When is the best time to plant spring soybeans?

As the saying goes, "Around the Qingming Festival, plant melons and beans." Now is the suitable spring sowing period for soybeans . In order to increase the soybean planting yield, everyone must master the principle of timely sowing. So when is the best time to plant spring soybeans? Let’s learn more about it below.

When is the best time to plant spring soybeans?

Soybeans prefer warm weather and are generally suitable for sowing in spring and summer. Among them, the spring sowing time in the north is generally selected after Qingming Festival, which is around April-May, and the maturity time is September; summer sowing is after wheat harvest, starting in June, and harvesting in late September to mid-October. Due to the warmer climate in the south, the planting time can be slightly earlier than in the north.

How to plant spring soybeans?

1. Land preparation and fertilization

Choose fields with rich organic matter, convenient irrigation and drainage, loose soil, and conducive to soybean growth and rhizobium activity. The land should be plowed and harrowed as early as possible and made into 1.2-1.4 meter beds. In combination with land preparation, apply sufficient base fertilizer, apply 750-1000 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer per mu plus 20 kg of compound fertilizer (N:P:K=15:15:15) mixed with 1.5 kg of agricultural borax and 5 kg of ammonium molybdate as base fertilizer.

2. Preparation before sowing

Spray selective herbicides such as Duer, Jindul, Shitianbu, and Zhongdingling 5-7 days before sowing to seal the soil. The application rate per mu is 120-200g to inhibit weed growth. Another thing is to select good varieties, choose seeds that are large, plump, pure, free of mildew, pests and diseases, and have germination potential and a germination rate of more than 98%. And mix the seeds with ammonium molybdate and seed dressing agent before sowing.

3. Reasonable density planting

The cultivation method of narrow-bed double-row planting is adopted. In medium-fertility fields, the general planting density is 18,000-21,000 plants per mu. The bed width is 80 cm wide and 2 rows are planted. The hole spacing is 20 cm, and 3 seedlings are planted in each hole. The planting density can be sparser in soil with high fertility, and denser in barren land.

4. Field management

(1) Check seedlings and replant promptly after emergence.

(2) When the two true leaves are unfolded and before the first compound leaf is fully unfolded, the seedlings should be transplanted according to the density requirements.

(3) Cultivating and weeding 1-2 times during the entire growth period can create a suitable soil environment for the growth of roots and nodules. In areas with heavy rain in spring, root growth is affected, so attention should also be paid to drainage and removal of waterlogging.

(4) Pay attention to the staged application of fertilizer, with the key periods for top dressing being the seedling stage, flowering stage, and grain filling stage.

Generally speaking, spring soybeans can be sown around the Qingming Festival, depending on the actual local planting conditions. Note that sowing too early or too late is not conducive to growth, so try to sow at the right time.