How much does a Paeonia rockii seedling cost per plant? Including cultivation techniques

Paeonia rockii is a variety of peony flower, mainly grown in shrub thickets under forest on relatively high-altitude mountain slopes in southern Shaanxi, southern Gansu, and northern Sichuan in China. Besides having a certain ornamental value, Paeonia rockii can also be used as medicine, with effects on stroke, cooling the blood, and dispersing blood stasis. So how much does a Paeonia rockii seedling cost per plant? Including cultivation techniques.

1. How much does a Paeonia rockii seedling cost per plant?

There is no unified standard market price for how much a Paeonia rockii seedling costs per plant, and prices vary greatly between different regions. In addition, it is also affected by factors such as the height of the Paeonia rockii seedling, ground diameter, and purchase quantity. For example, in Heze, the wholesale price of 1-5 year old Paeonia rockii seedlings ranges from 2.6-8 yuan per plant, while prices in some other regions are slightly higher, with 1-5 year old Paeonia rockii seedlings in other regions costing around 4-20 yuan each.

2. Paeonia rockii cultivation techniques

1. Growing environment

Paeonia rockii generally can grow from an altitude of 60 m (north of Shanhaiguan) to 3000 m in the Bailong River basin. The effect of altitude on Paeonia rockii is actually the effect of temperature on the flowering date of the peony: the higher the altitude, the lower the temperature, and the peony's flowering date is relatively delayed.

2. Sowing

Paeonia rockii is sown in autumn when the seeds mature, immediately forming young roots, and then after going through the severe cold of winter to break epicotyl dormancy, it emerges and becomes a seedling the following spring. Scientific sowing methods and techniques are determined by the physiological habits of seed dormancy and germination as well as local climate and cultivation conditions, and are the guarantee for cultivating excellent seedlings.

Sow at the right time and promptly, that is, sow seeds that have been harvested at the right time and scientifically processed immediately, or store them in sand until the radicle emerges (the radicle grows out of the seed coat) before sowing. The longer the seeds are stored under natural drying conditions, the more unfavorable it is for sowing and emergence. One reason is that drying and water loss deepen seed dormancy and reduce viability; another is that delaying sowing causes the loss of the optimal temperature period for young root growth, thereby failing to create conditions for winter low temperatures to break epicotyl dormancy, delaying the emergence rate by at least 1 year.

3. Water

As long as Paeonia rockii has its water requirements met at planting time so that it takes root and survives, it can also grow drought-resistant. But if you want it to bloom well, it needs to be watered 2-3 times a year. Paeonia rockii, like Central Plains peonies, is afraid of waterlogging, so when planting south of the Yellow River and in low-lying areas, attention must be paid to drainage.

4. Light

Paeonia rockii is a long-day plant and likes light, but in the humid and hot July-August, if the temperature remains above 30ºC for a long time and ventilation conditions are poor, leaf scorch may occur. During the flowering season, overly strong light will shorten the ornamental period of the flowers, so for some precious ornamental varieties, a shade canopy is set up for shading during the flowering season.

5. Soil

Paeonia rockii is not strict about soil requirements and can generally grow within a pH range of 6.2-8.3. Although it can tolerate poor soil, it grows robustly in soil with better fertility, and both the flowering rate and the degree of petal doubling are higher than in poor soil. In the Northeast region, the soil is relatively loose and surface water infiltration is strong, so newly planted seedlings must be given supplemental water; after two years, once the new roots have grown deeper, there is no need to water much.