How to plant and manage mustard greens
Comprehensive guide on how to plant and manage mustard greens, including the methods and techniques for growing mustard greens, which is a great piece of knowledge. Highly recommended for bookmarking! Mustard greens are annual herbaceous plants of the Brassicaceae family, cultivated in various parts of the country, with different varieties in each region. Mustard greens are divided into leaf, stem, and root types. Leafy mustard greens are called "spinach" in Guizhou and "bitter vegetable" in Yunnan. The leafy mustard greens we plant here include crown spinach and common spinach. Crown spinach is a unique vegetable variety in the county, with elliptical leaves, thick leaf flesh, wrinkled leaf surface resembling a rooster's comb, thin petioles, green leaves, and less stem. It has a low mustard flavor and is considered the best vegetable for making "lianzha luo" during the transition between spring and summer in Dafang. Crown spinach grows slowly, with a single leaf weight of 0.5 to 1 kilogram. This type of mustard green is grown by few farmers, with a high market price, generally more than double that of common spinach. Common spinach has tall plants, wide leaves, flat or nearly round petioles, long elliptical leaves, thick leaf flesh, wavy or blunt-toothed leaf edges, slightly lobed, and wrinkled leaf surface. The leaves are green. The stems are fat and tender, with a mild spicy taste, good quality, and adaptable. The harvesting period is from March to April, with high yield. It is a good material for making pickled vegetables and salted vegetables. Mustard greens are mainly used for making pickled vegetables, which are a major local specialty. The main ingredient is mustard greens, washed and boiled for 2-3 minutes, then drained and placed in a jar, adding boiling surface soup and a little sour culture, sealed for 7-8 hours. When eaten, it is added to bean soup, seasoned with chili powder, litsea flowers, and scallion leaves, which tastes delicious and has the effect of quenching thirst, aids digestion, and refreshes the mind. Pickled vegetables are the most common dish among the Dafang people, as the saying goes, "If Dafang people don't eat sour food for three days, they will feel unwell when walking."
Mustard greens are divided into leaf, stem, and root types. Leafy mustard greens include crown spinach, large-leafed spinach, flowering bitter vegetables, and baggy spinach, among others. Stem mustard greens include pickled vegetables, Erj菜, etc., and root mustard greens are mainly turnips.
I. Sowing Time: Sowing times vary from place to place, generally between October and November. In southern regions, sowing can be done all year round, with autumn sowing being the main period. In northern regions, sowing is done in spring. In Guizhou Province, for example, the suitable time for planting mustard greens is: for leafy mustard greens, direct sowing or seedling transplanting from July to October. For stem mustard greens, seedlings are sown from September to October, and for root mustard greens, direct sowing or seedling transplanting is done from August to October.
II. Planting Methods
1. Seedling Raising: Mustard greens can be directly sown or transplanted. Most regions use seedling transplanting, as it is easier to manage during the seedling stage and the survival rate is higher after transplanting, resulting in taller plants, better vegetable quality, and higher yield. Seedbed preparation and sowing: Choose a fertile, moist, and well-ventilated area as the seedbed, apply 1500 kg of human manure per mu, deeply plow 16-20 cm,晒垄后break up the soil clumps, level the ground, and create seedbeds about 130 cm wide and 16 cm high for sowing. After sowing, cover the seeds with fine soil and ash, then cover with straw, water thoroughly, and the seedlings will emerge in about 3 days, after which the straw is removed. Thin the seedlings once every 10 days, keeping a spacing of 5-7 cm, and apply thin manure water. For leafy mustard greens, use 50-100 grams of seeds per mu, for stem mustard greens, use 40-50 grams (pickled vegetables) or 70-100 grams (Erj菜), and for root mustard greens, use 50-100 grams.
2. Transplanting
Prepare the land, keeping it away from vegetables like radishes, cabbage, and Chinese cabbages. After harvesting the previous crop, deeply plow 23-37 cm, fully晒垄, apply enough base fertilizer, rake and level the soil, and create beds 160-200 cm wide and 30 cm wide furrows. Transplant the seedlings when they have 5-6 leaves. For early-maturing leafy mustard greens, the row spacing is 33-35 cm, plant spacing 25-33 cm, for late-maturing varieties, the row spacing is 38-45 cm, plant spacing 25-33 cm. For pickled vegetables, the row spacing is 30-33 cm, plant spacing 30-33 cm. For Erj菜, the row spacing is 60 cm, plant spacing 50-57 cm. For root mustard greens, the row spacing is 45 cm, plant spacing 33-40 cm. Transplanting is best done in the afternoon on a sunny day, and water the plants immediately after transplanting, planting one plant per hole.
3. Field Management
10-15 days after transplanting, apply about 2000 kg of human and animal manure per mu, combined with 4-5 kg of urea and an appropriate amount of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. In the early stage of root and stem expansion, apply 12-15 kg of urea and 20 kg of superphosphate per mu. In the peak stage of root and stem expansion, apply 2000 kg of human and animal urine, 7.5-10 kg of urea per mu. For seedlings overwintering, apply less fertilizer before the New Year and more after spring. Keep the soil moist, till the soil, remove weeds, and prevent and control pests and diseases.
4. Harvesting and Seed Saving
Leafy mustard greens can be harvested by peeling leaves or harvesting all at once when the leaves are mature. Pickled vegetables and Erj菜 can be harvested when the heads are fully expanded. Turnips are generally harvested when the basal leaves have turned yellow and the root head has turned from green to yellow.
When saving seeds, select stem and root mustard greens with good head shape, leafy mustard greens with large leaves, characteristic features of the original variety, strong growth, no pests and diseases, and consistent bolting. Strengthen management, harvest when the seed pods turn yellow, and dry for seed collection.
The above sharing on how to plant and manage mustard greens and the methods and techniques for growing mustard greens is for everyone to learn and understand!