Bupleurum Planting Time, Methods and Key Technical Points

In the past, because material resources were not abundant, people's ways of treating diseases were relatively rough and simple, and traditional Chinese medicine was everyone's first choice. As a result, the harvesting of Chinese herbal medicines that could produce relatively good therapeutic effects was quite severe, and Bupleurum was one of them.

Bupleurum Planting Techniques

1. Site selection and land preparation: Bupleurum originally grew wild. In recent years, because harvesting has led to an insufficient medicinal supply, it has been cultivated from wild into domestic planting. Choose sandy loam or humus soil on mountain slopes and terraced fields for cultivation, and it is not advisable to choose clay soil or areas prone to waterlogging for planting. If sowing on reclaimed wasteland, stones, branches and so on in the field should be cleared away. Apply sufficient base fertilizer before sowing, about 22500 kg of barnyard manure per hectare and 75 kg of superphosphate, spread evenly and plow 25-30 cm deep, then carefully rake level, and make flat beds 100-130 cm wide or high ridges 30 cm wide ready for sowing.

2. Propagation methods

Use seed propagation, either direct sowing or raising seedlings and then transplanting. Large-scale production mostly uses direct sowing. The seed germination rate is about 50%. At a temperature of about 20°C and with sufficient moisture, seedlings can emerge 7 days after sowing. If the temperature is below 20°C, it takes more than 10 days for seedlings to emerge.

① Direct sowing: Sow before the winter freeze or in spring. Spring sowing is carried out from late March to early April. Before sowing, water thoroughly first, wait for the water to seep down, and when the sloped land is slightly level, sow in rows with a row spacing of 17-20 cm. The furrow depth is 1.8 cm, sow the seeds evenly, cover with 0.7-1 cm of soil, use about 22.5 kg of seeds per hectare, keep the soil moist regularly, and seedlings emerge in about 10-12 days.

② Raising seedlings: For raising seedlings for transplanting, choose a sunny seedbed and sow in March to April, either in rows or by evenly broadcasting. For row sowing, the row spacing is 10 cm. Draw small shallow furrows, sow the seeds evenly into the furrows, and cover with soil completely. Press down lightly, use a watering can to sprinkle water, or first irrigate the seedbed of the sunny bed, and sow after the water seeps down. After evenly broadcasting the seeds, sieve a layer of fine soil over the seedbed surface with a bamboo sieve. Cover the sowing bed with plastic film or a layer of straw curtain, which helps maintain temperature and moisture and can accelerate seed germination and seedling emergence.

③ Transplanting: When the seedlings are 7 cm tall, they can be dug up with soil around the roots and planted out in the field, with a row spacing of 17-20 cm and a plant spacing of 7-10 cm. Water promptly after planting. When the transplanted seedlings produce new growth and the leaves begin to expand, gently loosen the soil once. Doing a good job of preserving soil moisture and protecting seedlings is the key to high yield.

Bupleurum Planting Time and Methods

Bupleurum is mainly propagated by seed. It can generally be sown in winter or spring, but winter sowing is better, as seedlings emerge earlier and more uniformly in early spring. Winter sowing should be carried out from November to early December, with a seeding rate of 3-4 kg per mu. Seed treatment should be done before sowing. Bupleurum seeds are small; put an appropriate amount of laundry detergent in, rub gently, then rinse off the laundry detergent with clean water and dry for storage ready for sowing. When sowing, mix the seeds evenly with an appropriate amount of fine loess and plant ash, then broadcast.

The sowing methods can be either furrow drilling or broadcasting. For furrow sowing, fertilizer can first be placed into the furrows. When broadcasting seeds, the covering soil should not be too thick; the soil thickness must not exceed 0.5 cun. For broadcasting, on a leveled and leveled ground surface, evenly broadcast the mixed seeds over the field surface. After sowing, cover lightly by hand. Where conditions allow, the sown field can be irrigated, the soil filled and compacted, and the field properly pressed. Seedlings can emerge after spring. The spring sowing method is the same as winter sowing, but it needs to be covered with grass to preserve moisture.

The Producing Area Environment of Bupleurum

Bupleurum often grows wild in mountainous areas below 1 500 m altitude, on barren slopes of hills, in grass clumps, along roadsides, at forest edges and in gaps within forests. It has strong adaptability, prefers a slightly cool and moist climate, is relatively cold-tolerant and drought-tolerant, and avoids high temperatures and waterlogged depressions.

Bupleurum seeds have a physiological after-ripening phenomenon. Stratification treatment can promote after-ripening, but under dry conditions, the after-ripening process can also be completed after 4-5 months. The suitable temperature for germination is 15-25°C, the germination rate can reach 50%-60%, the seed lifespan is 1 year, and the suitable temperature for plant growth is 20-25°C.

Harvesting and Processing of Bupleurum

Collection of Bupleurum stems, seeds and medicinal roots. For collecting stems and seeds, when the seeds turn yellow-black and the leaves have all withered and yellowed, the stems together with the seeds can be cut off and threshed. Dry the stems and seeds separately in the sun, store them properly, and sell later. The medicinal roots should generally be harvested after two years. For harvesting the medicinal roots, manual deep digging can be used to dig out all the medicinal roots. They must not be pulled out directly, to prevent broken roots from affecting yield and increasing income. The medicinal roots should be sorted by category, uniform and neat in size, tied into small bundles, dried in the sun, and then sold.

At present, because wild Bupleurum resources are scarce, but the demand for Bupleurum has not decreased, the market price of Bupleurum has also been continuously rising in recent years. At present, planting Bupleurum should be regarded as an important industry that can be profitable, but growers still need to expend quite a lot of effort.