How to Grow Sichuan Pepper? Detailed Explanation of Key Scientific Cultivation and Management Techniques

Sichuan pepper (huājiāo), also known as green Sichuan pepper, dog pepper, Shu pepper, red pepper, red Sichuan pepper. A type of Sichuan pepper native to Sichuan Province and Guizhou Province is also called majiao. Majiao is lighter in color than ordinary Sichuan pepper, but its flavor is stronger than ordinary Sichuan pepper. "Book of Songs. Chen Feng. East Gate's Elm": You look like qiao (pronounced qiao, also known as hollyhock, jingkui, pi fu), and you gave me a handful of pepper. Mao Chang's commentary says: Pepper, fragrant.

Deciduous shrub or small tree, 3-7 m tall, aromatic, stems usually with enlarged prickles. Odd-pinnate compound leaves, alternate, petiole often with a pair of flat prickles with a particularly broad base on both sides; leaflets 5-11, opposite, nearly sessile, papery, ovate or ovate-oblong, 1.5-7 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, margin with fine blunt serrations, with large transparent glandular dots in the tooth sinuses, underside often with a cluster of rusty-brown long soft hairs on both sides of the base of the midvein. Cymose panicle terminal; flowers unisexual, perianth segments 4-8, in one whorl, ovary sessile. Follicle spherical, red to purple-red, densely covered with warty protruding glands. Except for Northeast China and Xinjiang, it is distributed almost throughout the country, wild or cultivated. It prefers sunny, warm, fertile places. The fruit is used as a seasoning, and aromatic oil can be extracted from it; as medicine it has the effect of dispelling cold, drying dampness, and killing insects; the seeds can be pressed for oil; the leaves can be made into pesticide.

1. Selection of afforestation site and afforestation forms

Selection of afforestation site: According to the biological characteristics of Sichuan pepper, it can be planted on flat land, barren slopes, field edges, field ridges, and around four sides of a site. For barren slopes, avoid mountaintops, wind gaps, shady and cold places, and overly steep dry slopes and high mountains; the soil should mainly be sandy loam and calcareous soil.

Afforestation forms: There are five forms: pure Sichuan pepper orchard, pepper-grain intercropping, pepper-forest intercropping, Sichuan pepper wall, and planting around four sides. Pepper-grain (forest) intercropping is mainly suitable for flat land, barren slopes, and terraced fields to build a whole pepper orchard. Sichuan pepper walls are suitable for units. Families build enclosing walls.

2. Time and method of land preparation

Time of land preparation: Prepare the land half a year or one year before planting Sichuan pepper, or prepare and plant at the same time.

Method of land preparation: For building an orchard on flat land, apply 60~75 tons of organic fertilizer per hectare. Deep plow the whole orchard 30~50 cm. Strip preparation can also be used, with a ditch width of 1 m, deep plowing 60~80 cm, with topsoil and organic fertilizer as the bottom layer, subsoil placed on top, and the strip spacing depending on the planting row spacing. Dig the planting point into a large pit 1 m square for planting. For building an orchard on barren slopes, prepare reverse-slope terraces along the contour lines with the outer side high and the inner side low, with a step width of 1.5~2.5 m and a step spacing of 2~3 m; dig the planting point into a large pit 60 cm square, and apply an appropriate amount of organic fertilizer when backfilling. For pepper-grain (forest) intercropping, Sichuan pepper walls, and planting around four sides, the planting point can be dug into a large pit 60 cm square.

Land preparation density: The orchard establishment density is 2×3 m, 2×4 m, 4×5 m, and the plant spacing at field edges and field ridges is 2~3 long. For planting around four sides, the plant and row spacing is 2 x 4 m. For wall planting, the plant spacing is 2 m.

3. Afforestation

Planting can be done in spring and autumn. Spring planting is most suitable when the Sichuan pepper seedlings are budding; autumn planting is done by truncating and planting before the soil freezes, and after planting, mound soil 30~40 cm high. The planting method is the "three burials, two tramplings, one lifting of the seedling" method, with the depth slightly 2~3 cm higher than the original soil mark of the seedling.

4. Soil management

Loosening soil and weeding: depth 20~30 cm, three times respectively, the first when weeds have just sprouted (spring), the second during the period when grass and pepper grow vigorously together (before wheat harvest), and the third after picking pepper.

Fertilization and irrigation: The main fertilization methods include hole application, ring ditch application, and short strip ditch application, with base fertilizer applied once and topdressing twice. The first base fertilizer is from after picking pepper to before spring sprouting, applying 5~15 kg of barnyard manure per plant, mixed with 150~250 g of superphosphate, applied in a ring, depth 15~20 cm. The second is from late April to early May, topdressing once with human and animal waste, 5-25 kg per plant (or 50~150 g of urea can be applied), and the third is from late June to early July, applying 50~100 g of urea per plant. After Sichuan pepper flowers fade, 5 g of potassium dihydrogen phosphate compound fertilizer can be sprayed on the leaves. Irrigation is carried out in combination with fertilization.

Expanding the tree disk and mounding soil for maintenance: Expanding the tree disk is carried out in combination with applying base fertilizer in late autumn or early spring. Every year, open a ring ditch on the outer side of the tree's root system, expanding outward year by year. A trench can also be opened. This year north-south, next year east-west, with trench depth and width 30~50 cm. The trench length depends on the tree canopy. For planting on barren slopes or ridge edges, the tree disk must be repaired, with the outer side high and the inner side low. Mounding soil for maintenance is done in the rainy season and winter season, mounding soil 30 cm high at the base of the trunk to prevent waterlogging, preserve moisture, and prevent freezing damage

Tree body management (shaping and pruning)

Pruning time and methods: The times include winter pruning and summer pruning; summer pruning is carried out during the tree's growing season. Remove overly dense branches, overlapping branches, competing branches, and inhibit new shoot growth. Winter pruning is carried out after leaf fall and before budding. Summer pruning promotes pepper bearing, and winter pruning promotes branch growth. Pruning methods include heading, leaving, thinning. Renewal, propping, pulling, bending, pressing, weighting, etc.

Selection of young tree form: Natural open-center form, in the first year truncate the trunk at 50 cm above the ground. The shaping zone is 10~15 cm, with 3~5 plump buds within it, trunk height 35~40 cm, and buds below the shaping zone are wiped off. In the second year, retain 3~5 main branches within the shaping zone, with each main branch growing evenly, arranged in balance, base angle 45~60°, staggered up and down, 3~5 cm apart, and prune the others. In the third year, select and retain side branches; when each main branch grows to about 40 cm, it can be pinched to promote new side branches. Each main branch retains 3~5 side branches, and each side branch cultivates more small branches.

Multi-main-branch clump form: Unlike the natural open-center form, it has no trunk. Directly select and retain 3~5 main branches with a base angle of 45~60° as the trunk, pinch when they grow to 1 m to promote side branches. Those not selected as main branches (trunks) are heavily truncated at 30~40 cm to promote a large number of branches and bear fruit earlier. The pruning methods for the main branches and the side branches on the main branches are the same as for the natural open-center form.

Pruning of fruiting trees and aging trees

For fruiting trees, short-truncate vigorously growing branches. Cultivate branch groups; for moderately growing branches, first leave them unpruned, and after fruiting, cut back to form branch groups; for fruiting branches, remove the strong and retain the weak. Stagger to occupy space. For diseased, pest-damaged, crossing, and water sprout branches within the canopy, thin them out, following the principle of paying equal attention to shaping and fruiting.

For aging trees, mainly thin pruning. Gradually thin out weakened branches and cultivate water sprout branches into fruiting branches.