When are the planting time and maturity time of tsaoko (Amomum tsaoko)?
Tsaoko is a food ingredient with strong efficacy, mainly reflected in health care, consumption, and medicinal aspects, so it is deeply loved by consumers. In recent years, more and more people have started to plant tsaoko, so before planting, has everyone understood its planting time and maturity time? Let's take a look together below!
When to plant tsaoko
There are two sowing times for tsaoko, one is from September to October, and the other is from February to March of the second year. After sowing, seedlings emerge in about 30 days, and the emergence rate reaches 80% in 0-50 days. From December to February of the following year, when the temperature drops below 15°C, the seeds stop germinating, and when the temperature rises above 18°C from March to April, they gradually germinate and emerge from the soil. If the collected seeds cannot be sown immediately, they need to be mixed with wet sand and stored. After the seedlings emerge, in places without shade, it is necessary to build a shade shed for sun protection, pull out weeds, and apply plant ash as a topdressing to promote strong seedlings. Each 667 sq m (1 mu) of seedling bed can provide planting for 8 hectares of land. In addition, 1-year-old rhizomes with buds can also be separated from the mother plant for division propagation.
When tsaoko matures
The maturity time of tsaoko is in autumn and winter every year, roughly from September to December; after maturity, it can be harvested. It is most suitable to pick the fruit when the peel is purplish red, the seeds are silver-gray, and it tastes sweet when chewed.
How to plant tsaoko
1. Because the outside of tsaoko seeds is wrapped by a layer of white gelatinous fibrous filamentous membrane, water and oxygen are difficult to penetrate into the embryo. If the filamentous membrane is not removed, it will affect seed germination. Therefore, it is necessary to rub repeatedly with plant ash or fine sand, so before planting, this thin membrane layer must be removed before sowing.
2. It is very important in choosing a nursery, because the quality of the nursery has a direct impact on its growth. In order to make the sown seeds develop normally and facilitate transplanting when leaving the nursery, the nursery land should be selected close to the transplanting site. Choose forest soil with good drainage and irrigation conditions, deep soil layer, loose soil texture, and more organic matter; a slope of 5-15 degrees, with the slope direction being a semi-shady slope facing northeast or northwest; the shade density is required to be 30-60%. Set up the nursery under an evergreen broad-leaved forest, or use the method of manually building a shed.
3. Land preparation and sowing: Doing the land preparation work well is also the key to raising seedlings, and it helps improve soil permeability. For the quality and method of land preparation, it is generally required to turn the topsoil 10-20 cm deep, burn the soil clods, break up the soil lumps, pick out weeds and stones, make the soil fully fine, and mix it thoroughly with base fertilizer before sowing. When planting, it is necessary to make a good choice of spacing.
The planting time of tsaoko is generally in autumn and early spring every year, so everyone should not miss these two best seasons. The maturity time after planting is in autumn every year. When planting, it is necessary to do a good job in site selection and also strengthen management in the later period.