots will grow many small sweet potatoes in small numbers, with relatively low quality. During field management of sweet potatoes, whether or not to turn the vines gives many people a headache, so should sweet potato vines be turned? Let's take a look.
I. Should sweet potato vines be turned?
When the sweet potato tubers are expanding, turning the vines is very necessary. Turning the vines can cut off the contact between the aerial roots along the sweet potato vines and the soil, thereby reducing the absorption of nutrients by the sweet potato vines, preventing excessive vine growth, and preventing the vines from competing with the tubers for nutrients. It can also concentrate nutrients in the tuberous roots, promote the absorption of nutrients by the tuberous roots, promote tuber expansion and growth, and have an obvious yield-increasing effect.
II. Precautions for turning sweet potato vines
1. Turn the vines early
It is advisable to turn the vines within one month after the potato vines have survived from cuttings, because at this time the potato stems have not yet formed tubers, and the potato vines are in the peak period of sprouting, so there is less damage to the vine stems and leaves when turning the vines. When turning the vines, choose a sunny afternoon or a cloudy day, as this can reduce water evaporation. It can be done at the same time as intertillage weeding and topdressing. If conditions permit, a layer of rice straw or weeds can be spread on top of the potato soil, which can both prevent the potato vines from "running roots" and help retain water and resist drought.
2. Turn the vines moderately
When turning the vines, be sure to pay attention to the degree. It is not suitable to "turn them over and over"; turning once is appropriate. In spring and autumn, the temperature is relatively high and the sunlight is relatively strong. This is precisely the period when the potato vines grow vigorously and also the period when the tuberous roots expand. If turning the vines at this time causes damage to the stems and leaves of the potato vines, and combined with strong sunlight, the overturned stems and leaves of the potato vines are very easily sunburned. If the vines are turned on rainy days, it is also very easy to cause the vine wounds to rot, thereby inducing various diseases and insect pests in sweet potatoes, which is not conducive to yield and quality.
The above is an introduction to the reasons for turning sweet potato vines and the precautions. I hope it can help you. If you want to learn more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.