Detailed Explanation of the Key Technical Points for Scientific Cultivation of Scutellaria baicalensis

1. Overview

Scutellaria baicalensis, also known as golden-strip root, mountain tea root, and skullcap tea, is a plant of the Lamiaceae family. Its root is used medicinally. Its main components include baicalin, baicalein, wogonin, and neobaicalein, among others. It has effects such as clearing heat, purging fire, detoxifying, and preventing miscarriage. It is mainly used to treat warm-disease fever, pneumonia, hemoptysis, jaundice, hepatitis, dysentery, red eyes, and restless fetal movement, among other conditions, and is one of the commonly used Chinese herbal medicines in clinical traditional Chinese medicine.

2. Biological and Ecological Characteristics

Scutellaria baicalensis is a perennial herb with a plant height of 20-50 cm. Its main root is conical, 10-30 cm long and 1-2 cm in diameter, with a yellowish-brown outer bark and a yellow interior. The stems grow in clumps, with the base lying on the ground and slightly ascending or upright, and are much and finely branched. The leaves are simple and opposite, lanceolate, with acuminate or acute tips, rounded bases, and entire margins. The raceme is terminal, with flowers arranged rather densely on one side; the calyx is tubular and densely covered with hairs on the outside; the corolla is purple and two-lipped; there are 4 stamens, 2 of which are longer; there is 1 pistil, the ovary is deeply 4-lobed, and below the ovary there is an orange fleshy disc. There are 4 nutlets, ovate, black, with a tuberculate surface, about 1 mm in diameter, enclosed within the persistent calyx. The flowering period is June to September, and the fruiting period is July to October.

Scutellaria baicalensis prefers a mild climate and tolerates cold and drought. It originally grew wild on hillsides, field ridges, and sunny dry places at the forest edge. It has no strict requirements for soil, and well-drained, fertile sandy loam is optimal. It can be planted on hilly and poor land as well.

3. Propagation Methods

Propagation is by seeds and root division.

1. Site selection and land preparation: Choose a sunny, well-drained site with deep, fertile sandy loam, and avoid continuous cropping. Apply 3000 kg of crushed farmyard manure and 20 kg of superphosphate per mu, and plow to a depth of 25-30 cm. Harrow finely and level, then make beds 1.2 m wide; length is not restricted.

2. Seed propagation: ① Seed collection. Collect seeds from robustly growing plants. Scutellaria baicalensis has a long flowering period, and the seeds do not mature uniformly and are easy to shed, so collect them as soon as they mature. After collection, dry them in the sun, thresh out the seeds, and remove impurities for later use. ② Seed soaking. Before sowing, soak the seeds in warm water at 40-50°C for 24 h, remove them, and let them dry slightly before sowing. ③ Sowing. There are spring sowing and autumn sowing. Spring sowing is carried out from mid-April to early May, and autumn sowing from mid-August to late September. Open furrows at a row spacing of 30-40 cm and a furrow depth of 0.5-1 cm. Sow the seeds evenly into the furrows, cover with fine soil, press lightly, and then water. Keep the soil moist. To ensure soil moisture, after sowing, wheat straw and rice straw may be added as a cover to facilitate emergence. At a temperature of 15-18°C, seedlings emerge about 10-15 days after sowing. The germination rate of Scutellaria baicalensis seeds is about 60%, and the sowing rate is 1-1.5 kg per mu. Covering the seeds with soil is key in Scutellaria baicalensis sowing. Because the seeds are small and have poor ability to push through the soil, sowing should be shallow and the soil cover should be thin. If sowing is too deep and the soil cover is too thick, the seeds cannot emerge.

3. Root division propagation: In spring, before Scutellaria baicalensis sprouts new buds, dig out the roots, cut off the main root for medicinal use, and then, according to the size of the rhizome clump, cut the mother plant rhizome into several pieces, each with 2-3 buds. Dig holes at a plant spacing of 15 cm × 30 cm, plant them, cover with soil, press firmly, and water. Seedlings can grow in about 10 days. This method can shorten the growth cycle, but the roots branch more than those from direct sowing.

4. Field Management

1. Thinning: After the seedlings emerge completely, thin out the overly dense and weak small seedlings in 2 rounds, and set the plants at a spacing of 10-15 cm.

2. Cultivation and weeding: After the seedlings emerge, loosen the soil and weed in time. While loosening the soil, appropriately earth up around the seedlings. Carry this out 2-3 times a year. Being free of weeds is beneficial to normal plant growth.

3. Topdressing: When the seedlings are 10-15 cm tall, apply one topdressing of light human and livestock manure water to help the seedlings grow and increase yield. At the end of June and the beginning of July, apply 20 kg of superphosphate plus 5 kg of urea per mu, opening furrows between the rows to apply it, then cover with soil and water once.

4. Removal of flower buds: If seeds are not to be collected, cut off the flowering branches to reduce nutrient consumption, promote root growth, and increase yield. Except for seed-production fields, pinch off the tips in time during the flowering period, and on sunny days cut off the flower buds, which can promote root growth.

5. Disease and Pest Control

The main disease and pest include leaf blight, which damages the leaves, spreading inward from the leaf tip or leaf margin and forming irregular dark brown lesions, spreading rapidly and causing the leaves to wither and die. The disease is severe in hot and rainy seasons. Spray with a 1000-fold dilution of 50% carbendazim for control, spraying once every 7-10 days for 2-3 consecutive times.

6. Harvesting and Processing

Scutellaria baicalensis is used medicinally for its root. Harvest after 2-3 years of cultivation. When the stems and leaves wither and turn yellow after autumn, dig out the roots, remove the stems and leaves, shake off the soil, and when half-dried in the sun, strike off the outer bark, then dry in the sun or by artificial heat. The yield of dried goods is 150-200 kg per mu.