Field management of water spinach

Water spinach is widely grown throughout China, especially in the Lingnan region. As a vegetable in summer and autumn, although the planting process is relatively simple, improper management is still a common cause of planting failure. Let’s take a brief look at the field management techniques of water spinach.

1. Breeding method

Water spinach is sensitive to growing conditions and sunshine duration, especially in areas such as the Yangtze River Basin, where it may bloom but not bear fruit. Therefore, it is not appropriate to use traditional sexual reproduction methods, but asexual reproduction should be used. Germination is carried out in a hotbed in February, seedlings are raised in the open field in March, and open-field planting can be carried out in early May. Although the planting time can be extended until July, planting too late will shorten the harvest period.

2. Land preparation

Field preparation before sowing is crucial. If the land is not planned well before sowing, it will be difficult to obtain high-quality water spinach even with proper management in the later stage. Therefore, the land should be carefully prepared before planting, and organic fertilizer should be applied before sowing. The application amount per mu should be controlled at 60 to 80 dan. Depending on the planting method, the sowing amount varies: the sowing amount per mu for seedling transplanting is about 15 to 20 kilograms, while the sowing amount per mu for direct seeding is about 20 kilograms. Since water spinach seeds are large, it is difficult to ensure germination by simply covering them with soil. They should be covered with fire soil ash after sowing to increase the germination rate.

3. Thinning and finalization

To avoid seedling barrenness and prevent seedlings from growing too fast, thinning should be carried out at the 2-leaf stage. The spacing between seedlings for broadcast sowing should be maintained at about 10 cm, and the spacing between seedlings for row sowing should be maintained at 5 to 8 cm. Thinning should be carried out at the 4-leaf stage. The seedling spacing for broadcast sowing should be maintained at 10 to 15 cm, and the plant spacing for row sowing should be maintained at 15 cm.

4. Cultivate and loosen the soil

After transplanting and watering, tillage and loosen the soil to conserve moisture, promote seedling growth, help the root system expand deeper, and lay the foundation for stem and leaf growth. The seedling-study period should not be too long, generally about 7 days, during which no watering or fertilization is required.

5. Water management

Do not water before transplanting, but water thoroughly after transplanting. Water the plants immediately after they have finished growing. As the temperature rises and the plants grow faster, the water requirement increases and the number of waterings should also increase accordingly to keep the soil moist. After the temperature drops in autumn, you can reduce the frequency of watering, but avoid soil drought.

6. Fertilizer management

Water spinach needs to be harvested continuously, and the growth of stems and leaves requires a lot of nutrients, so the amount of fertilizer should be higher than other leafy vegetables, mainly nitrogen fertilizer. The first topdressing is carried out after the tillage and seedling planting is completed, with 5 to 10 kg of urea per mu; the second topdressing is carried out after the first harvest, with 5 kg of compound fertilizer per mu. After that, top dressing should be applied after each harvest, alternating the above amounts and fertilizer types. Combine fertilization with watering. When the weather cools down in autumn, you can till the land once before applying top dressing and watering.

7. Harvesting method

There are two ways to harvest: one is to pull out all the water spinach when it is still young; the other is to pick the tops in several times. If direct seeding is used, the seedlings should be transplanted about one month after sowing when the plants grow to about 15 cm in height, and the seedlings should be thinned out for harvesting. When the plant's stems grow to more than 30 cm, the top part can be harvested in three times, retaining a different number of stem nodes each time to promote vitality at the base of the stems and encourage the growth of new buds. If transplanting is adopted, the top shoots should be removed when harvesting and the work should be done in several batches. It can generally be harvested 3 to 4 times, and the yield per acre can reach about 5,000 kilograms. The plant should be harvested in time when it grows to about 30 cm to avoid affecting the taste.

The above are the field management techniques for water spinach. If you want to achieve high yield in water spinach cultivation, the field management link must be done well.