Thursday, September 23, 2010

Technique of Growing Indian Spinach on the ground

Technique of Growing Indian Spinach on the ground by Pritham Denzil D'Souza aka MetalFarmer

Traditionally Indian Spinach also known as Basale soppu in tulu and Valchhi bajji in konkani is grown on a trellis. While respecting our traditional farming practices, we also must learn to innovate and improvise, and if works out, share data for free that will benefit farmers all over. Growing Spinach on the ground was done merely as a challenge to growing them using support or a trellis.

From Growing Indian Spinach on the ground at Padval Farms, Mangalore, India


STEP BY STEP PICTORIAL GUIDE TO GROWING SPINACH ON THE GROUND

From Growing Indian Spinach on the ground at Padval Farms, Mangalore, India


  • as you can notice in the pic above, a trench with a minimum width of 1 meter and max length is made
  • weeds, stones and other unwanted materials are removed
  • 1 load of freshly decomposed farm yard manure is added and the soil is mixed well
From Growing Indian Spinach on the ground at Padval Farms, Mangalore, India


  • bunds are made to the entire row length as seen above
  • the bunds act as make shift pits where the spinach stick will be transplanted
From Growing Indian Spinach on the ground at Padval Farms, Mangalore, India

From Growing Indian Spinach on the ground at Padval Farms, Mangalore, India



From Growing Indian Spinach on the ground at Padval Farms, Mangalore, India

  • from the older spinach plant, long and healthy spinach vines are selected for transplanting as seen above
  • the long spinach vines are then cut in half to get 2 spinach sticks of approx equal length
From Growing Indian Spinach on the ground at Padval Farms, Mangalore, India


From Growing Indian Spinach on the ground at Padval Farms, Mangalore, India


  • from the base of the spinach stick, all the leaves are plucked out leaving only a few leaves at the top
  • this is also done for polarity
From Growing Indian Spinach on the ground at Padval Farms, Mangalore, India


From Growing Indian Spinach on the ground at Padval Farms, Mangalore, India

  • 2 pairs of spinach sticks are then transplanted in every bund pit as shows and covered with soil. so every bund pit will have 4 transplanted sticks
From Growing Indian Spinach on the ground at Padval Farms, Mangalore, India


  • in around 50 days, the vines grow luxuriently and a number of lateral shoots also emerge and the spinach is now ready to harvest
From Growing Indian Spinach on the ground at Padval Farms, Mangalore, India


  • here harvesting is done cutting off the long spinach vines and tying around 10 sticks to make a bundle.
  • more number of cuttings, will produce more number of lateral shoots.
From Growing Indian Spinach on the ground at Padval Farms, Mangalore, India


  • daily irrigation is a must as the spinach sticks need all the moisture they can get
  • covering the transplanted spinach sticks with coconut palms and banana leaves is also done to prevent excess damage due to high temp.
  • banana leaves, arecanut palms and coconut palms are also placed on the ground to prevent the growing spinach vines in coming to contact with the soil
  • manuring is done again after 30 days from first transplanting
  • only decomposed farm yard manure is suitable as fresh un decomposed manure will destroy the developing roots and kill the vines
all images and data by Pritham Denzil D'Souza 'Metalfarmer'


      11 comments:

      1. Happy I came across your blog.It was great to know about this creeper without support tech.Can you please tell me how much we could grow in what time and how much better it is -than growing it with support ?
        thanks

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      2. thanks for checking out my blog. growing it on ground wont be much difference than growing it with support. it takes the same time to grow and harvest. the advantage however is, less work involved since u are not providing support. less work, less time saved spent, more money saved...

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      3. Wow , i am glad I came across this blog.
        This stuff really informative and yet easy to understand. Thanks a lot Sir!!

        ReplyDelete
      4. Wht abt d sun light does it require a sunny area or shady area

        ReplyDelete
        Replies
        1. it grows best in sunlight, avoid shade as the plants may appear weak.

          Delete
      5. Your blog is really good especially with the tulu names, makes it easier. I am just starting my own kitchen garden and have planted random vegetables (i know nothing about them:)to learn about their growing methods. My monsoon round of cucumber, bhindi and tomato was ok, now am trying 5 others. Thanks for the information. S.Fernandes

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      6. Wonderful post. and its true that it grows in sunny area.

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      7. very systematic presentation of planting of Indian spinach. It is rich in iron, calcium and beta-carotene so people can enjoy it 2-3 times a week and meet a handsome amount of such nutrients for their body. There are other methods like seed sowing and nursery sowing in pro-trays are very common now-a-days. We can try them as well. The leaves become bigger in size in partial shade, some growers having home garden can take this as component in partial shade areas. Thanks for information. Dr. Shrawan, CARI, Port Blair

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      8. your soil looks very white in the pix. why is it so? have you added any limestone or such?

        ReplyDelete
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