How do you grow Chinese lantern (ground cherry) from seed?
Chinese lantern, also known as ground cherry, downy ground cherry and so on, is a fruit that is both edible and medicinal, with a very high vitamin content and excellent flavor. So, how do you grow Chinese lantern from seed? Let's find out together!
1. Growing habits
Chinese lantern has strong adaptability and can be grown in all parts of the country. Its growing temperature requirement is 12-30 degrees, and it is not demanding about light. It is distributed throughout the country, mainly produced in the three northeastern provinces, Shanxi and the Inner Mongolia region. It is resistant to severe cold and drought. The soil requirement is neutral or slightly acidic to alkaline plots rich in organic matter. Slopes, mountain gullies and wasteland can all support good growth. Its drought and cold resistance is very strong, so Chinese lantern is relatively easy to grow.
2. Seed treatment
Chinese lantern seeds are usually harvested in October, washed clean and dried in the shade. Before November 10, soak the seeds indoors in clean water for 24 hours, then take them out and drain off the water. Mix them evenly with fine sand at 2 times the amount of the seeds. The moisture standard is that when squeezed in the hand they form a ball that breaks apart at a touch. Then put them in a breathable bag. Outdoors, choose a spot with high, dry sandy loam soil and dig a pit 30 cm deep. Place the seed bag into the pit, cover the seed bag with 10 cm of soil, and after the ground freezes, cover the surface with 10 cm of mulch to delay the rise of ground temperature in early spring, so as to prevent the seeds from germinating underground.
3. Sowing method
Remove the mulch 5 days before sowing Chinese lantern. At sowing time, take out the seeds together with the sand and sow them at the same time. At a row spacing of 25-30 cm, draw furrows 1-1.5 cm deep, scatter the seeds in, cover with fine soil or fine sand 0.8-1 cm, and water thoroughly. If the temperature is suitable, seedlings emerge in 7-15 days. At around 28 days, when the seedlings have 3-4 leaves, they can be transplanted. Use wide ridges with double rows, with a row spacing of 60-70 cm and a plant spacing of 20-25 cm, planting two plants per hole.
4. Field management
Chinese lantern is managed relatively extensively. During the seedling stage and before flowering, hoe weeds 2 times as normal to keep the weeds under control. From after flowering to the harvest period, generally no management is needed. Starting from the second year, promptly remove excess root suckers, keeping about 50,000 plants per 667 sq m. The yield of Chinese lantern planted in the same year is not high, and from the second year onward the yield will continue to increase. If you want a high and early yield from growing Chinese lantern, at a seedling height of 10 cm, combine thinning with cultivating and weeding. In May-June, apply 20 kg of urea per mu. Pay attention to drainage during the rainy season. During the growing period, spray dwarfing agent twice to prevent excessive vegetative growth. Before harvesting the fruit, spray mancozeb twice to control leaf spot disease, and spray potassium dihydrogen phosphate twice to advance early ripening, which can help achieve a high yield.
The above is the Tuliu.com editor's summary of how to grow Chinese lantern from seed. We hope it can help you!