How to Grow Water Spinach from Seed? A Full Breakdown of the Key Techniques
Water spinach is very common in our daily lives and is grown on a very large area in the southern provinces; it is a common vegetable. When growing water spinach, there are generally two methods: raising seedlings and transplanting, or direct sowing in the field. To increase the yield of water spinach, most growers now mainly use the seedling-raising and transplanting method. So how should water spinach be grown from seed? Below, the editor brings you the key techniques for growing water spinach from seed. Let's take a look!
1. Choose superior seed
Before growing water spinach from seed, we must first choose a suitable variety according to the growing method. For example, if cultivating in a greenhouse, the suitable varieties include Qingye Baike and Nanchang water spinach. Among them, Qingye Baike has very strong growth ability, can send out many lateral roots, is mainly green-white in color, and has fairly obvious leaf veins; it is a high-quality water spinach variety and is very suitable for dryland cultivation. When selecting seed, choose seeds that are plump, glossy and have a high germination rate, to ensure the yield of water spinach.
2. Seed treatment
After selecting the seeds, we must do a good job of treating the seeds. First, we should dress the seeds with agents such as metalaxyl to eliminate bacteria on the seeds and carry out disinfection. The seed coat of water spinach seeds is fairly thick and hard. If sown directly without treatment, germination will be slow or the seeds will rot and fail to sprout because the temperature is too low. Therefore, we should soak the seeds in warm water at about 55 degrees for about half an hour. Then soak them in clean water for one day, remove them, wash them clean, and place them at 25 degrees to germinate. During germination, keep the seeds in a moist environment and wash them once every day. When more than half of the seeds have sprouted white, they can be sown.
3. Grow strong seedlings
Water spinach can be directly sown in the field or raised as seedlings and transplanted. However, to increase the yield of water spinach and the utilization rate of facilities, it is best to use the seedling-raising and transplanting method. Seedling raising and transplanting is mainly based on solar greenhouse cultivation, and the sowing rate per mu should generally be controlled at about 5 jin. Then, after germination, sow the seeds directly in the soil. After sowing, control the temperature well; the daytime temperature should be controlled at about 30 degrees, and at night about 15 degrees. After the seeds emerge in about a week, lower the daytime temperature by about 5 degrees, and keep the soil at a state of alternating dry and wet.
4. Fertilizing and planting out
Before transplanting, we must first choose a plot with higher terrain, strong drainage and irrigation capacity and good ventilation as the field for planting out. Because water spinach grows fairly fast, has strong branching ability, and has a relatively large demand for fertilizer and water. Therefore, pay attention to applying sufficient base fertilizer; the base fertilizer is mainly decomposed farmyard manure, combined with an appropriate amount of plant ash, then fully mixed with the soil, and ridges are made and beds formed. When the water spinach seedlings grow to about 20 cm, they can be planted out. A bed about one meter wide is planted with about three rows, and the hole spacing is kept at about 35 cm.
The above is a brief introduction to the key techniques for growing water spinach from seed. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and we hope it can help everyone!