Pinellia Planting Time, Growing Environment, and High-Yield Cultivation Techniques

Everything is difficult at the beginning, and a good beginning is half the battle. This is roughly true for anything, and the most important thing when planting Pinellia is to choose a good planting time for it, so as to lay a good foundation for the future Pinellia planting process.

Pinellia Planting Time

The season for planting Pinellia should be determined according to the climate of each region. In the Jiangnan region, Pinellia is best planted in the second month of spring. In the north, the planting time for Pinellia should be pushed back, and planting from April to May is most appropriate.

High-Yield Cultivation Techniques for Pinellia

1. Land preparation and fertilization: For Pinellia planting, choose a sunny, deep-soil, sandy loam site with a previous crop of legumes or grasses and rich in organic matter, plow deeply and make beds, and apply 1500-2000 kg of decomposed fine farmyard manure or soil-and-ash manure and 20-25 kg of superphosphate per mu.

2. Timely sowing: Pinellia can be sown in spring, summer, and autumn, but sowing in late February to early March of spring is best. Open furrows 5-7 cm deep on the beds at a row spacing of 20-25 cm, sow the tubers in the furrows at a plant spacing of 2-5 cm, and use about 60 kg of seed per mu.

3. Seedling-stage management: After sowing Pinellia, scatter decomposed fine farmyard manure or soil-and-ash manure to cover the seeds, then pour 1500-2000 kg of clear manure water, and afterward cover with soil level with the bed surface. Generally after 20 days, observe once every 2 days, and when the seedling emergence rate reaches about 60%, remove the covering after 6 p.m.

4. Intertillage and fertilization: For Pinellia planting, about 20 days after the seedlings emerge completely in early April, apply 1000 kg of 1:3 human and livestock manure water per mu. Carry out field inspection and management at any time, and if weeds are found, pull them out promptly, and shallowly hoe between rows with a hoe to a depth of about 2.5 cm, avoiding root damage.

5. Timely earthing up: For Pinellia sown before early March, earth up once around June 10, using about 200 kg of fine mud from the plow pan per mu, scattered over the bed surface to a thickness of about 1.5 cm, covering the bulbils and seeds and pressing down slightly, and earth up once each around July 15 and September 10.

6. Irrigation and flower-bud removal: Pinellia likes moisture and fears drought. If there is a long clear and dry spell, irrigate for half an hour after 6 p.m.; if there is too much rain, drain promptly. Except where seed propagation is needed, all flower buds produced during the growing period should be removed so that nutrients are concentrated in the growth of the underground tubers.

The Growing Environment of Pinellia

1. Temperature: When the average ground temperature is about 10°C, Pinellia sprouts and emerges; when the average air temperature reaches 15°C-27°C, Pinellia grows most luxuriantly. In some parts of China, starting in mid-July, as the plum rain season ends and temperatures rise, the maximum temperature often exceeds 35°C, and Pinellia growth is severely affected. Without shade conditions, the aboveground parts of Pinellia die off one after another, forming a major summer dieback. The suitable temperature for Pinellia growth is 23°C-29°C.

2. Humidity: Pinellia is not drought-tolerant and prefers to grow in soil with relatively high humidity. We once investigated a high-yield Pinellia field in Zhongxing Town, Shan County, where the average tuber yield reached 1500 kg. Its variety was the Heze-produced “narrow three-leaf Pinellia”, and there was almost no obvious dieback process throughout the year; even in the hottest summer season, growth was very vigorous. One of the main measures was to persist in furrow-irrigating with well water once every evening in summer, which both kept the soil moist and lowered the soil temperature, achieving two goals at once. Pinellia both likes water and fears water. When soil moisture exceeds a certain limit, growth instead becomes poor, causing root rot, stem rot, dieback and death, and a decline in tuber yield.

3. Light: Pinellia is a shade-tolerant rather than shade-loving plant, and under moderate shading conditions it can grow luxuriantly. However, if the light is too strong, Pinellia finds it difficult to survive. A semi-shaded environment is suitable, and the number of bulbils and tuber weight gain can reach their maximum.

Harvesting and Processing of Pinellia

1. Harvesting: Those sown from seed are harvested in the 3rd or 4th year, while those propagated from tubers are harvested in the same year or the 2nd year. Generally, digging is done in summer or autumn after the stems and leaves wither and the plants die back, and harvesting from Grain in Ear to Summer Solstice in summer is best. When digging, choose a sunny day and dig carefully to avoid damage. Shake off the mud and sand, put them in baskets and cover them well, and never expose them to the sun.

2. Processing: Wash the fresh Pinellia clean of mud and sand, grade them into large, medium, and small, put them separately into hemp bags, first gently strike them a few times on the ground, then pour them into a vat of clean water, and rub them repeatedly until the outer skin is completely removed. Then take them out to sun-dry, turning them constantly, take them back in the evening and spread them flat indoors to air-dry, and the next day take them out again and sun-dry until completely dry, thus making raw Pinellia.

Because the producing areas of Pinellia are very widely distributed, when planting Pinellia we need to make a detailed division of the planting time for Pinellia according to region, so as to improve the survival rate of Pinellia, thereby realizing the yield and planting benefits of Pinellia and increasing planting income.