A Detailed Guide to Angelica Dahurica Planting Time, Producing Areas and Cultivation Techniques

Angelica dahurica prefers a mild, humid climate and a sunny environment. Correctly mastering the planting time of Angelica dahurica is the key to increasing its yield. To increase the yield of Angelica dahurica, what else do we need to know? Planting time of the traditional Chinese medicine Angelica dahurica? Producing areas of Angelica dahurica? Cultivation techniques for Angelica dahurica?

Planting time and producing areas of Angelica dahurica

Planting and new-crop time: Angelica dahurica in Sichuan and Bozhou is planted before the New Year, and the new crop begins to be harvested in June of the following year; although some Angelica dahurica in Hebei is also planted before the New Year, it is mostly planted in spring, with the new crop harvested from October of the same year to March-April of the second year. Therefore, Angelica dahurica has a long planting period and a long new-crop period, and the various producing areas mutually constrain one another.

Harvest time of Angelica dahurica

1. Spring-sown Angelica dahurica can be harvested in the same year, in mid-to-late September.

2. Autumn-sown Angelica dahurica is harvested in late August of the following year, when the leaves show a withered state. When the leaves turn orange-yellow, begin harvesting; choose a sunny day, cut off the leaves of Angelica dahurica to use as compost, then dig up the roots one by one with a toothed rake, shake off the soil, transport them to the drying yard, and process them.

Sowing time of Angelica dahurica

1. Spring sowing: Spring sowing time is generally around Qingming, but the yield is low and the quality is poor, so it is generally not adopted.

2. Autumn sowing: Autumn sowing time cannot be too early or too late. It cannot be earlier than End of Heat, otherwise it will grow rapidly in the winter of that year, and most plants will bolt and flower in the following year, and their roots cannot be used medicinally; but it cannot be later than Autumn Equinox, because after Autumn Equinox the rainfall gradually decreases and the temperature turns lower, and after sowing Angelica dahurica cannot sprout for a long time, affecting growth and yield. Therefore, sowing should be done from early August to early September.

Sowing methods of Angelica dahurica

Angelica dahurica is suitable for direct sowing and not for raising seedlings and transplanting; transplanted plants have forked roots and poor root growth, affecting yield and quality. Use hole sowing and drill sowing. Before sowing, water the bed thoroughly, and after the water has seeped down, begin sowing. Before sowing, the seeds should be mechanically removed of the seed-wing membrane, then soaked in warm water (45°C) for 6 hours, removed, wiped dry, and sown.

1. Hole sowing: Open holes at a row spacing of about 33 cm and a plant spacing of 16-20 cm, with a hole depth of 6-10 cm. After sowing, water, sprinkle water, or cover with grass to keep the soil moist regularly. Seedlings emerge 0-20 days after sowing. Autumn-sown Angelica dahurica has a large main root and high yield.

2. Drill sowing: Open furrows at a row spacing of 33 cm, scatter the seeds evenly, cover with a layer of fine soil, with a sowing rate of more than 15 kg per hectare; the rest is the same as hole sowing.

Cultivation techniques for Angelica dahurica

Angelica dahurica uses its root as medicine and is a commonly used pungent-warm exterior-resolving traditional Chinese medicine. It has a fragrant odor and a pungent, slightly bitter taste, and has the effects of dispelling disease and removing dampness, discharging pus and promoting tissue regeneration, and invigorating blood and relieving pain. It mainly treats wind-cold common cold, headache, rhinitis, toothache, red and white vaginal discharge, and painful boils and swelling toxins, and can also be used as a spice. Its planting and management are relatively simple, but to obtain high yield and high efficiency, the following key points must be mastered:

1. Choose suitable plots and prepare the land finely

Angelica dahurica is afraid of both high temperatures and low temperatures, and prefers an environment with sufficient sunlight and warmth and humidity. Its main root is thick and long and penetrates relatively deep into the soil, and it grows well in deep, loose and fertile, moist but well-drained sandy loam soil. It is not suitable to plant it in plots with shallow soil layers, many gravels, heavy texture, and easy waterlogging.

Angelica dahurica seeds have weak soil-piercing ability when germinating. To ensure full seedlings from one sowing, the quality of land preparation must be improved. After the plot is selected, first deep-plow and bake the clods, with a plowing depth required to reach more than 30 cm. Before sowing, apply 1000 kg of high-quality decomposed farmyard manure per mu (or 100 kg of bio-organic fertilizer), and 50 kg of Kingenta controlled-release fertilizer, then plow and rake the land again to level it, mix the fertilizer evenly with the topsoil, then open furrows and form beds at a width of 1.5-1.8 m, and level and crush the bed surface soil as much as possible to create a good sowing environment.

2. Use new seeds and sow at the right time

Angelica dahurica seeds have a relatively short lifespan, and old seeds have a low germination rate, so new seeds of the current year must be used. If the seeds are purchased from other places, a germination test must be done before sowing to ensure the seed quality is correct before planting on a large scale.

Angelica dahurica can be spring-sown or autumn-sown, but autumn sowing gives higher yield and better quality. Autumn sowing should be done from early August to early September, neither too early nor too late. If too early (earlier than End of Heat), it grows rapidly in the winter of that year, and most plants will bolt and flower the following year, causing the rhizome to become lignified and unusable medicinally; if too late (later than Autumn Equinox), rainfall gradually decreases and the temperature turns lower, and after sowing it cannot sprout and emerge quickly, affecting growth and yield.

Generally, when soil moisture is suitable, open furrows for drill sowing, with a row spacing of 30 cm and a seeding rate of about 1 kg per mu. Before sowing, the seeds are best soaked in warm water for 6-8 hours, then removed and drained, mixed evenly with sieved fine soil, and then sown to ensure even seed distribution. After sowing, cover the seeds with burned soil fertilizer or fine soil, and press lightly to make them closely contact the soil and promote emergence. For plots with a high groundwater table, high-ridge cultivation can be adopted to increase the soil layer thickness and reduce soil moisture.

Angelica dahurica can be intercropped with medicinal materials such as white peony, or short-season vegetables such as bok choy, spinach, lettuce, garlic sprouts, and radish can be intercropped between the rows of Angelica dahurica to improve soil utilization and increase income.

3. Strengthen field management and strictly prevent early bolting of plants

1. Thinning and final thinning

Generally, seedlings emerge 10-15 days after sowing. When the seedlings are 5-6 cm tall, thin out the overly dense and weak seedlings in combination with cultivating and weeding. When the seedlings are 10-12 cm tall, carry out final thinning at a plant spacing of 15 cm; during final thinning, pull out plants that grow too vigorously, have greenish-white leaf stalks, and may bolt early, and at the same time transplant seedlings to fill gaps where seedlings are missing.

2. Cultivating and weeding

The first time is carried out when the seedlings are 5-6 cm tall in combination with thinning; this cultivation should be shallow, and weeds near the seedlings must be pulled out by hand to prevent damaging the seedlings. The second time is carried out when the seedlings are 10-12 cm tall in combination with final thinning; this loosening of the soil can be slightly deeper. The third time is carried out in early spring of the following year when weeds begin to sprout; this cultivation should be deep, and the last final thinning is carried out in combination with this cultivation. After the plants grow large and close the rows, cultivating and weeding are generally no longer carried out.

3. Topdressing according to seedling condition

Although Angelica dahurica likes water and fertilizer, excessive growth in the early stage easily causes bolting, affecting the expansion of the underground root system. Generally, during the seedling emergence stage after sowing, the bed surface soil should be kept moist to promote emergence. After full emergence, water and fertilizer supply must be controlled in the early growth stage to prevent excessive growth of seedlings. After Start of Summer of the following year, increase water and fertilizer supply according to seedling growth, especially during the rhizome expansion period, increase the amount of fertilizer, and apply more phosphorus and potassium fertilizer to promote rapid expansion of the plant root system and increase yield. In the rainy season, attention should be paid to clearing ditches and draining waterlogging to prevent root rot.

4. Pinching and root drying

Angelica dahurica that has already grown 8-10 true leaves before winter is prone to early bolting after spring. For plants with overly vigorous growth, pinch the growing tip and dry the roots in May-June to control their growth. Pinching should be done when the stem tip forms a clear growth point; choose a sunny morning to remove the terminal bud of the stem, and then water and topdress 3-5 days later. For Angelica dahurica showing signs of bolting, deep hoe once before inflorescence differentiation in mid-June; for those with obvious signs of bolting, on the basis of deep hoeing, choose a sunny day to scrape away soil and dry the roots, to a depth of 1/3 of the rhizome, but do not damage the main root or young roots, and then cover the roots, water, and fertilize 5-7 days later. The purpose of drying the roots is to prevent the plant from turning too early from vegetative growth to reproductive growth and to avoid bolting.

5. Pull out early-bolting seedlings

Early-bolting seedlings not only affect the growth of other plants, but their rhizomes also easily become lignified and have poor powderiness, and both quality and yield will decline. Therefore, when early-bolting Angelica dahurica seedlings are found, they should be pulled out in time.

4. Focus on prevention and strictly prevent disease and insect damage

1. Diseases

The main diseases of Angelica dahurica are leaf spot disease and root-knot nematode disease.

① Leaf spot disease.

Symptoms: It mainly harms the leaves of the plant. The lesions are polygonal, initially dark green, later grayish-white, with small black spots on them. As the disease develops, large polygonal spots gradually form; the lesions are hard and brittle and easily crack, and in severe cases cause the leaves to die.

Control measures: First, select and retain plants from disease-free fields as seed; second, remove diseased leaves at the early stage of the disease and take them out of the field for centralized burning; third, spray fungicides such as carbendazim for control.

② Root-knot nematode disease.

Symptoms: It mainly harms the rhizome of Angelica dahurica, affecting its normal growth and expansion, and at the same time affecting the growth of the aboveground part.

Control measures: First, choose plots without root-knot nematodes for planting; second, rotate crops and change stubble, preferably with paddy-upland rotation, avoiding chemical control.

2. Insect pests

The main insect pests of Angelica dahurica are cabbage caterpillars, yellow swallowtail butterflies, aphids, red spider mites, and so on.

① Cabbage caterpillars, yellow swallowtail butterflies, aphids.

Control can be carried out by spraying indoxacarb, methomyl, etc. during the larval stage.

② Red spider mites.

Control can be carried out by spraying propargite, etc.

5. Dig up at the right time, dry and store

Autumn-sown Angelica dahurica is generally harvested in late August of the second year after sowing, when the leaves turn yellow and wither, seizing a sunny day to dig and harvest. First cut off the aboveground part, then dig up the roots, shake off the soil, transport them back and dry them in the sun for 1-2 days, then remove all soil, cut off the residual leaf stems at the root, remove fibrous roots, remove lateral roots, grade them into large, medium, and small, pile them separately for drying, and at night take them back and spread them out. Never let them get rained on, to prevent mildew and rot.

If there is too much rain during the harvest period and the product quantity is relatively large, a curing barn can be used for drying. When drying, note the following: First, place the roots vertically with the head downward and the tail upward; second, stack the roots from bottom to top in order of large, medium, and small, with lateral roots placed on the top layer, each layer about 7 cm thick; third, keep the temperature in the curing barn at about 60°C until they are completely dried; fourth, do not turn them during drying to avoid breaking into sections. Dried Angelica dahurica is best when the outer skin is grayish-white, the cut surface is white, it has aroma, and there is no black heart and no insect damage or mildew. Generally, the yield of dried product is 400 kg per mu, and high-yield fields can reach 500 kg. The dried Angelica dahurica is bagged and stored in a dry, ventilated place.

6. Select and retain good seeds and improve seed quality

Selecting and retaining good seeds is an important measure to prevent early bolting of Angelica dahurica. It is best, when digging and harvesting in the second year, to select seed seedlings with straight main roots, no disease, and medium thickness, and transplant them into deep, fertile, and loose soil, strengthening fertilizer and water management and cultivating and weeding. In the third year, when Angelica dahurica buds, cut off the inflorescences on the main stem and on the secondary and tertiary branches, concentrating nutrients for the growth of the inflorescences on the primary branches, ensuring that the seed embryos develop and mature uniformly and reducing differences among individual seeds. After the seeds mature, harvest them in batches for seed retention.