A Detailed Guide to the Latest Cultivation and Management Methods for Schizonepeta

Schizonepeta, also called Xianqi, is a commonly used Chinese herbal medicine with the effects of dispelling wind and cooling blood, mainly treating colds, fever, headache, and vomiting. Its stems, leaves, and flower spikes are generally used as medicine. It is a perennial herbaceous plant, and at present artificial cultivation is mainly carried out in Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hebei, Anhui, and other areas. After learning some management experience in artificial cultivation, it is a good time to introduce it to everyone.

1. Seedling stage

After sowing for seedling raising, when the seedlings have grown to about 5 cm, they can be thinned. At this time, the seedlings are almost all up. If thinning is done too early, the strong and weak ones cannot be distinguished; if thinning is done too late, soil nutrients are easily consumed. After thinning, apply a light fertilizer solution once, then continue cultivating. When they grow to 10 cm, they can be transplanted. If transplanting is too late, more roots will be damaged. Transplanting should be done on cloudy days or drizzly days, which is beneficial for root recovery and reduces transpiration. When transplanting, some soil should be kept to protect the roots.

2. Loosening the soil and weeding

Throughout the entire cultivation period, rain or watering and natural settling will cause the soil to harden and become compacted, which is not conducive to root respiration, so the soil must be loosened. Do not loosen the soil too deeply; shallow loosening, about 4 cm deep, is best, and do not damage the roots. During seedling raising and thinning, the soil can be loosened once at the same time, about 3 cm deep. After transplanting and during normal growth before flowering, the soil can be loosened once, and later it can be loosened again as needed. Each time the soil is loosened, any weeds seen should be dug out at the same time. The dug-out weeds can be piled up and composted into fertilizer for use.

Seedlings need more fertilizer, so during the seedling raising period more fertilizer and water are needed, but since the main goal is to grow the plants, nitrogen fertilizer is mainly applied. During the transplant recovery period, only light fertilizer solution can be used to avoid damaging the roots. One month after the recovery period ends, fertilizer with a slightly higher concentration can be used, generally with more potassium fertilizer. At this time, the drought resistance is relatively strong, and watering can be reduced to once every 2 months. In summer, if there is drought, more watering can be done. When applying farmyard manure, about 150 jin per mu. After summer, it can grow naturally.

4. Harvesting and processing

After harvesting, Schizonepeta needs to be dried in the shade or dried by heat, and should not be piled up. For planting the next year, seed must be selected and retained. After the seeds mature, the seeds should be collected before harvesting. When harvesting, the whole plant should be pulled up, the soil removed, then dried in the sun, and then the seeds taken. For other harvesting methods, the flower spikes can be taken directly, or the whole plant can be taken down; another method is to take the flower spikes first and then take the whole plant.

Schizonepeta cultivation mainly involves management from the seedling raising period through the entire growth period. Seedlings must be protected and strong seedlings cultivated. After transplanting, the soil should often be loosened and weeds removed to help root growth, and fertilization should be combined to ensure vegetative growth. Finally, harvesting should be carried out according to certain requirements.