Detailed Explanation of Key Field Cultivation Techniques for Polygonatum
Polygonatum (scientific name: Polygonatum sibiricum), also known as: Chicken-head Polygonatum, Yellow Chicken Vegetable, Brush-tube Vegetable, Claw Ginseng, Tiger Ginger, Chicken-claw Ginseng. It is a plant of the genus Polygonatum, with a horizontal rhizome, cylindrical, with enlarged nodes. Leaves are whorled, sessile. A medicinal plant, it has the effects of tonifying the spleen, moistening the lungs and promoting fluid production.
Morphological Characteristics of Polygonatum
The rhizome is cylindrical; because the nodes are enlarged, the “internode” is thick at one end and thin at the other, with short branches at the thick end (the medicinal material made from this type of rhizome is called Chicken-head Polygonatum in the Chinese Materia Medica), with a diameter of 1-2 cm. The stem is 50-90 cm tall, or can reach more than 1 m, sometimes climbing. Leaves are whorled, 4-6 per whorl, linear-lanceolate, 8-15 cm long, (4-)6-16 mm wide, with the apex curled or bent into a hook. The inflorescence usually has 2-4 flowers, appearing umbel-like, with the peduncle 1-2 cm long, and the pedicels (2.5-)4-10 mm long, drooping; the bracts are located at the base of the pedicels, membranous, subulate or linear-lanceolate, 3-5 mm long, with 1 vein; the perianth is milky white to pale yellow, 9-12 mm long in total, slightly constricted in the middle of the perianth tube, with lobes about 4 mm long; the filaments are 0.5-1 mm long, and the anthers are 2-3 mm long; the ovary is about 3 mm long, and the style is 5-7 mm long. The berry is 7-10 mm in diameter, black, with 4-7 seeds. The flowering period is May-June, and the fruiting period is August-September.
Growth Habits of Polygonatum
Polygonatum prefers shady and humid climatic conditions. It is shade-loving, cold-tolerant and afraid of drought. It grows poorly in dry areas and grows well in humid, shaded environments. It grows well in loam soil that is relatively deep, loose and fertile, and has good drainage and water retention; it is not suitable for plant growth in poor, dry and heavy clay plots.
Field Cultivation Techniques for Polygonatum:
1. Site selection and land preparation: Choose a moist plot with sufficient shade. The soil should preferably be loam or sandy loam with a loose texture and good water retention. Before sowing, first deep-plow once. In conjunction with land preparation, apply 2000 kg of farmyard manure per mu, plow it into the soil as base fertilizer, then harrow finely and level, and make beds 1.2 m wide.
2. Propagation Methods
(1) Rhizome propagation: In late autumn or early spring around late March, select 1-2-year-old robust rhizomes from plants free of pests and diseases, choose the young tender part at the tip, cut into several sections, each with 3-4 nodes, let the wounds dry slightly, and plant at a row spacing of 22-24 cm, plant spacing of 10-16 cm, and depth of 5 cm. After covering with soil, press lightly and water. Thereafter, water once every 3-5 days to keep the soil moist. When planting in late autumn, cover with some barnyard manure and grass after the ground freezes to keep warm.
(2) Seed propagation: After the seeds mature in August, select mature and plump seeds and immediately carry out sand storage treatment: mix 1 part seeds with 3 parts sandy soil evenly. Store in a pit 30 cm deep in a shaded place and keep moist. Wait until late March of the following year, sieve out the seeds, evenly broadcast them in shallow furrows on the bed surface at a row spacing of 12-15 cm, cover with about 1.5 cm of soil, press lightly, water, and cover with a layer of grass to retain moisture. Remove the covering grass before emergence. When the seedlings are 6-9 cm tall, thin appropriately where too dense, and transplant after 1 year. To meet the shade conditions required for Polygonatum growth, corn can be planted on the bed ridges.
3. Field Management: In the early growth stage, cultivate and weed frequently, once each in April, June, September and November every year. Shallow hoeing is advisable, with appropriate hilling; in the later stage, simply pull weeds. If drought occurs or if planted in a relatively sunny and dry place, timely watering is needed. Every year, in conjunction with cultivation and weeding, apply topdressing. After the first 3 cultivations, apply 1500 kg of farmyard manure per mu, mixed evenly with 50 kg of superphosphate and 50 kg of cake fertilizer, open furrows between rows and apply, then cover with soil to cover the fertilizer. Polygonatum avoids waterlogging and prefers shade, so attention should be paid to drainage and intercropping with corn.