Bletilla Planting Techniques and Suitable Planting Seasons Explained

Bletilla is a type of terrestrial orchid with beautiful flowers that can be grown as an ornamental plant. It can also be used as a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, with effects of stopping bleeding and reducing swelling, and it also has an inhibitory effect on tumor cells. Because of its rich value, more and more people are starting to cultivate Bletilla specifically, but many people are not very familiar with the suitable planting season and cultivation techniques for Bletilla. Today let us take a look together.

Bletilla Planting Techniques

1. Intertillage and weeding. Bletilla has very strict weed control requirements in field management. After planting, spray acetochlor for pre-emergence closure. After the Bletilla seedlings emerge completely. From May to June, Bletilla grows very vigorously, and weeds also grow very quickly, so weeding is carried out. Weeding is combined with loosening the soil surface of the beds; when weeding, hoe shallowly to avoid damaging the roots.

2. Irrigation and drainage. Bletilla likes shade and should be kept moist regularly. Water during drought, and in July to September water once in the morning and once in the evening. Bletilla is also afraid of waterlogging, so drain promptly after heavy rain to avoid damaging the roots.

3. Plowing and pest control. Spread “Dichongwang” on the land after weeding. Dichongwang is a pesticide for soil insects, available at agricultural service stations, and the salesperson will tell you the dosage (because pesticides are a sensitive issue and actual conditions vary greatly from place to place, no specific dosage explanation is given here). Mix it into the soil when plowing.

4. Begin planting seedlings. After letting it rest for two days, you can directly begin planting. One, planting row spacing, recommended 15 cm——30 cm, for example 15 X 15 cm means 15 cm above, below, left and right. Two, planting depth, about 3 cm below the soil surface, for example if the tuber is 2 cm tall, then plant it at a depth of 5 cm, leaving 3 cm of soil above the tuber to cover it (3 cm can both prevent frost damage and help sprout and grow leaves the following year).

What Season to Plant Bletilla

1. Plant in early March, with a planting depth of 3 cm. During the growing period, keep the soil moist, pay attention to weeding and loosening the soil, and fertilize once every 2 weeks. Generally it flowers 2 months after planting. After flowering until mid-August, apply phosphorus fertilizer once, which can make the tubers grow plump.

2. When planting Bletilla, note that it likes a warm, shady and humid environment, such as under forest in wild valleys. It is slightly cold-tolerant, and can be cultivated in the open field in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It has strong shade tolerance and avoids direct strong light; in summer during high temperature and drought, the leaves easily turn yellow and wither. It is suitable for sandy loam with good drainage and rich in humus.

3. Bletilla often grows on relatively moist stone walls and moss layers, often combined with shrubs, or grows at forest edges, in grass clusters, and in places with mountain springs. It also grows under evergreen broad-leaved forests, oak forests or coniferous forests at an altitude of 100-3200 m. It is cultivated in Beijing and Tianjin.

The Planting Prospects of Bletilla

In 1992 it was 4.8 yuan per kg, and by 2015 it had risen to about 600 yuan per kg, rising all the way. Especially in recent years, as traditional Chinese medicine has gained recognition in the international market, the price has soared. At present, the supply of Bletilla still basically relies on wild resource collection. Since 2014, the goods supply in the market and producing areas has been seriously insufficient, making it difficult to organize supply. At present, it is hard to find planting bases of over ten mu anywhere in the country. If Bletilla is to be developed to supply top-grade products on the market, even the shortest period would still be more than three years. For this reason, it can be foreseen that within the next 4—6 years, the market for the Chinese medicinal material Bletilla will continue to rise continuously, which is startling. The market demand for Bletilla is huge, wild resources are exhausted, and artificial cultivation has not yet developed to maturity. Things are precious when they are scarce, so developing Bletilla cultivation as a Chinese medicinal material will bring substantial profits.

Bletilla Propagation Methods

1. Bletilla commonly uses division propagation. Before new leaves sprout in spring or after the aboveground part withers in autumn and winter, dig up the old plant, divide the pseudobulbs for separate planting, each plant can be divided into 3-5 plants, and they must carry apical buds. Traditional cultivation mainly relies on division propagation.

2. Bletilla can also use seed propagation, but Bletilla seeds are very small and have no endosperm, so under natural conditions they are very difficult to germinate and grow, and the cultivation of seedlings is relatively difficult.

3. Tissue culture technology can rapidly propagate large numbers of seedlings. Aseptic sowing is carried out on different culture media. After the seeds germinate, tissue culture methods are used for clonal propagation, realizing large-scale production of Bletilla seedlings while exploring effective rapid propagation technology.

Bletilla belongs to plants that like fertilizer and like shade and humidity, so during cultivation it is necessary to water and fertilize frequently. It is best to fertilize once every half month, and keep the soil moist regularly. After understanding the above content, growing Bletilla can become a simple matter.