Water cabbage is also known as weng cai and hollow cabbage. It is an annual herb of the genus Morning Glory in the family Spinosae. Originating in South China, it is widely cultivated. It is cultivated throughout our province and plays an important role in adjusting the supply of off-season leafy vegetables in our province from August to September.
Water bracken likes warm, humid, resistant to heat, the most suitable temperature of 30 ~ 35 ° C, in our province can not be open overwintering. Strong adaptability, the soil requirements are not strict, both fertilizer resistance, but also more resistant to barrenness, to contain a rich organic clay loam cultivation is appropriate. Deep water ponds, riverfronts, shallow marshes, paddy fields and wet drylands can be planted. Propagation is carried out with seeds or stems.
Waterweed is propagated only with seeds in our province. There are two ways to do this. One is seedling transplanting and the other is on demand.
1. Seedling transplanting: Seedling transplanting is the first seedling, then transplantation, it is suitable for shallow or deep water planting.
(1) Seedlings: Before and after the spring equinox, choose low flat land, drain and irrigate two stools, and sandy loam soil is preferred. Plough 9 to 12 cm deep before sowing, rake and rake flat. As a furrow, the width of the furrow is 1.3 to 1.6 meters. The width of the road is 30 cm, using human feces and urine as the base fertilizer, 1000 kg per mu, the amount of seed per mu is 15 kg, sown or strip sown, covered with fine soil, until the seeds are not seen, spray water moist, so that the seeds can absorb water and emerge from the seedlings, cover with mulch film, and use plastic film sheds externally. About a week after sowing, the seedlings can be produced, the mulch film can be removed, and when the temperature is high, the ventilation and ventilation can be strengthened and the water spray is sprayed. When the temperature is low, pay attention to keeping warm and antifreeze. After the rain in the valley, the seedlings can be planted at a height of 12 to 15 cm. One mu of seedlings can be planted in 5 to 6 mu of field.
(2) Planting: Planting is divided into shallow water planting and deep water transplantation. Deep water transplantation - generally refers to the use of mud deep and fertile ditches, ponds, lakes and other water surfaces for floating planting, planting method is on the 10 ~ 13.3 meters long thick grass rope, every 13.2 ~ 20 cm to insert a seedling, the two ends are connected to form a circle, set on the pre-nailed wooden stakes or bamboo poles, can be floated up and down with the rise and fall of the water level. The distance between the two ropes is the row spacing, which can be divided into two types: wide (1 meter) and narrow (33 cm), which is convenient for management and harvesting. Deep-water floating bracken, the branches are thick and fat, but the yield is not as high as that of shallow water planting. Shallow water planting is not very strict on soil requirements, but the water source should be sufficient, drainage and irrigation should be convenient, the field should be flat, the soil should be fine, and the base fertilizer should be sufficient. --After leveling the field, pig manure is applied per mu, and 1250 to 1500 kg of cow manure are used as base fertilizer. The plot is 6.7 meters wide as a field block. This facilitates drainage, fertilization, spraying, and harvesting. In our province, after the valley rain, when the temperature is above 15 ° c, select seedlings of 13.2 to 20 cm long and consistent size, and plant them in the field in batches and stages to facilitate even marketing. When planting, the water level should be as shallow as possible to improve the soil temperature and facilitate the survival of the roots. The planting distance is 33 cm square, the depth is 3 to 10 cm, and the rootless degree is about 40,000 seedlings per mu. Field management should be mastered, shallow water topdressing, deep water seedlings, the field is not dehydrated as the principle. Topdressing should depend on growth.
2. On-demand: Dryland planting of waterweed is the use of on-demand method. Sowing needs to germinate first, in late April, the temperature reaches more than 10 °C, the dry storage of seeds are taken out, soaked in warm water for 3 to 5 days to germinate, when the buds are about 1 cm long, sown on the flattened moist soil, put 3 to 4 seeds in each hole, the row spacing is 23 ~ 26.5 cm The plant spacing is 10 to 13.2 cm. After that, water frequently and see the seedlings fertilized.
The main pests of waterweed are red spiders and small cabbage moths. In mid-to-late July, when high temperatures and droughts occur in large numbers (more severe in drylands), 40% Lego emulsion dilution must be sprayed continuously two or three times. From late August to September, the small vegetable moth spits silk and rolls leaves, and can continuously spray 40% dichlorvos emulsion 1000 to 1500 times dilution, two or three times, 75 to 100 kg of medicinal solution per mu. The disease of water brackensis mainly occurs at the seedling stage, with downy mildew and root rot disease. Ventilation, cooling and dehumidification, and strengthening seedling management can be used to prevent the occurrence and spread of diseases.
Harvesting generally begins 20 to 30 days after planting , when the stem height is about 40 to 43 cm. The first harvest, mainly to pluck the young shoots on the main stem, leaving the first section above the root, about 3 cm long, too long or too short, will affect the future yield and quality. Therefore, the first harvest is highly technical and should be grasped as an important measure.
At the same time of harvesting, weeding should be carried out, paddy fields should be pulled out of the aquatic weeds and stepped into the mud, and dryland should be cultivated for weeding. The first harvest, paddy field per mu up to 250 kg, dryland more than 150 kg, fertilization after harvesting, the concentration and dosage are the same as after planting, generally mu of human feces and urine 1500 kg. After three or four harvests, it is changed to once every 10 days, with about 1250 kg or more in paddy fields and about 1000 kg in dryland. When harvesting, the stems are cut off with their fingers, and they cannot be cut with scissors or hard pulled. Shallow water planting stops fertilizing until mid-September and emerges early in Late September and early October, while dryland planting is earlier.
The stems and leaves of waterweed are edible parts, and their nutritional value is extremely high, not only higher than that of ordinary green vegetables, but even tomatoes, which are known for their rich nutrition. It contains 7 times more vitamin A than tomatoes, vitamin B, 2 times more than tomatoes, vitamin B, 8 times that of tomatoes, vitamin C is 3 times that of tomatoes, in addition, the content of minerals, proteins, and sugars is also 1 to 11 times more than tomatoes. Water lettuce is also a traditional Chinese medicine that is always cold, sweet and detoxifying. Indications for the treatment of epistaxis, constipation, blood in the stool, carbuncles, creases, snake bites and so on. Therefore, often eating cabbage during summer time can not only increase nutrition, but also play a role in clearing heat and laxatives and preventing and treating some medical and surgical diseases.
The retention of waterweed seeds is generally carried out in drylands, which is much easier than in paddy fields. In the dryland planting land, select a place with strong growth, stop harvesting after 7 to 8 harvests, and apply fertilizer and watering, column to attract vines, and increase seed harvest. In November, the seeds are recovered, placed in the room fully matured, then threshed and dried for later.