Spinach is native to Iran and widely cultivated in China. It is one of the most common vegetables. [2]
Image source: Phoenix Network [3]
Chinese name
spinach
Foreign name
spinach
Another name
Persian food, spinach, spinach, parrot food, red root food, flying dragon food.
Latin scientific name
Spinach.
Binomial nomenclature/system
spinach
quick
navigate by water/air
morphological character
growing environment
distribution range
breeding method
cultivation techniques
control of insect
Variety classification
Main value
plant culture
Nutritional components of food
Botanical history
The source of spinach can be traced back to Persia (now Iran) in West Asia 2000 years ago [4] [5], which passed through North Africa and was spread to Western Europe and Spain by the Moors. [5] It is clearly recorded in Don Yao Hui that during the reign of Emperor Taizong, spinach seeds were introduced into China from Nepal as a tribute. [ 1]
morphological character
Spinach powder can be as high as 1 meter. The roots are conical, reddish and rarely white. The stem is erect, hollow, fragile and juicy, unbranched or with several branches. Leaves halberd-shaped to oval, bright green, tender and juicy, slightly shiny, entire or with several toothed lobes. Male flowers are integrated into spherical cymes, and then arranged into intermittent panicles on branches and stems; Tepals usually 4, filaments filiform, flat, anthers without appendages; Female flowers gather in leaf axils; Bracteoles are slightly flat on both sides, with 2 small teeth at the top and 1 spinous appendage on the back. Ovary spherical, stigma 4 or 5, prominent. Utricle ovoid or suborbicular, about 2.5 mm in diameter, flat on both sides; The skin is brown. [6]
spinach
growing environment
temperature
Spinach is a cold-tolerant vegetable, seeds can germinate at 4℃, the optimum temperature is 15 ~ 20℃, the optimum temperature for vegetative growth is 15 ~ 20℃, the growth is poor above 25℃, and the aboveground part can tolerate -6 ~ 8℃ low temperature. [7]
sunlight
Spinach is a long-day crop. Under the condition of high temperature and long sunshine, plants are easy to blossom at jointing stage, and the requirements for sunshine intensity are not high, so they can be interplanted with tall crops. [7]
moisture
Spinach leaves have large area, soft tissue and high water demand. Sufficient moisture, thick meat when growing vigorously, high yield and good quality. Under the conditions of high temperature, long sunshine and drought, vegetative growth is inhibited, reproductive growth is accelerated, and premature bolting is easy. [7]
land
Spinach has strong adaptability to soil, but it is better to keep water and fertilizer in fertile soil. Spinach is not acid-resistant, and the suitable pH value is 7.3 ~ 8.2. Spinach is a leafy vegetable, which needs more nitrogen fertilizer and appropriate amount of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. [7]
distribution range
Spinach is now spread all over the world [1], and it is also widely cultivated all over China [6].
breeding method
Collect seeds
Original seed production method
1, population mixed selection: male and female plants with typical characteristics of this variety and good yield performance must be strictly selected.
spinach
The selection can be divided into three times: the first time, in the vegetative growth period, all the plants that do not meet the standard are pulled out; The second time, in the period when the absolute stamens are not fully dispersed, the plants with vigorous growth, large leaves and long vegetative growth period are selected according to the height, spreading degree and leaf shape, and the rest plants (including absolute male plants) are all pulled out. For the third time, before the pistil blooms, all the male plants and inferior plants are pulled out except some male and female plants or bisexual plants.
When the selected female seeds change color and the stems and leaves become yellow stone, they can be harvested and mixed for seed collection.
2. Original seed breeding nursery: identify and compare the characters of the offspring of the original seed, and then carry out a population mixed selection to improve the seed quality.
3. Original seed orchard: further identify the typicality, high yield and consistency of its seeds, and breed a large number of original seeds for the original seed production area and the next year's seed production.
Seed collection method
1, autumn sowing and overwintering seed collection: generally, sowing is carried out in the upper and middle of the Yangtze River basin.
The seed plants overwinter when there are 5 ~ 7 true leaves, and the seeds collected in this way will blossom and bear fruit in the following spring, which is mainly used to propagate the original seeds.
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spinach