What Does a Job's Tears Plant Look Like? Detailed Explanation of the Plant's Appearance and Characteristics

Job's tears is the mature seed kernel of the grass-family plant Coix lacryma-jobi (Job's tears), an annual or perennial herb with effects that aid digestion and dispel dampness and drive out cold. So what does a Job's tears plant look like?

1. What does a Job's tears plant look like?

The Job's tears stalk is 1-1.5 m tall and has 6-10 nodes. Its leaves are broad and hairless; its flowers have 5-6 pairs of male spikelets, about 9 mm long, with 3 stamens and anthers 3-4 mm long, with a slanted opening at the tip and long vertical straight stripes at the base; its fruit is white or yellowish-white and oblong.

2. How is Job's tears grown?

1. Planting time

The timing of planting Job's tears is greatly influenced by climate, and this point still needs to be grasped well. Generally speaking, it can be done from March to June each year; more specifically, the earliest is from early March to mid-March each year, then late March to early April, then late April to early May, and the last sowing time is early June. Planting at any other time will affect the yield of Job's tears.

2. Planting method

The most critical part of planting Job's tears is selecting the seeds and then treating them. Choose plump, glossy grains to keep as seed, then soak them in lime water; after one day, take out the cloth bag and rinse it several times with clean water. This helps increase the seed germination rate, and then you can sow. The main sowing methods are water cultivation and dry cultivation.

3. Field management

Throughout the entire growth process of Job's tears, it still needs more ”care“, such as timely replanting of missing seedlings. Generally, when the Job's tears seedlings grow to five or six cm, weeding should be done once along with fertilization; the second weeding should wait until they are fifteen to twenty cm, and this time fertilization should also be applied. Water is also crucial during the growth of Job's tears. Generally, there is more water during the germination period, but during seedling growth, keep it as dry as possible. Therefore, controlling the field moisture is very important, and the purpose is all for the yield of Job's tears.