Abstract:

In order to find out the suitable sowing density and depth for spinach production, four spinach varieties with significant differences in hundred grain weight and germination rate were used to study the effects of mechanical sowing density and depth on spinach germination and yield. The results showed that when the hundred grain weight of spinach was less than 1.0 g and the germination rate was high, an ideal sowing density could be achieved by using a 5 mm diameter sowing wheel. A sowing wheel with a diameter of 6 mm needed to be used for the seeds with low germination rate. When the hundred grain weight was over 1.8 g, a 7 mm diameter sowing wheel was required to achieve the ideal sowing density. The germination time of spinach was delayed as the sowing depth increasing from 1.5 cm to 3 cm, resulted in the number of sprouts and yield decrease. The number of sprouts and yield were highest at the sowing depth of 1.5 cm. Therefore, the ideal sowing depth is 1.5 cm. In order to get an ideal density, we should use suitable sowing wheel according to the seed size. The difference between theoretical and practical emergence rate varies with seed size and sowing depth, and requires further research.

Key words: spinach, simple mechanical seeding, density, depth, hundred grain weight