How to Grow Scutellaria baicalensis? Planting Methods and Key Technical Points

Scutellaria baicalensis, also known as mountain tea root and earth-gold tea root, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Scutellaria in the Lamiaceae family. Its root is used as medicine; it is bitter in taste and cold in nature, with effects such as clearing heat and drying dampness, purging fire and detoxifying, stopping bleeding, and preventing miscarriage. It is a common bulk Chinese medicinal material and has very good prospects for cultivation. So, how do you grow Astragalus membranaceus?

I. Direct Seeding in the Field

1. Seed treatment: Soak Scutellaria baicalensis seeds in warm water at 40-45°C for 5-6 hours, or soak them in tap water at room temperature for 12-24 hours. Remove them, let them dry slightly, and place them at about 20°C with moisture maintained for germination. Once some seeds have cracked and sprouted, they can be sown.

2. Sowing time: Scutellaria baicalensis is generally sown in spring from March to April, or in autumn from September to October. When soil moisture is guaranteed, mid-April is ideal, when the soil temperature at 5 cm underground is stable at 15°C. The sowing methods include broadcast sowing, dibbling, and drilling, and it is better to sow shallowly than deeply.

3. Sowing method: For Scutellaria baicalensis, use 1-2 jin of seed per mu. After sowing, cover the seeds with 2-2.5 cm of fine moist soil, and at the same time press the soil down in a timely manner and cover the ground to keep the soil moist until emergence.

II. Raising Seedlings and Transplanting

1. Seedbed selection: Where direct seeding on dry hillside land makes it difficult to keep seedlings, the method of raising seedlings and transplanting can be used. For seedling raising, choose a warm, sunny place for the seedbed; either a sunny cold frame or a hotbed will do, 130-135 cm wide, with the length depending on need.

2. Sowing method: Apply 5000 kg of decomposed barnyard manure or compost per mu to the Scutellaria baicalensis seedling plot, dig deeply and rake finely, level the bed surface, and water thoroughly. In early to mid-April, mix the pre-germinated seeds with moist sand and evenly scatter them on the bed surface, then cover with 0.5-1 cm of sieved manure soil and cover with plastic film to increase temperature and retain moisture.

3. Seedling management: After the Scutellaria baicalensis seedlings emerge evenly, ventilate appropriately. When the seedlings are 3 cm tall, remove the film and promptly weed and thin the seedlings. When the seedlings are 5-7 cm tall, transplant them into the field at a row spacing of 40-45 cm and a density of 25-30 plants per meter, and water promptly after transplanting.

III. Field Management

1. Cultivation and weeding: After the Scutellaria baicalensis seedlings emerge until the field canopy closes, loosen the soil and weed 3-4 times. After that, cultivate and weed another 1-2 times depending on weed growth and other conditions. Before green-up in spring of the second and third years, clean the field and rake the soil to loosen it. After green-up until the canopy closes, still cultivate and weed about 2 times.

2. Thinning and filling in seedlings: After the Scutellaria baicalensis seedlings emerge evenly, promptly thin overly dense areas. When the seedlings are 5 cm tall, set the seedlings in a staggered pattern at a plant spacing of 6-8 cm, and transplant seedlings to fill gaps where seedlings are missing. Transplant with soil attached, and water promptly after planting to help them survive.

3. Timely topdressing: During the growth period of Scutellaria baicalensis, topdress 1-2 times each year, and compound fertilizer has the best yield-increasing effect. Apply one soil topdressing after seedling establishment in the first year, and from green-up to before canopy closure in the second year and thereafter. Apply topdressing in a timely and appropriate amount according to plant growth conditions.

4. Irrigation and drainage: After sowing Scutellaria baicalensis until emergence, keep the soil moist. From emergence to seedling establishment, do not water again afterward unless there is special drought. In other seasons and in the following two years, water if there is severe drought or when topdressing, and drain promptly in the rainy season to prevent waterlogging.

5. Pruning flower branches: When growing Scutellaria baicalensis, in fields not kept for seed, promptly cut off flower branches after budding and before flowering to reduce nutrient consumption, promote root growth, and thereby increase the yield of Scutellaria baicalensis.

6. Harvesting and processing: Scutellaria baicalensis is best harvested 2-3 years after sowing. The harvest season is in late autumn or before spring sprouting. When harvesting, dig carefully and never break the roots. After digging out, shake off the soil, sun-dry until half dry, strike off the outer skin, then quickly sun-dry or oven-dry.

7. Skin-striking method: For Scutellaria baicalensis, the skin-striking method is to strike the first time when sun-dried to 30% dry, strike the second time when sun-dried to 50-60% dry, strike the third time when sun-dried to 70-80% dry, and when sun-dried to fully dry, strike at noon until the roots become yellow-white. Each mu can yield 150-200 kg of dried medicinal material.