How to plant Euphrasia? Planting methods and key technical points

In many regions, on shady slopes, grasslands and among shrubs, there is a grass that blooms with white or light purple flowers from June to September—Euphrasia. It has certain medicinal and forage value and is widely cultivated, so how do you plant it? Let's find out below.

How to plant Euphrasia?

1. Land preparation and fertilisation

Euphrasia has a well-developed root system and requires deep ploughing and sufficient base fertiliser. Generally, apply 30 loads of human manure or urine per mu, or 50-80 loads of livestock manure and barnyard manure. Topdressing is generally applied at the seedling stage and after cutting, with 5 kg of urea or 1520 loads of human manure or urine per mu.

2. Sowing

Large, plump grass seeds are sown in March and late July, and in June and early September, with seed soaking before sowing. Euphrasia has two sowing methods: direct sowing and soaked-seed sowing, with soaked-seed sowing giving better results. Sowing methods include broadcasting, dibbling and seedling transplanting. Broadcasting is suitable for planting on the bottom of fish ponds, dibbling is suitable for dry land, and the edges and surfaces of fish pond embankments, while seedling transplanting can adapt to both paddy fields and dry land.

3. Field management

After sowing, if any missing plants are found, reseeding should be carried out immediately. During the entire growth period, Euphrasia generally only needs weeding once, and after intertillage and weeding, one topdressing should be applied. When there is plenty of water, Xiangmi grass grows rapidly; Euphrasia planted at the edges or on the surface of fish pond embankments or in places with convenient water sources should be watered appropriately.

The growth period of Euphrasia is relatively short; generally, the fresh grass can be harvested when the plant stems reach 70-90 cm in height.