When is the best time to plant sweet potatoes in spring?

Sweet potatoes are a very healthy whole grain with a relatively large yield. Now is spring, which is the best time to sow many crops. So when is the best time to plant sweet potatoes in spring?

When is the best time to plant sweet potatoes in spring?

The best time to plant spring sweet potatoes is usually between April and May each year. The temperature during this period is suitable, which is conducive to the growth and expansion of sweet potatoes.

Key points for sweet potato field management

Check and replant seedlings: Check the seedlings 4-5 days after planting. If any missing or dead seedlings are found, replant them in time to ensure that all seedlings are complete.

Intertillage and weeding: If no herbicide is used during planting and there are too many weeds in the middle and late stages, you can use a lethal herbicide for targeted weeding by spraying, being careful not to spray on the potato vines.

Top dressing fertilizer for seedling promotion: Apply top dressing fertilizer for seedling promotion from the seedling stage to the vine extension stage, apply 3-5 kg ​​of urea per mu to strengthen the plants and promote growth. Top dressing can be combined with watering.

Lift the vines in time: In July and August, the temperature is high and there is much rainfall, the stems and leaves of sweet potatoes grow lushly, it is easy to breed node roots and consume nutrients. You can lift the vines 1-2 times to injure the fibrous roots growing on the stem nodes and reduce nutrient consumption.

It is strictly forbidden to turn the vines: turning the vines will cause serious damage to the stems and leaves, destroying the optimal distribution of light energy for the leaves and causing a reduction in yield.

Foliar fertilization: After the sweet potato enters the tuber swelling stage, for the plots that are deprived of fertilizer in the late growth stage, in order to prevent premature aging of the leaves, during the tuber swelling period, when cracks appear on the ridges, apply crack fertilizer. Generally, 5-10 kg of compound fertilizer and 60 kg of water are added per mu and poured along the cracks. When topdressing is inconvenient, foliar fertilization can be used by spraying 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution.

Drainage and waterlogging prevention: If waterlogging occurs, it will affect the expansion of tubers, reduce the cutting rate of sweet potatoes, and the tubers will not be able to withstand storage. Drainage ditches should be dug around the potato fields to facilitate timely drainage and prevent waterlogging when there is heavy rain.

Top picking: When the main stem of the sweet potato grows to 50 cm, choose a sunny morning to pick off the top buds; continue to remove the top buds when the branches grow to 35 cm. This method can inhibit the excessive growth of stems and vines, avoid nutrient consumption, and promote root tuber expansion.

Fertilizing cracks: When sweet potatoes enter the root expansion period, cracks will appear in the topsoil. At this time, use 750 to 1,000 kg of clean water and manure per mu, mix 500 grams of potassium dihydrogen phosphate with the manure, and irrigate along the cracks in the morning or evening.

To sum up, the planting of sweet potatoes in spring should be carried out when the temperature is suitable according to local climatic conditions and soil conditions. At the same time, attention should be paid to field management before and after planting to ensure the healthy growth and harvest of sweet potatoes.