How to grow Aristolochia? A detailed explanation of the latest planting methods
Aristolochia, also known as water horse fragrant fruit and snake ginseng grass, is a medicinal herb used to clear the lungs, relieve cough, clear the intestines and eliminate hemorrhoids. It has the effects of regulating qi, removing dampness, promoting blood circulation and relieving pain, lowering blood pressure and fighting inflammation, but it should be used with caution by those with deficiency-cold and weak spleen and stomach. In addition, it is also a plant on the World Health Organization's list of carcinogens, so the controversy surrounding Aristolochia cultivation is also very great. Today we are mainly here to learn about Aristolochia cultivation techniques, so let's take a look at the explanation below.
1. Site selection and land preparation
Aristolochia has the characteristics of liking light, tolerating shade, tolerating cold and having strong adaptability. For Aristolochia cultivation, it is advisable to choose sandy yellow loam with sufficient soil fertility, good permeability, good drainage, sufficient water sources and rich humus content. Deeply plow the soil to a depth of at least 30 cm, then plow the land together with base fertilizer; the base fertilizer is mainly farmyard manure or compost, used together with compound fertilizer. Before planting, the land still needs to be turned and prepared again, leveling the land neatly and finely, opening furrows and making beds; the bed surface is about 1 m wide, and the furrows interconnect with each other to facilitate drainage and water diversion.
2. Timely planting
Aristolochia is generally sown and raised as seedlings in spring when the temperature rises again, preferably in March or April, when the seedling emergence rate is highest. If Aristolochia is to be transplanted, it needs to be done before the winter freeze; when planting, it needs to be planted at a row spacing of 35 to 40 cm and a plant spacing of 25 to 30 cm. In addition, after planting, watering should wait until spring, and the watering should be sufficient and thorough. During the seedling-raising period of Aristolochia, we should water appropriately and apply additional nitrogen fertilizer, with each application amount not too large; later, more phosphorus and potassium fertilizer should be applied to improve the quality of the seedlings.
3. Later management
After Aristolochia is planted, we should loosen the soil and weed frequently. Generally, the number of times the soil is loosened each year is about 3 to 4, and each time it is combined with topdressing. The first time we apply topdressing to Aristolochia, we mainly use nitrogen fertilizer, but the amount should be controlled to avoid excessive vegetative growth of the branches and leaves. The second time is fertilizing before flowering, mainly with decomposed farmyard manure, combined with a small amount of phosphorus fertilizer. The third and fourth times we usually mainly use phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, which can improve the yield and quality of Aristolochia. In addition, when Aristolochia grows to about 30 cm, supports should be set up to guide them to grow along the supports. Finally, during the peak growth season of Aristolochia, we should reasonably prune some branches that grow too vigorously but have no flower buds, which can improve the efficiency of nutrient use.
4. Pest and disease control
For Aristolochia, we mainly need to prevent root rot and leaf spot disease. These two diseases are basically caused by improper water management, so during the planting process we need to strengthen field management and pay attention to drainage. Second, in the early stage of disease outbreak, we can use Tuzet and Bordeaux mixture respectively for control. In addition, we may encounter damage to leaves by the Aristolochia swallowtail butterfly; first we need to do a good job of field sanitation, and use Qingchongjun for control.
Aristolochia generally matures from September to October each year. At this time, if Aristolochia changes from green to yellow, it indicates that it has matured and can be harvested. This is all the content the editor wants to share with everyone today. I hope it can help everyone, and at the same time I also thank everyone for their long-term support of the editor's work.