What are the growing environment requirements for purple sweet potato cultivation?
Purple sweet potato can be grown in most parts of the country, but it is best suited to black soil, sandy loam, and yellow clay soil. At present, it is mainly grown in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions in the south, the Hunan and Hubei regions in central China, the Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan regions in the southwest, as well as in Shandong and Shaanxi. So what exactly are the growing environment requirements for purple sweet potato? We still need to analyze them together.
1. Soil
It has some requirements for soil. Sandy land is most suitable, and even gravelly land unsuitable for other plants is very suitable for purple sweet potato growth. Purple sweet potato likes dry conditions and dislikes moisture, so other soils with good water retention or heavy clay soils are especially unsuitable for planting. Paddy fields that have previously grown rice are especially unsuitable. It is suitable for growing in yellow soil and black soil.
2. Water
It does not like water and prefers dry conditions. With too much water, the underground tubers easily rot or become infected with pathogens, and the edible tubers may end up containing too much water after cooking, making them watery with a poor texture. In addition, purple sweet potato, which mainly absorbs through fibrous roots, is afraid of waterlogging, which affects the root system's absorption capacity and prevents it from absorbing nutrients. Planting in land with high water content will reduce yield and lower the nutrient content.
3. Temperature
Generally, the temperature during seedling raising must reach 15°C and must not be lower than 12°C. Temperature affects sprouting, and mainly sprouted branches are collected for planting. At planting time, the temperature is about 20°C. Because it is propagated by cuttings, the temperature must not be too high; excessively high temperatures make survival difficult, and the cuttings easily wither and die. In cool weather, evaporation is low and air humidity is high, so cuttings recover quickly and root very fast. At least two weeks of cool temperatures must be maintained. Therefore, planting time is very important. During the tuber expansion period, the temperature needs to be above 20°C, around 25°C.
4. Nutrition
The base fertilizer is about 1000 jin per mu, and sufficient base fertilizer must be applied. In the early stage, mainly compound fertilizer or farmyard manure is applied, that is, fertilizer with comprehensive nutrients. Nitrogen fertilizer cannot be applied alone; applying too much nitrogen fertilizer makes the branches and leaves overly luxuriant, which is unfavorable for tuber expansion. If the coverage area is too large, the field is difficult to manage. When the tubers begin to expand, start using phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. Apply fertilizer twice during the entire expansion period, using potassium sulfate, diammonium phosphate, plant ash, livestock manure, and the like.
Although purple sweet potato has some requirements for its growing environment, most places basically have a suitable growing environment. There may also be growing environments that are not quite as complete. In actual production, what matters more is whether it can actually be grown, and what is looked at is the real result.