When is the best time to grow sweet potato seedlings?

Yam, also known as sweet potato, sweet potato, and sweet potato , is a widely distributed crop throughout the world and is grown in many areas of China. Planting sweet potatoes requires seedling cultivation. So when is the best time to cultivate sweet potato seedlings? Let’s learn more about it below.

When is the best time to grow sweet potato seedlings?

When raising sweet potato seedlings, you need to pay attention to the temperature and make sure they will not be damaged by frost. Generally, seedlings are raised in the southern region around the Rain Water solar term, which is around February to April. In the north, most seedlings will be grown around the Qingming Festival or the Grain Rain Festival, which is around mid-April.

How to grow sweet potato seedlings?

1. Seedbed layout

Choose a flat plot that is sheltered from the wind and facing the sun. The soil should be loose, sandy, fertile and free of diseases. Appropriate amount of organic fertilizer can be added to the bed soil to ensure the quality and quantity of the sweet potato seedlings .

2. Seed selection

Choose healthy sweet potatoes of moderate size (free from pests and diseases, and without cold and moisture damage), weighing between 3 taels and 1 jin. Generally speaking, 55 kilograms of sweet potato seeds are needed per acre of land.

3. Seed potato processing

Before planting in the soil, the sweet potatoes must be disinfected. They can be treated with warm water at 50 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. Secondly, soaking in carbendazim or other medicines is also effective. Of course, you can also sprinkle the medicine on the seedbed appropriately. In this way, seedling diseases can be reduced, and they are more likely to survive and thrive after transplanting.

4. Seeding

Sweet potatoes can be arranged diagonally, horizontally or vertically. In order to save seed potatoes and seedling bed area and strengthen the seedlings, 25 kg of potatoes are placed per square meter. In the process of planting potatoes, the principle of "planting large potatoes densely and small potatoes sparsely" should be followed, and the seed potatoes should be covered with soil after planting.

5. Temperature and humidity

The temperature of the seedling bed must be above 16 degrees and below 35 degrees. In an environment above 16 degrees, as the temperature rises, the higher the temperature, the more conducive it is to the germination of sweet potatoes. Once the temperature is below 15 degrees, it may cause cold damage to the sweet potatoes and make it difficult to germinate. The nutrients needed for sweet potato sprouts are mainly obtained from the sweet potato tubers, but appropriate nutrient supplementation is beneficial for the sweet potato seedlings to be stronger. Therefore, maintaining a suitable seedbed humidity of about 80% is beneficial to the growth of sweet potato seedlings.

That’s it