When to Sow Amaranth? A Detailed Guide to Growing Techniques
Amaranth, also known as Chinese spinach, has strong resistance, grows easily, likes heat, tolerates drought and moisture, and has few pests and diseases along with high nutritional value. It is one of the main summer leafy vegetables loved by the public. So, when to sow amaranth? A detailed guide to growing techniques is attached!
1. When to sow amaranth?
The best sowing time for amaranth is from February to May. From February to March, it is generally grown in greenhouses or small arched sheds; from April to May, it can be intercropped with eggplants, yardlong beans, and melons, or mixed-sown with other leafy vegetables. In a few areas, it can also be sown in the early autumn in late September. Its suitable growing temperature is 23-27°C. Below 20°C, growth is slow; if the temperature is too high, the degree of stem fibrosis is high. Under temperature conditions below 10°C, seed germination is difficult. It is a high-temperature, short-day crop, and under high-temperature and short-day conditions, it very easily flowers and sets seed.
2. Detailed guide to amaranth growing techniques
1. Choosing and preparing the land
Amaranth has strong adaptability to soil. You can choose flat terrain with convenient drainage and irrigation, either clay or sandy soil, with slightly alkaline soil being the most suitable. Growing it under conditions of sufficient moisture and fertile soil is more conducive to increasing yield and quality.
Before preparing the land, apply base fertilizer at 2000 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer per mu. After fertilizing, plow deeply, then make beds, using soil to form bed ridges with a ridge height of 10 cm and a bed surface width of 1 m; the bed length depends on the plot. After making the beds, apply base fertilizer once more, using a compound fertilizer with a nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content of 15:15:15, at 50 kg per mu. Broadcast it evenly to avoid burning the seeds due to excessive local fertilization. Use a rake to go over the soil once to mix the soil and fertilizer evenly. Because amaranth seeds are relatively small, when raking, make the ground level and the soil fine to help with emergence.
2. Sowing
Because amaranth seeds are relatively small, only 1/4 the size of sesame seeds, it is not easy to broadcast them evenly. Through long-term sowing practice, a practical sowing method has been summarized: before sowing, mix fine sand and seeds evenly at a ratio of 1:5, and then sow directly on the ground. The amount of pure amaranth seed used per mu is about 0.6 kg. After sowing, rake the bed surface once so that the amaranth seeds are covered with a layer of soil, then tread over the bed surface once and press it flat to prevent the seeds from being washed away when watering, which would cause uneven germination.
3. Watering
When watering, use a mist-like spray to avoid washing pits into the bed surface, where there would be no seeds, and to prevent too strong a water flow from washing the seeds away. When sowing amaranth in spring, because there is little rainfall and the air is dry, after watering the surface evaporation is high, which easily makes the soil surface harden and crack. After amaranth seeds sprout, they cannot break through the surface soil and therefore do not emerge. After the water has completely seeped into the soil, cover the bed surface with plastic film and press the edges of the film firmly with soil. This can raise the ground temperature and promote faster seed germination. Before amaranth emerges, no watering is needed.
4. Field management
Amaranth seedlings are relatively small, and within just over ten days, weeds grow much taller than the seedlings, so they must be pulled out in time; otherwise, they compete with amaranth for nutrients and affect the amaranth's access to light. About 20 days after sowing, when the seedlings have grown more than 2 leaves, carry out the first topdressing. Choose a sunny day and apply 15 kg of ammonium sulfate per mu, then water promptly after fertilizing. Carry out the second topdressing 12-15 days after the first topdressing. After the first thinning harvest, carry out the third topdressing using the same method as above, to promote the vigorous growth of the smaller amaranth after harvest. Be careful to water promptly after each fertilization and to pull out weeds.
5. Pest and disease control
Amaranth has relatively strong disease resistance. The main disease is white rust, which can be controlled with triadimefon or mancozeb. The main pest is aphids, which can be controlled by spraying with imidacloprid or pirimicarb.
In addition, note that amaranth is sown once and harvested in batches. The first harvest is mostly combined with thinning. Generally, 40-45 days after sowing, when the seedlings are 10-12 cm tall and have 5-6 leaves, harvest the plants gradually by thinning, following the principle of harvesting the large and leaving the small, and leaving seedlings evenly, so as to increase later yield. After harvesting, topdress promptly. Amaranth is mainly eaten for its tender leaves, so harvesting must be timely; otherwise, the fiber increases and the quality decreases.