How to cultivate Pinellia ternata for high yield? A detailed explanation of the key planting techniques
Just from the name Pinellia ternata, it is hard for us to know what it is. In fact, it is a fairly common traditional Chinese medicine. There are many kinds of traditional Chinese medicine in our country, and it is quite normal that we have never even heard of many of them. But for growers, if they want to make progress in the field of growing traditional Chinese medicine, they must learn more about it.
What is Pinellia ternata
Pinellia ternata (scientific name: Pinellia ternata), also known as Diwen, Shoutian, etc., belongs to the order Arales. It is widely distributed in the Yangtze River basin of China as well as in the Northeast, North China and other regions. It is a medicinal plant, with effects of drying dampness and resolving phlegm, directing qi downward and stopping vomiting, and when used raw, reducing boils and swelling; in veterinary medicine it is used to treat throat-locking abscess. It is also distributed in Tibet, at an altitude of about 3000 m.
It is a perennial herb, with a plant height of 15-40 cm. The underground tuber is spherical or oblate-spherical, 0.5-4 cm in diameter, with many fibrous roots at the base of the bud, the bottom and lower half pale yellow and smooth, and the large tubers that are used as seed year after year often have several small tuberous lateral buds connected around their edges. The leaves are basal and have long petioles; the leaves produced in the first year or from smaller bulbils are ovate-cordate or hastate simple leaves, while those of plants more than two years old are 3-foliolate compound leaves, with leaflets elliptical to lanceolate, the middle one larger, 5-15 cm long and 2-4 cm wide; the apex is pointed, the base cuneate, the margin entire, smooth and hairless. On the inner side of the lower part of the petiole there is an ovate bulbil, and occasionally another small bulbil is borne where the leaflets meet. The flowers are unisexual and monoecious, with a terminal spadix, the spathe green or green-purple, tubular and not opening in the lower part, and slightly opening in the upper part. Female flowers are borne at the base of the inflorescence, male flowers above the female flowers, the berry green and ovate, with 1 seed, gray-green. The flowering period is April-July, and the fruiting period is August-September.
How to cultivate Pinellia ternata for high yield
1. Intercropping and relay cropping to increase benefits
Develop production according to local conditions based on the biological characteristics of Pinellia ternata. Pinellia ternata prefers a warm and humid climate, can tolerate cold and shade, but is not drought-tolerant and fears strong light. Taking advantage of this characteristic, Pinellia ternata can be intercropped on gently sloping mountainous land with half shade and half sun, or in wheat fields or broadleaf fruit tree forests, and can also be intercropped with tall-stalked plants such as corn, rapeseed, sorghum and beans. In this way, Pinellia ternata is managed at the same time as crops or economic forest fruits are managed, which both makes rational use of the land and increases comprehensive benefits.
2. Carefully cultivate improved varieties
Excellent seed is an important guarantee for achieving high yield in Pinellia ternata cultivation. So what are the quality conditions that determine excellent seed? First, select superior individual plants with pure variety, no pests or diseases, and robust growth as mother plants for seed collection. Second, the mother plants used for seed collection should be cultivated separately, and water and fertilizer management should be strengthened. Third, to prevent variety mixing, separate harvesting and separate storage are also necessary. Finally, promptly harvest mature, plump, large and heavy tubers as seed. The excellent Pinellia ternata seed balls obtained through careful selection and breeding should be subjected to tissue culture using modern biological methods to establish a rapid asexual propagation system for superior Pinellia ternata lines, and to screen out Pinellia ternata varieties with excellent traits. This can not only mass-produce excellent Pinellia ternata seedlings, but also shorten the field growth period. Then, combined with propagation by bulbils and tubers, the propagation coefficient can be increased.
3. Mulching in early spring to raise seedlings ahead of time
According to experiments, when buds are forced at 20-25 degrees C, and when most of the bud sheaths turn white the tubers are planted and covered with plastic film, seedling emergence is 30 days earlier than when neither bud forcing nor film mulching is used; when no bud forcing is done and only plastic film is used, emergence is 25 days earlier. At the same time, bud forcing plus film mulching increased yield by 52.6% compared with the control, and no bud forcing with only film mulching increased yield by 29.8% compared with the control. Planting after buds have been forced enables the Pinellia ternata planting material to complete the internal physiological changes before germination in advance, and covering with plastic film raises the ground temperature and reaches the temperature needed for emergence earlier, so the buds quickly grow out of the ground. In addition to preserving soil moisture, increasing temperature and advancing emergence, bud forcing plus film mulching also makes the soil loose and well aerated, which is more conducive to the growth and development of the root system, enabling the plants to resist drought and waterlogging, always maintaining a vigorous absorption function and physiological function, and laying the foundation for the enlargement of Pinellia ternata tubers and the achievement of high yield.
The plastic film used can be ordinary agricultural plastic film (0.014 mm thick), or high-density film (0.008 mm thick). When covering, make the film flat and closely attached to the ridge of the bed, and press it down firmly with soil, achieving tightness, flatness and strictness. When the air temperature stabilizes at 15-18 degrees C and about 50% of seedlings have emerged, the plastic film should be removed to prevent high temperatures inside the film from scorching the young seedlings. Before removing the film, seedlings should first be hardened. The method is to uncover the two ends of the bed at noon for ventilation and heat dissipation, then close them again in the evening, and after several consecutive days remove the film entirely.
4. Covering the bed surface during the high-temperature period to delay seedling dieback
When the high-temperature season gradually begins in late June, how to keep the bed surface moist and delay the withering of the aboveground parts of Pinellia ternata as much as possible is an important measure for increasing Pinellia ternata yield. According to experiments, when rice and wheat straw (chaff) were covered in mid-May and mid-June each year, only 5% of plants died back in late July, and growth was good, while in the control group dieback reached 78%. In this way, covering relatively prolongs the growth period, and the photosynthesis period is also relatively prolonged, so more photosynthetic products accumulate in the tubers, the tubers produced grow larger and the yield is higher, increasing yield by 123.78% compared with the control. Moreover, weeds in the covered area were significantly reduced compared with the uncovered control area, and the incidence of leaf rot was significantly lowered, which is also an important reason for the yield increase of Pinellia ternata. If the rainfall is heavy and the flood season is continuously rainy, and soil moisture is excessive, not only should a second covering not be applied, but the wheat straw from the first covering should also be removed in time to prevent rot of underground tubers and yield reduction.
5. Cultivation and weeding to prevent weed damage
Pinellia ternata plants are short, so during the growth period the soil should be loosened and weeds removed frequently to avoid weed infestation. The depth of cultivation should not exceed 5 cm to avoid damaging the roots. Because the roots of Pinellia ternata grow around the tuber, and its root system is concentrated in the 12-15 cm surface soil layer, cultivation should be shallow rather than deep, and weeds should be removed early, while small, and completely. When Pinellia ternata is planted in early spring and covered with plastic film, at the same time as its seedlings emerge, more than 10 kinds of weeds such as foxtail grass, crabgrass, goosegrass, lovegrass, nutgrass, amaranth, small bindweed, lambsquarters and purslane also emerge, and in large numbers, often causing difficulty in seedling emergence and growth after the film is removed and affecting the yield of Pinellia ternata. Therefore, acetochlor can be selected to control pre-emergence weeds of Pinellia ternata. Spraying herbicide on the ground in early spring and then covering with plastic film has a very good control effect on many weeds (for specific usage and dosage, follow the drug instructions). In addition, in artificial cultivation of Pinellia ternata, different herbicides can also be selected according to different seasons. For spring-planted Pinellia ternata, quizalofop-p-tefuryl is suitable, and for autumn planting, either quizalofop-p-tefuryl or acetochlor can be used.
6. Spraying medicinal fertilizer to promote high yield
Practice shows that spraying sodium sulfite solution during the high-temperature and drought period can increase the yield of Pinellia ternata. This is because when the summer temperature continuously reaches as high as 30 degrees C, due to high temperature and strong light, the respiration of Pinellia ternata becomes too strong, and the substances consumed exceed those accumulated by photosynthesis, leading to destruction of the cell protoplast structure and “dieback”. As far as Pinellia ternata production is concerned, “dieback” shortens the growth period of Pinellia ternata and seriously affects its yield. Therefore, taking measures in production to delay or reduce summer “dieback” of Pinellia ternata is an important condition for achieving high yield and high quality. In cultivation, in addition to taking appropriate shading and sprinkler irrigation to reduce light intensity, air temperature and ground temperature, one can also spray a 0.01% solution of the plant respiration inhibitor sodium sulfite, or spray a mixture of 0.01% sodium sulfite, 0.2% urea and 2% superphosphate, to inhibit the respiration of Pinellia ternata, reduce the consumption of photosynthetic products, and thereby delay and reduce “dieback”, which can achieve obvious yield-increasing benefits.
7. Implement GAP standardized cultivation
In accordance with GAP requirements, implement standardized management of the whole process for Pinellia ternata seeds, seedlings, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, water, soil, density, protection, management, work and planting, harvesting, processing, packaging, storage and transportation, limit the content of harmful elements and pesticide residues in Pinellia ternata medicinal material, and use advanced cultivation and processing techniques to improve the yield and quality of Pinellia ternata.
What medicinal and therapeutic value does Pinellia ternata have
Pinellia ternata also has a very good effect in treating diseases in various aspects of the human body, so it is also one of the best choices for disease treatment. Pinellia ternata is warm in nature, pungent in taste, and toxic, with effects such as drying dampness and resolving phlegm, harmonizing the stomach and stopping vomiting, and reducing swelling and dispersing nodules. It has a certain therapeutic effect on conditions such as cough and asthma due to damp phlegm, dizziness due to wind phlegm, headache due to phlegm reversal, vomiting and nausea, and stuffiness and oppression in the chest and epigastrium, and when used externally it can also reduce carbuncles, cellulitis and toxic swellings.
1. Pinellia ternata treats cough with profuse phlegm
Pinellia ternata is drying in nature and functions to resolve phlegm. The phlegm it resolves is mainly that formed by the spleen failing to transform dampness and the dampness gathering into phlegm, so it is an important medicine for treating damp phlegm and is suitable for symptoms such as phlegm-dampness congestion and cough with reversed qi; it is often combined with tangerine peel, Poria, etc.; to treat cough with profuse phlegm, it is also often combined with Fritillaria. Because it is warm in nature, it can also be used to treat cold phlegm, and should be used together with white mustard seed, ginger, etc.; because its phlegm-resolving power is good, it can also treat heat phlegm and wind phlegm. To treat heat phlegm, it can be combined with trichosanthes and Scutellaria; to treat wind phlegm, it should be used together with Arisaema, etc.
2. Pinellia ternata treats stuffiness and oppression in the chest and epigastrium, chest impediment, clumped chest and other symptoms
Pinellia ternata functions to disperse with pungency, warm and unblock, resolve phlegm and dry dampness, so it can be used for phlegm obstructing internally and stuffiness and oppression in the chest and epigastrium, and can be combined with tangerine peel, Poria, etc.; if cold and heat are bound together, it can also be combined with Scutellaria, Coptis, dried ginger, etc., achieving the effects of opening with pungency and descending with bitterness, dispersing nodules and removing stuffiness (such as Banxia Xiexin Tang). In addition, it is also often used for chest impediment pain, combined with trichosanthes, Chinese onion, etc.; to treat clumped chest, it can be combined with trichosanthes, Coptis, etc.
3. Pinellia ternata treats goiter, scrofula, sores and swellings, plum-pit qi and other symptoms
Pinellia ternata can also resolve phlegm and disperse nodules, and can be used to treat goiter, scrofula and phlegm nodes, yin-type abscess swelling and pain caused by phlegm-dampness gathering and binding, or plum-pit qi caused by the mutual binding of phlegm and qi. To treat goiter, scrofula and phlegm nodes, it can be used with seaweed, Dioscorea bulbifera, Fritillaria, etc. For unruptured carbuncles and abscesses, raw Pinellia ternata can be ground with raw Arisaema, etc., mixed with vinegar and applied externally, which has the effect of dispersing nodules and reducing swelling. To treat plum-pit qi, it can be combined with magnolia bark, perilla, etc.
4. Pinellia ternata treats upward reversal of stomach qi, nausea and vomiting
Pinellia ternata has a good effect of directing qi downward and stopping vomiting, and can be used for many kinds of vomiting symptoms. When using it, different combinations should be chosen according to different symptoms. For vomiting due to stomach cold, it can be combined with ginger or ageratum, clove, etc.; for vomiting due to stomach heat, it can be combined with Coptis, bamboo shavings, etc.; for vomiting during pregnancy, it can be combined with furnace soil, etc.; for vomiting due to stomach deficiency, it can be combined with ginseng and white honey.
Side effects of Pinellia ternata
Modern pharmacological studies of traditional Chinese medicine show that within the range of general clinical doses, Pinellia ternata combined with Aconitum carmichaelii, Aconitum kusnezoffii or aconite will not show increased toxicity or reduced efficacy, but caution is still needed in clinical application to avoid adverse reactions. Pinellia ternata requires attention to combination contraindications to avoid adverse reactions, and it can also lead to reduced medicinal efficacy. Mistakenly taking even a trace of raw Pinellia ternata can cause poisoning, so raw Pinellia ternata is managed as a toxic traditional Chinese medicine and must be processed before clinical use. In addition, Pinellia ternata also has strong irritation to local mucous membranes, nephrotoxicity, embryotoxicity in pregnancy, and teratogenic effects. Improper consumption of Pinellia ternata can lead to poisoning, and pregnant mothers should not consume it, to avoid the occurrence of malformed infants.
Pinellia ternata has many effects, and it has very good therapeutic effects on many diseases of the human body. The culture of traditional Chinese medicine in our country has continued to this day for several thousand or even tens of thousands of years. Why has it never been eliminated by the development of society? This is where the charm of traditional Chinese medicine lies.