Eleocharis tuberosa is a leaf beet, an annual or biennial herb with rhombic leaves, long stems and green flowers. You can eat the leaves when they are tender. Take seedlings or leaves as vegetables. Originated in southern Europe, it was introduced to China from Arabia in the 5th century.

Water chestnut can be divided into three kinds according to the color of petiole: white stem, green stem and red stem. Green stems are more common among farmers in China. In recent years, the excellent new varieties introduced from abroad include white-stem beet from Nepal and red-stem beet from England, which are multi-functional varieties such as vegetables, feed and ornamental.

Features:

Water chestnut likes cold and humid climate for its requirements of environmental conditions. But it has strong cold and heat resistance. Seeds can germinate slowly at 4 ~ 5℃, and the optimum germination temperature is 18 ~ 25℃. Low temperature and long sunshine can promote flower bud differentiation.

A lot of water is needed during the growing period, but water accumulation should be avoided. Suitable for loose neutral or weakly alkaline soil. Resistant to fertilizer and alkali. The increase of carbon dioxide concentration in the air can increase the yield of water chestnut.