How to grow lentils? Things to note when growing lentils

Many farmers grow lentils in their yards, so how should lentils be grown?

1) Seed

It is advisable to use seeds harvested last year for sowing lentils. If the storage conditions are good, the seeds can still maintain a germination rate of more than 85% after 2 to 3 years and can be sown. If lentils are planted on land where cowpeas have been planted, it is not necessary to inoculate rhizobia.

(2) Row spacing

When cultivating in a larger area, row sowing is preferred, with a row spacing of 40-50 cm and a plant spacing of 20 cm. When cultivating with supports, furrow sowing can be used, with a furrow width of about 130 cm, two rows per furrow, a row spacing of 65-80 cm, and a plant spacing of 50 cm. Without supports, it is suitable to plant early-maturing semi-erect varieties, with a row spacing and hole spacing of 40 cm, and two plants per hole. It is also useful to mix lentils with tall crops such as corn.

(3) Seeding amount

Except for a few suburban areas such as Shanghai and Chengdu, where young pods are grown as vegetables in large areas, they are grown sporadically in the open space in front of and behind houses or in farmer's vegetable gardens across the country. The sowing rate for single planting is 3.5-4.0 kg per mu.

(4) Whether to install a bracket

The flowering and pod-setting period of lentils is very long. No matter whether you are collecting tender or mature pods, you need to harvest them multiple times to double the yield. It is also convenient to harvest. Usually, bamboo poles are used to build a support when the stems are 30 to 35 cm long. If no support is set up, the top should be pinched when the plant height is about 50 cm, leaving 40 cm. When secondary branches appear between the axils of the side branches, pinch again, and pinch 3 to 4 times in a row.

When the young pods are harvested, the branches that grow out can still be pinched to make the plant short and dense. This method can make the plant produce pods early, produce high yields, save frame materials, and the young pods can be picked and sold in the off-season, which is a method worth promoting.