How to Plant Sichuan Pepper Seeds? Three Big Steps to Learn It Easily

Sichuan pepper seeds are the seeds separated from the fruit peel after the ripe Sichuan pepper fruit is harvested. Sichuan pepper seeds are an excellent seasoning and also have medicinal value. Among the Eight Great Cuisines, Sichuan cuisine is a distinctive one, and its character comes mainly from its numbing sensation, and Sichuan pepper is the source of that numbing flavor.How do you plant Sichuan pepper seeds?Three big steps and you will get it at a glance.

1. How much does a jin of Sichuan pepper seeds cost?

The market price of Sichuan pepper seeds varies according to variety and market, generally around 30-50 yuan per jin. Sichuan pepper seeds generally mature from August to October; when fully ripe they can be collected, and after collection they should be dried promptly in a dry indoor place. After the fruit peel splits open, take out the seeds, dry them and store them to prevent mold and oiliness.

2. How do you plant Sichuan pepper seeds?

(1) Seed selection

Choose vigorous, pest-free, prime-aged (10-15 years old) Sichuan pepper trees with good varieties as mother trees for seed collection. When the outer skin of the fruit has all turned purplish red and the inner seed coat has turned blue, the fruit is ripe (early August). After picking, spread the fruit thinly on a mat and dry it in the shade in a shaded, ventilated, dry room or shed. When the fruit peel splits and the seeds fall out of the peel, remove impurities and take out the clean seeds. Never sun-dry the selected seeds, because sun-drying causes most of the volatile oil contained in the seeds to be lost, making the seeds lose their germination ability.

(2) Seed treatment

There are many seed treatment methods, such as mixing with plant ash, sand storage, soaking, etc. Practice has proved that only by completely removing the oil and wax from the seed surface can the seeds fully absorb water and germinate normally. Below I mainly introduce a method of soaking seeds in alkaline water:

1. Water selection. First, soak the seeds completely in clean water in a large vat or pot, and filter out the empty, shriveled seeds floating on the surface.

2. Soaking. Put the seeds into a water vat to soak, with the amount of water just enough to submerge the seeds; the main purpose is to soften the seed coat. The soaking time is about one week.

3. Rubbing and washing. For a small amount of seeds, put the seeds into a container, add 30-50°C washing powder or alkaline water (ratio about 1:200), and rub them by hand, mash and rub them with a wooden stick, or put them in a bag and tread them with feet; if the amount is large, a small mixer can be used for rubbing and washing.

4. Rinsing. Because the solution is mixed with the rubbed-off oily matter, its viscosity is relatively high. After rubbing and washing, soak in clean water for 6-10 hours to soften the seed coat, then rinse repeatedly with clean water until no oil remains on the seed coat, and then take them out.

The standard for washing the seed surface clean is: the seed color changes from glossy black to brown, and the seed surface no longer feels smooth when touched by hand.

5. Scalding seeds, also called the "kill and revive" method, is a seed treatment method commonly used in forestry. It can make the one-time water absorption rate of seeds reach more than 95%, 20-30% higher than soaking seeds in warm water. At the same time, high temperature has a disinfecting and sterilizing effect, which can reduce the incidence of damping-off disease at the seedling stage.

Method of operation: On the day before sowing, boil water in a large pot to 80-90°C. Each time, pour a small amount of seeds into a relatively coarse sieve (the sieve density should be such that the seeds do not leak out), and prepare another large pot or vat (with a mouth diameter larger than the diameter of the sieve), fill it with cool water, and place it somewhere close to the boiling water pot and convenient to reach. Immerse the seeds in the sieve, together with the sieve, in the boiling water pot for about 15-20 seconds (count the time silently in your mind), then quickly take them out and put them into the cool water. If the amount of scalded seeds is large, two sieves can be used alternately.

The key to this step is: first, temperature, and second, speed. It must be done strictly according to the requirements, and attention must be paid to replacing the cool water.

(3) Sowing methods

There are several sowing methods: spring sowing, autumn sowing, or sowing in early winter before the ground freezes. Because autumn-sown and winter-sown seedlings have poor lignification and difficulty overwintering, they are not suitable for the climate of the north, so we generally adopt spring sowing.

1. Site selection

Sichuan pepper likes warmth, light, and deep, fertile loam and sandy loam. For the nursery land, it is best to choose a sandy loam plot with irrigation conditions, so as to favor well-developed seedling roots and full development of the aboveground part. Note that the nursery should be made in a different place, with a rotation interval of 2-3 years.

Sichuan pepper is not tolerant of waterlogging; short-term water accumulation can cause death. Avoid choosing plots with barren soil, heavy saline-alkali land, many lime nodules and precipitates, and an excessively high groundwater table.

2. Land preparation

The nursery land should first be plowed to a depth of 30-40 cm. Along with deep turning, apply 6000-8000 kg of farmyard manure or decomposed pen manure per mu (if conditions permit, 200-300 kg of decomposed, sun-dried and finely crushed chicken manure, sheep manure or cow manure may be chosen), and at the same time carry out soil disinfection, mixing in about 3 kg of 50% carbendazim or 70% thiophanate-methyl per mu.

3. Making beds

Sowing beds are best oriented north-south, with a bed width of 1 m, a row spacing of 20 cm, and a bed ridge width of 30 cm. Within 10 cm of the sowing land surface, there should be no large clods or weeds. Land preparation should achieve a loose top and firm bottom, creating a good soil environment for seed germination.

4. Sowing

First open furrows in the bed, with a furrow depth of 2-3 cm. Sprinkle the seeds evenly into the furrows (fine sand can be mixed with the seeds to help spread them evenly), then use an old broom to drag and level along the rows, and press lightly. The sowing rate per mu is 10-12 kg.

The north is generally relatively dry in spring, so it should be fully irrigated before sowing. The sowing time is generally in mid-March or early April.