Millet belongs to the genus Panicum in Amaranthaceae, and its common name is Qing Xiang Amaranth, corn cabbage, etc. Stout, green or red; The leaves are oval, rhombic or lanceolate, and the colors are green or red, purple, yellow, or some green mixed with other colors; The whole flower is spherical, the flower is round, green or yellowish green; The fruit is coffee-shaped, rectangular and wrapped by persistent petals; The flowering period is from May to August, and the fruiting period is from July to September.
Amaranth likes warm, heat-resistant but not cold-resistant. The optimum living temperature is 23℃ ~ 27℃. When the temperature is lower than 20℃, the plant grows slowly; When the temperature is lower than 10℃, the seeds are difficult to germinate and the plants basically stop growing. When the temperature is higher than 30℃, the product quality becomes worse.
Amaranth is a high-temperature and short-day crop, which is easy to blossom and seed under high-temperature and short-day conditions. Because of the developed root system, deep burial and strong drought tolerance. Amaranth is not strict with soil, but it grows well in fertile, loose soil with water and fertilizer conservation. The plots that are not waterlogged-tolerant, low-lying and poorly drained have poor growth and sufficient soil moisture. Proper topdressing of nitrogen fertilizer can make plants grow tender, with good quality and high yield.
Planting method of amaranth
Choose sandy loam or clay loam with flat terrain, convenient irrigation and drainage and alkaline soil. Generally, direct seeding is adopted, and seedlings are rarely transplanted and harvested for eating. Sowing in early spring in February-March, and cultivating in greenhouse and small arch shed; Sow in spring (April-May), interplanting melons, solanaceous fruits and beans, or mixing with other green leafy vegetables, sowing in stages and harvesting one after another. Before sowing, the vegetable field should be deeply turned and sprinkled with lime, and sprinkled with 150 kg every 666.7 square meters.
When preparing soil, decomposed human and animal manure is used as the base fertilizer, which is about 3500 kg for spring planters, 0/500 kg for summer planters and 2000 kg for autumn planters per 666.7 square meters. The surface of the frame should be thin and flat, the frame should be high and deep, and the width of the frame should be1.2 ~1.5m.. The sowing amount per 666.7 square meters is 0.5 ~ 0.75 kg, the sowing date is earlier and the sowing amount is slightly larger. After sowing, don't cover it with soil or thin soil, and don't cover it with fine sand or plant ash or human and animal feces. You can also use town soil instead of covering soil.
Reference to the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-Amaranth