What are the pre-sowing seed treatment methods for water spinach?
Water spinach, also known as swamp cabbage, is a very popular vegetable in China. It has a wide planting area, and water spinach cultivation is generally based on growing from seed. Before sowing water spinach, we need to pay attention to treating the seeds properly to improve seed quality and germination rate. So how should water spinach seeds be treated before sowing? Below, the editor will give a brief introduction for everyone, let's take a look!
1. Seed selection
Before sowing, we must first select good seeds, mainly plump seeds of suitable size. Remove shriveled seeds, damaged seeds, and seeds with broken seed coats to ensure seed quality and improve the germination rate. Control the sowing rate according to the cultivation method. If raising seedlings, the seeding rate is generally about 50 jin per mu; if sowing directly in the field, the seeding rate should be controlled at about 10 jin per mu. After selecting the seeds, place them in a container, then put them into a microwave device and treat them on medium power for about 15 seconds.
2. Seed soaking
After the water spinach seeds have been microwaved, put them directly into clean water and soak for about two hours. Then place the seeds into a seed-soaking agent and soak for about half an hour. After soaking, take them out and wash them clean. The seed-soaking agent can be purchased on the market or mixed yourself. Fully mix various substances such as forchlorfenuron, seaweed extract, citric acid, and potassium nitrate with water. Then during the soaking process, be sure to stir continuously for at least about 10 minutes. After soaking, wash clean with water and place in nutrient solution to soak for two hours, then wash again.
3. Germination
After completing the seed soaking work, germination can begin. After soaking, wrap the seeds with moist gauze and squeeze out excess water. Then place them in an environment of about 5 degrees for cold storage for about 11 hours. Then take them out and soak them in warm water of about 25 degrees for half an hour. Finally, remove them and place them in a constant-temperature chamber to germinate for about 22 hours. Observe the seeds frequently. When most of the seeds have sprouted white, sowing can begin.
4. Precautions for germination
When germinating the seeds, we should pay attention to washing the seeds once every day with clean water to keep them moist so that the seeds can be evenly warmed. After the germination work is finished, we should spray some compound micro-fertilizer on the seeds. First prepare about 4 g of compound micro-fertilizer and about 45 g of water, mix and stir the two evenly, then spray it thoroughly and evenly onto the seeds. Finally, mix the seeds evenly with fine soil and sow using the traditional method.
The above is a brief introduction to the pre-sowing treatment methods for water spinach seeds. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and we hope it can help everyone!