How to: A General Guide To Growing Water Spinach With Coco Peat

Most of everything about growing Water Spinach with Coco Peat

More about the Plant

Water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) is a tropical semi-aquatic plant grown for its delicate stems and leaves.

River spinach, kangkong, kangkung, water morning glory, water convolvulus, Chinese watercress, Chinese convolvulus, Chinese spinach, and swamp cabbage are all names for water spinach. It is also known by a few other regional names around the world.

• Water spinach plants thrive on wet soil or in water. The plants have lengthy stems that can reach up to 2-3 meters in length. The hollow stems can float and root at the nodes.
• Growing water spinach is very easy, as long as the soil is moist consistently. It grows vigorously in East, South and Southeast Asia.
• You can even start growing water spinach in containers in the non-tropical areas if you can plant the seedlings in a sunny location and give them enough water.

See more:

• Coco peat for Kale: Growing Kale With Coco Peat
• Coco peat for Chard: Growing Chard With Coco Peat
• Coco Peat for Tomatoes: A Comprehensive Guide to Effective
• Coco peat for Spinach: Growing Spinach With Coco Peat

Time, Place, and Preparation to Grow Water Spinach

Choose a sunny place in your garden for growing water spinach plants. Because water spinach plants require full sun to flourish and cannot tolerate shade. Planting water spinach near the edge of a pond or other body of water is also beneficial.

Water spinach plants thrive in healthy soil that is high in organic content. So, while preparing the soil, incorporate as much organic matter as possible. Water spinach plant development will benefit greatly from the addition of well-rotted aged manure and homemade compost. Coco peat and compost is one try and truth combo that works most of the time- be careful of the ratio, like always.

In tropical locations, water spinach can be farmed all year. However, the summer season is often the optimum period for cultivating water spinach.

Growing and Caring

Planting cuttings is thus the simplest method for cultivating water spinach.

Although seeds for producing water spinach can be planted, for growing water spinach from seeds, soak the seeds for 24 hours before sowing. This will help the seeds germinate faster.

Then distribute the seeds in your prepared bed and transplant when the seedlings reach a height of 10-15cm.

Planting the seedlings in rows will help with extra care. Plant the seedlings at a distance of at least 15 cm apart.

Water spinach plants are incredibly easy to grow and require little attention. Taking extra care will be beneficial to the growth of the plants.

• Fertilizing: The water spinach plants aren’t heavy feeders. They will develop normally if they get enough water. As a result, additional fertilizing is not required when cultivating water spinach plants in the home garden.
• Watering: Water spinach plants thrive in damp soil. Water spinach plants must be watered on a regular basis.
• Controlling Weeds: Weeds must be manually controlled since they eat the majority of the nutrients in the soil.
• Thinning: Thin the seedlings of water spinach to at least 15 cm apart.
• Pests and Diseases: Stem rot, black rot, leaf beetle, aphids, and wireworms are the most common or major pests and diseases of water spinach plants. Control all of these with organic approaches.

Coco Peat Usage in the Growth of Water Spinach

Almost every plant can be grown with the use of coco peat- and water spinach is one of them. Coco coir is an airy material that promotes a robust and healthy root system. There are lots of places for plant roots to grow in the coir without being crushed into a compact root ball. Coir beds can be watered by manually or with a drip irrigation system- that is exactly what water spinach would need: a flexible growing medium that can be used as a stand-alone, a mix, or hydroponic medium that holds water well. Furthermore, one plot of coco peat can last up to 3 grow cycles if maintained correctly, which makes them economically beneficial to the garden as a whole.

Harvesting

Water spinach plants develop quite quickly. And you should expect your first harvest 4-6 weeks after planting the seeds.

You can either harvest the leaves or the entire plant. However, pruning either a few leaves or an entire plant with leaves and stems, leaving only approximately 7-8 cm of growth, will encourage the plants to regrow.

Endnote:

Anddddd…. that’s it! Thank you for reading this up to point. As mentioned, the plant is a rather easy one to grow, so the article would be shorter. Oh and hey, check us out, we are Coco Coir Global, a coconut coir and peat products provider and producer from Vietnam that can ship packs to containers across the world- we have a variety of them too, come take a look around our website and check them out!

Good luck growing!