Chapter 324: Farming Is a Scholarly Pursuit

Relatively speaking, Xia Qing's difficulties in this area were smaller than those of the other lords. One reason was that she had less cultivated land to work, and another was that she still had fertilizer in stock.

Her stockpile included fifteen hundred jin of worm castings, five hundred jin of crab shell fertilizer, as well as the chicken manure and sheep manure fermented by Xia Qing herself, the plant ash from burning wild grass and cooking, and fermented plant stem-and-leaf fertilizer — enough for her to grow wheat and rapeseed.

In addition, Sun Zhe had said he would ship Xia Qing two hundred jin of worm castings by the end of the month. A few days earlier, Xia Qing had also placed a follow-up order with Zhong Tao for two thousand jin of crab shell fertilizer, and today she had asked Ji Li about purchasing fertilizer from Territory Seven…

Just as Xia Qing was thinking about this, she received a call from Zhang San.

"Xia Qing, short on fertilizer?"

"Yes." Xia Qing told her idol about Sun Zhe's worm-casting production line being sabotaged and the rise in fertilizer prices.

Zhang San couldn't trade fertilizer with Xia Qing. "What I have here is all special-grade Green Lantern fertilizer, used for breeding — the price is too high, it wouldn't be suitable for you."

Xia Qing quickly asked, "Third Brother, do you have compost microbial powder? Territory Nine keeps raising the price on their microbial powder; it's become unusable."

Zhang San didn't know the situation and asked, "Isn't it still two jin of Green Lantern vegetables for one bag?"

Although Green Lantern vegetables or wild greens sell for around 50 points per jin, for the lords, picking and screening one or two jin within their own territory…

Territory Nine, relying on its "exclusive patent," kept raising the price of its high-efficiency compost microbial powder.

At first, the lords only had to offer two jin of Green Lantern vegetables grown in their own territory to get one bag of microbial powder. Later, Territory Nine stopped accepting vegetables and demanded points only, and the price of the powder rose from 100 to 150. Last time during the exchange with Qi Fu, it climbed again to 200 points per bag.

The lords needed fertilizer to farm, but no one's points came easily. At this price, not to mention the other lords who were already strapped, even Xia Qing couldn't bear it.

Farming requires continuous fertilizer input. She had saved up enough for this autumn planting, but there was still a shortfall for the winter greenhouse crops and next spring's planting.

So Xia Qing needed to find good-quality, low-priced microbial powder to replace Territory Nine's good-quality, high-priced powder. The cheap microbial powder sold in the Safe Zone was of unknown quality, and Xia Qing didn't dare try it lightly.

She believed that with her idol's abilities, whipping up microbial powder would be child's play — it all depended on whether he was willing.

Zhang San indeed did not disappoint his fan. "How much do you need? I'll find time in the next couple of days to make some."

Xia Qing was touched. "Thirty jin is enough. Third Brother, how many points do you need me to make up?"

Zhang San replied lazily, "No need to make up anything. This stuff isn't worth much."

Look, look! What does a quality idol look like? This is it! Xia Qing's fan-pit depth reached straight down to the core of Blue Star!

After hanging up the phone, Xia Qing heard everyone discussing in the lord channel how to return corn stalks to the field.

Qi Fu advocated directly chopping the stalks and returning them to the field; Shi Zhong advocated fermenting and decomposing them first before returning them. Both methods were introduced in the Farming Knowledge Broadcast, and each had its pros and cons.

Planting expert Li Si stepped in at just the right moment, ending the discussion in a cool, professional voice. "Corn stalks are recommended for use after fermentation and decomposition, because the organic acids produced when stalks are returned directly to the field will accelerate the dissolution and release of elements like calcium and magnesium in the soil, leading to soil acidification. The soil in our cultivated plots is already weakly acidic; any further increase in acidity is not conducive to plant growth."

Zhao's Mother seized the chance to ask, "Fourth Sister, for growing wheat, is alkaline soil better, or acidic?"

Li Si answered, "The ideal pH for growing wheat is 6.1 to 7.5. Wheat yields the highest within this range."

The midpoint of the pH scale is 7, so wheat's pH range is equivalent to neutral or slightly acidic. Xia Qing immediately jotted down this important piece of knowledge.

Zhao's Mother asked again, "Fourth Sister, how do you test the pH of a plot?"

Li Si answered, "Soil pH varies by region. If you want to know, you can send the soil to me for testing — it's free."

Hearing that Li Si was going to test the soil composition of Territory Four, Xia Qing frowned slightly.

Zhao's Mother had arrived at the territory later, so she didn't know the situation. When they had first arrived at the territory, they had all bought pH test strips from Zhong Tao to test the acidity and alkalinity of the soil within their territories. Xia Qing remembered that Zhao Ze had also bought some, right?

Why wasn't he saying anything — had he forgotten to test, or lost them?

It had to be said, Xia Qing's intuition was quite sharp. In Territory Four, Zhao Ze, who was gnawing on a corn cake, wished he could bury his head under the table.

Unaware of the situation, Zhao's Mother hurriedly thanked her. "Alright, alright. I'll have Zhao Ze send it over in a bit. Being able to farm next to you, Third Brother, and Captain Luo is our good fortune."

Xia Qing followed up with a question. "Fourth Sister, do you know the soil pH range for growing rapeseed?"

As for how to grow rapeseed, the books Xia Qing had collected didn't cover it, nor did the "Complete Planting Guide" issued by the base, and the Farming Knowledge Broadcast hadn't mentioned it either. Xia Qing had seized the chance today and quickly asked the expert for guidance.

Li Si gave a precise answer. "Five to eight."

This pH range was even wider than wheat's; every plot of cultivated land in her territory could grow it. Xia Qing carefully noted it down.

Hearing Xia Qing ask about rapeseed, Kuang Qingwei came online. "Sis, did you know? Growing rapeseed requires boron fertilizer. If rapeseed lacks boron, it not only lodges easily, but it also flowers without setting seed. I've gotten my hands on organic boron fertilizer made from seaweed and brown algae as raw materials — just dilute it with water and drench the soil. Two jin per mu is enough. Want some?"

Xia Qing didn't answer right away, but asked instead, "Does our soil here lack boron? Does Brother Qing know how much boron content the soil needs to have for growing rapeseed?"

Xia Qing had used her own Yi element detector to test the soil in her territory. She remembered the soil contained boron, and quite a lot of it — about 72 mg/kg, as she recalled — but she couldn't say that directly.

Because the Yi element detector was a high-precision instrument, she couldn't reveal that she had one — it would invite trouble.

Kuang Qingwei couldn't answer Xia Qing's question accurately, so he turned to Li Si for guidance.

Li Si answered, "The total boron content measured in Territory Nine is 70 mg/kg, but the available boron content is only 0.1 mg/kg. For growing rapeseed, radishes, and sugar beets, the available boron content should be above 0.5 mg/kg, so boron fertilizer is needed. Territory Three's situation would require specific testing to know."

Possessing a treasure, Xia Qing had no intention of sending her territory's soil to Li Si for testing. "Thanks, Fourth Sister. Our territories aren't far apart, so the elemental composition must be about the same. Brother Qing, I'll take three jin of boron fertilizer."

Xia Qing placed the order without asking the price, because no matter how many points it cost, she had to use this fertilizer. Otherwise, her rapeseed would have been grown for nothing.

Moreover, Kuang Qingwei had promised that all goods he supplied to her would be at cost price. If Xia Qing asked the price publicly, how would Kuang Qingwei answer?

Two jin of boron fertilizer wasn't much for Xia Qing.

Besides the half-jin of rapeseed awarded to her by the Territory Management Department, Zheng Kui had told Xia Qing last time he came by that rapeseed would be sold publicly at the Autumn Agricultural Products Trade Fair, and Xia Qing could buy another half-jin.

Given the Yellow Lantern seeds' germination rate of under 50%, one jin of rapeseed couldn't even plant one full mu, so two jin of boron fertilizer was more than enough.

The remaining boron fertilizer, Xia Qing planned to use on radishes when spring came next year. If Li Si hadn't said anything, Xia Qing wouldn't have known that the small size of the radishes she grew was due to boron deficiency.

So, boron is divided into total boron and available boron. So, a lack of available boron reduces the yield of crops that need boron.

Farming truly is a scholarly pursuit.