Detailed Explanation of Schisandra Planting Techniques and Cultivation Methods

AbstractSeed propagation: After the Schisandra fruits are harvested in autumn, remove the pulp and wash out the seeds, then sun-dry and store them. Sowing: Soak the seeds at room temperature for 1 day and night, then mix them evenly with 3 times the amount of clean river sand, and bury them in a relatively cool place. After 3-4 months, when the seeds crack open and the radicle emerges, sowing can be carried out. Site selection and land preparation: It is advisable to choose loose and fertile loam or humus soil. Planting: About 60 cm away from the tree stump, plant one seedling on each side, and build trellises artificially; use north-south rows to facilitate ventilation and light penetration.

Planting Schisandra is one of the projects in medicinal herb cultivation. Schisandra gets its name from its diverse flavors, and the planting industry must also go through the same sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty experiences to reap substantial benefits. Therefore, before tasting the sweet fruit, one must go through a bitter planting process.

Schisandra Planting Techniques

1. Site selection and land preparation: Choose a humid environment, loose and fertile loam or humus soil, and locations with irrigation conditions such as under forests, river valleys, both banks of streams, and slopes of about 15 degrees, with 50%-60% shade density and good ventilation and light penetration. Select a good site, prepare the land, plow, and harrow carefully to make beds. For low-lying, waterlogged plots with abundant rain, make high beds about 15 cm high. For high, dry areas with less rain, make flat beds. Regardless of the type of bed, there must be more than 15 cm of loose soil layer. The bed width is 120-150 cm, and the length depends on the seeds and terrain. Apply 5-10 kg of decomposed barnyard manure per square meter, mix it evenly with the bed soil, and rake the bed surface smooth for sowing.

2. Field planting: About 60 cm away from the tree stump, plant one seedling on each side. This planting method yields high production. Build trellises artificially, and plant Schisandra seedlings at row spacings of 100 cm * 50 cm and 60 cm * 50 cm. Use north-south rows to facilitate ventilation and light penetration. Dig holes about 30 cm deep and wide, mix fertilizer and soil evenly, and fill them into the holes. When planting seedlings, fill half of the soil, then lift the seedling slightly so the root system straightens out, which helps survival. Firm the soil, water, and after the water seeps in, cover with a layer of soil to preserve moisture.

Schisandra Cultivation Methods

1. Seed propagation. After the fruits are harvested in autumn, remove the pulp and wash out the seeds, then sun-dry and store them. Before sowing, seed treatment is required. The method is: after soaking the seeds at room temperature for 1 day and night, mix them evenly with 3 times the amount of clean river sand, and bury them in a relatively cool place. After 3-4 months, when the seeds crack open and the radicle emerges, sowing can be carried out. When treating the seeds, soaking them in a 100-200 ppm gibberellin solution for 24-48 hours can promote seed germination. Usually, drilling is done in late autumn or early spring for seedling raising, with a seeding rate of about 5 kg per mu, covering with 1.5 cm of soil, watering thoroughly, and covering with grass to keep the soil moist. After seedlings emerge, remove the covering grass, build a shade frame, and maintain a small amount of sunlight. Transplanting can be done in early spring of the second or third year.

2. Layering propagation. Before the plants start growing in early spring, bury part of the branches in the soil and water frequently to keep the soil moist. After the branches produce new roots, cut the branches from the plant in late autumn or the following spring and transplant them.

3. Cutting propagation. Before growth starts in early spring or during the rainy season after flowering, cut firm and robust branches into 12-15 cm long sections (the cut ends should be smooth) and insert them obliquely into the seedling bed with a row spacing of 12 cm and a plant spacing of 6-10 cm. Then build a shade frame, water frequently to promote rooting and survival, and transplant in the following spring.

Schisandra Producing Areas

Schisandra is distributed in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanxi, Ningxia, Gansu, and Shandong. It grows in valleys, beside streams, and on mountain slopes at an altitude of 1200-1700 m, and is also distributed in Korea and Japan. Schisandra prefers slightly acidic humus soil. Wild plants grow in mixed forests in mountainous areas, at forest edges, or in thickets in mountain gullies, twining around other trees. Its drought tolerance is relatively poor, and under natural conditions it develops best on fertile, well-drained soil with balanced and suitable moisture.

Schisandra Planting Benefits

Schisandra can make full use of newly afforested forest land, wasteland, land returned from farmland to forest, orchard land, and other tree and fruit forest areas as natural trellis material to develop artificial intercropping cultivation of Schisandra under forests. Excluding the economic benefits of forest trees and forest fruits, the benefit of Schisandra alone per mu is already considerable.

For example, if 3-year-old Schisandra seedlings are transplanted, they can begin to bear fruit in the second year and enter the full fruiting period in the 3rd-4th year. Generally, the yield of dried fruit is 170-230 kg per mu. Calculated at 45 yuan/kg after the new harvest, the benefit per mu should be between 6500-11500 yuan. This is much higher than the benefit of growing grain or cotton. Therefore, intercropping Schisandra under forests is a win-win approach to achieving both ecological protection benefits and economic benefits.

Although planting Schisandra requires a certain amount of effort, the planting benefits are also very considerable. Compared with general planting industries, the Schisandra planting industry can not only create economic benefits but also create a certain degree of ecological benefits. This is a model highly advocated in current agricultural planting.