How to Grow Chuanxiong for High Yield? A Detailed Explanation of Key Cultivation Techniques
Chuanxiong (Ligusticum chuanxiong) is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Apiaceae family, and its tubers are used medicinally. It can invigorate blood and regulate menstruation, soothe qi and relieve pain, and dispel wind-dampness. It is a commonly used and important traditional Chinese medicinal material with great demand, and that demand is still increasing year by year. Chuanxiong has wide adaptability, prefers a mild and humid climate with abundant sunlight, is not strongly cold-resistant, can tolerate drought slightly, and fears shade and waterlogging. The soil should be deep, loose and fertile, well-drained, rich in organic matter, and neutral or slightly acidic; generally, oily sandy soil or sandy loam is better for cultivation. Its high-yield cultivation techniques are described below:
Growing Lingzi in Mountain Areas
Chuanxiong is propagated by the stem nodes of the aboveground stem. The stem nodes are called “Lingzi” and must be cultivated in mountain areas at an altitude of about 1200 m (mainly to prevent degeneration). For growing Lingzi, either wasteland or previously cultivated land can be used, but continuous cropping is not allowed. In early to mid-January, dig up Chuanxiong tubers, remove stems, leaves, soil and fibrous roots, and transport them to the mountain area for planting. This kind of tuber is called “Fuxiong&rdquo.
Planting time: generally around the Beginning of Spring. Dig holes at a row and hole spacing of 24 cm each, 7 cm deep. Large Fuxiong can be cut into 2-4 pieces, with 1 piece planted per hole; medium Fuxiong is planted 1 per hole; small Fuxiong is planted 2 per hole. Place the bud eye upward, press firmly and plant steadily, then apply compost and cover with soil and level it.
Field management of Fuxiong: seedlings emerge around Awakening of Insects. At the end of March or early April, thin the seedlings, keeping 8-10 stems per hole that are uniform in thickness and growing well, and cutting off the rest from the stem base. After thinning, cultivate and weed around Grain Rain, and apply topdressing once. Cultivation should be shallow, and topdressing should use a mixture of human and livestock manure water and oil cake powder.
Harvesting Lingzi: in mid to late July, choose a cloudy day or a sunny morning to harvest the Lingzi stems, dig up the whole plant, and remove plants damaged by pests and those with rotting tubers. From well-growing plants, remove the tubers (dried for medicinal use), leaves and stem tips, tie them into bundles, choose a cool place, spread a layer of thatch on the ground, stack the stems on it in a crisscross pattern, and cover them with thatch again. Take them out at the Beginning of Autumn and cut them into short sections about 4.5 cm long with one node disk; these are the “Lingzi&rdquo. According to stem size and position, Lingzi is divided into 7 types: Dadangdang, Dashanxi, Zhengshanxi, Xishanxi, Xianzi, Ruanjianzi and Tulingzi. Zhengshanxi and Dashanxi are better. After grading, transport them to the mountain area for planting. Each type of Lingzi must be planted separately so that emergence and growth are more uniform.
Selecting the Plot, Planting Time and Seed
The tubers of Chuanxiong grow relatively quickly, so it is best to choose deep soil, loose and fertile in texture, free of autumn water, and with good aeration and permeability, such as oily sandy loam or half-sand half-mud land for cultivating Chuanxiong.
Early August each year is the suitable planting period, and it should not be later than late August. Before planting, select robust and intact Zhengshanxi and Dashanxi Lingzi as seed. Choose a sunny day when planting.
Apply Sufficient Base Fertilizer and Reasonable Topdressing
Chuanxiong is a fertilizer-tolerant plant. Applying sufficient base fertilizer and reasonable topdressing is one of the important measures to increase yield, and topdressing usually needs to be carried out multiple times. First, before plowing, use 150 kg of oil cake per mu, pile and ferment it with 4000-5000 kg of livestock pen manure, spread it evenly on the surface, then plow it into the soil as base fertilizer. After each cultivation, topdressing must be applied, mixing human and livestock manure water with oil cake or ammonium sulfate; the first application should be small and light, and the second and third should be heavier. After the third application of water fertilizer, also mix soil manure, plant ash, oil cake, superphosphate, etc. evenly and spread it around the root crown. This fertilization should be before Frost's Descent, otherwise the fertilizer effect will not be high. After greening up in mid-January of the second year, apply spring fertilizer once with human and livestock manure water at the end of February or early March.
Cultivation and Weeding, Clearing Ditches and Replanting Seedlings
About 20 days after planting, when the seedlings have all emerged, remove the covering grass. Within 60 days after planting, cultivate and weed three times, once every 20 days. The first time is about 6 cm deep, the second about 3 cm deep, and the third only lightly cultivates the soil surface to remove weeds. While weeding, cultivate the fine soil from the ditches onto the ridge surface. Replant missing seedlings during the first and second cultivations.
In January of the second year, when the stems and leaves have already turned yellow and withered, first remove the stems and leaves, then cultivate and weed once more, and mound the soil from between the rows onto the ridge surface to protect the tubers.
Pest and Disease Control
Pest control: the main pest of Chuanxiong is the Chuanxiong stem node moth, whose larvae of each generation bore into the stem from the leaf sheath and eat the node disk. When storing Lingzi, spray with trichlorfon diluted 100-150 times with water for control. Alternatively, before planting, in addition to strictly selecting Lingzi, use 5-6 kg each of tobacco stems and leaves, add 50 kg of water, boil together, cool, and soak the Lingzi for 24 hours; or soak the Lingzi in trichlorfon diluted about 150 times with water for 1 hour before planting.
Disease control: the main disease of Chuanxiong is tuber rot, called “water wax gourd” by local medicinal farmers. When digging Fuxiong and harvesting stems, strictly remove diseased plants, and pay attention to field drainage and planting.
Intercropping
In order to increase economic income, wheat can be intercropped in Chuanxiong fields, and no additional management is needed.
Harvesting and Processing
Harvesting method: Chuanxiong is harvested from Lesser Fullness of Grain to Grain in Ear in the second year after planting. Choose a sunny day, dig up the plants with a two-toothed rake, shake off the soil, remove the stems and leaves, briefly sun-dry in the field, then put the tubers into a bamboo knocking basket, knock off the soil, and transport them back for drying.
Processing method: Chuanxiong is usually dried by baking in a heated bed, and the fire should not be too strong, turning 2-3 times a day. Take out the semi-dry tubers and knock them once in the knocking basket. When continuing to bake, put fresh tubers on the lower layer and semi-dry products on the upper layer. After some of the upper layer is completely dry, knock each of the upper and lower layers once, clean off the mud, sand and fibrous roots, and select the fully dry ones as finished products. Put the not-yet-dry ones on the upper layer and continue drying, turning them daily in this way until all are dry. In addition, store in a dry place to prevent mildew and insect damage.