Is it better to plant sugarcane with seeds or seedlings (how to grow sugarcane seedlings and planting techniques)

A netizen asked : I grew up in the north and have never seen sugarcane being grown. Now my baby suddenly asked me how to grow sugarcane and whether I can grow one at home. I am stumped. Can anyone who knows give me some scientific knowledge?

It is generally believed that sugarcane is a common crop in the south, but few people know that it can also be grown in some places in the north.

Sugarcane is a crop from the same family as rice, wheat, corn, sorghum, etc., namely, the Gramineae. Gramineae crops have a common feature, that is, they are composed of roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits (seeds). But does sugarcane have flowers and fruits (seeds)?

1. Sugarcane flowers and fruits (seeds)

The inflorescence of sugarcane is a compound raceme, very long, some are nearly 1 meter long, and consists of many small flower spikes. The whole inflorescence looks like a bunch of silver wool.

However, sugarcane has a short style and a single-chambered ovary, and often produces few fruits due to incomplete pollen development or ovary degeneration.

The fruit (seeds) of sugarcane are very small and have a short lifespan. They usually lose the ability to germinate after three months. Even if they can germinate, the seedlings are too thin and weak because the seeds are too small. How much nutrition can they contain?

Therefore, if you want to grow sugarcane, you basically use asexual reproduction instead of sexual reproduction using seeds .

Besides, the purpose of growing sugarcane is to harvest the thick stems. During cultivation, we try to avoid the development and formation of flowers and seeds. It is rare to see sugarcane blooming and bearing fruit .

Sugarcane is not reproduced by sowing seeds like corn, rice, wheat, etc. It uses sugarcane stems as seedlings for reproduction.

2. Selection and processing of sugarcane seeds

The sugarcane seeds used in sugarcane planting must be selected in the field, then plant selected, then segment selected, and finally bud selected, ultimately selecting high-quality and strong sugarcane stalks for seeds.

The selected sugarcane stalks must be soaked and disinfected to prevent the occurrence of diseases and pests such as bromeliad.

The disinfection of sugarcane seeds is generally done by soaking the whole bundle in clean water for a day and a night. After taking it out, peel off the leaves and cut it into a certain length. Each section of the seed stem is required to have 2-3 strong buds.

After cutting the seed segments, soak them in 0.2% carbendazim solution for 3-5 minutes to prevent infection by bacteria. After germination, they can be sown, such as mulching cultivation.

After sugarcane is sown, certain environmental conditions are required to ensure uniform germination, namely temperature, water, soil, etc.

For example, the temperature must be kept above 13 degrees, germination is accelerated above 20 degrees, and the more suitable temperature is around 30 degrees. Although germination is fast above 30 degrees, the sprouts are not very good and a little weak.

When the temperature exceeds 40 degrees, germination becomes slow, and the plants will be frozen to death at minus 2 degrees. Sometimes the temperature does not reach below zero, but frost damage will still occur, mainly because the low temperature lasts too long.

Another example is water. When we sow sugarcane, we will soak it. In this way, the water content in the sugarcane is relatively high, which can basically meet the water needs for germination and seedling growth for a period of time.

However, if there is no soaking or the soaking time is too short, the water content in the seed sugarcane will be low, which will obviously affect the germination rate. Even if we water it again, it will be difficult to recover, and it may just sprout again.

For example, the soil requires high humidity, but the soil humidity must be low during the germination period. It also needs to have good permeability to ensure that there is enough oxygen for vigorous respiration during germination, thereby ensuring the germination of seedlings.

In short, sugarcane is planted with its stems, not with seeds, and its planting requires strict seed selection and soaking and disinfection. The germination of sugarcane seeds requires a certain temperature, water and suitable soil, otherwise it is difficult to cultivate high-quality seedlings .