The Latest Aconite Planting and Management Techniques: A Step-by-Step Guide

Aconite, also called wild aconite, mainly grows in central and southwestern regions, and is a well-known medicinal herb, mainly harvested for its underground root. It can treat many ailments, and likes to grow in moist places with good sunlight, generally growing in fertile, loose soil; in the wild it mainly grows in shrub thickets, in places with fallen leaves. The medicinal potency of artificially cultivated aconite is much reduced, but wild resources are limited, so this is unavoidable; after planting aconite, careful manual management is needed to create good conditions.

1. Fertilizing

Base fertilizer: 1000 jin per mu, farmyard manure, applied with water, and it can be used when preparing and plowing the land. After preparing the land and planting, topdressing should begin once seedlings emerge: about 1000 jin of farmyard manure per mu, which can be combined with 20 jin of urea; the urea should be used separately and dissolved before use. During the vigorous growth period in May, topdressing should be done once, applying 800 jin of farmyard manure per mu each time; it is quite fond of fertilizer. When the seedlings grow to one meter, topdressing can be done once more: 50 jin of calcium fertilizer and 900 jin of farmyard manure.

2. Earthing Up and Weeding

After seedlings emerge, when removing diseased plants, clear the weeds in the field at the same time. The May fertilizing should be combined with weeding and earthing up; mainly pull out the overgrown weeds, then pull down the large clods of soil, break them up finely, and cover them back over the soil surface. When the plants grow to 1 meter, earthing up should be done, and earthing up should also be done at the last topdressing, mainly to retain fertilizer and keep warmth.

3. Root Pruning

Root pruning is done so the aconite root grows large; if it is too small, it has no processing value. Root pruning is done twice a year: once around Qingming, when the soil is turned over and small aconite roots are cut off with a small knife, keeping the large ones. The second time is in summer, when all the vigorously growing small aconite roots are removed, keeping the large ones. After root pruning, the planting rows should be made into a slanted ridge shape so that water does not accumulate and damage the roots.

4. Plant Adjustment

After root pruning at Qingming, pinch off the growing tip: remove the central growing point at the top of the plant, then gently pick it off, or cut it off with a blade, to reduce damage. In summer, during vigorous growth, buds will sprout many times and all must be removed; this is different from spring, as side branches no longer need to be sent out. Too many side branches consume nutrients, and the underground root system cannot grow large. After summer, no buds should be kept, and they are generally removed.

Aconite is now an important artificially cultivated medicinal material. Since it is mainly harvested for its underground root, growth management is mainly about coordinating the relationship between vegetative growth and reproductive growth, as well as the relationship between aboveground plant growth and underground root growth, so as to favor growth and development and root growth.