Key Points and Latest Methods for Growing Chinese Gall (Wu Bei Zi)
Chinese gall is also called Baichongcang, Baiyaojian, and Bangzi, and it is also an important Chinese medicinal herb. Its medicinal properties are relatively broad, and it can be used to treat many diseases. It has effects such as astringing the lungs and reducing fire, astringing the intestines and stopping diarrhea, astringing sweat and stopping bleeding, and drying dampness and healing sores. It is often used to treat diseases such as paddy field dermatitis, night sweats, cervical erosion, and chronic diarrhea and dysentery. Moreover, the planting techniques for Chinese gall are also rather troublesome. Let us take a look below.
1. Planting environment
Chinese gall has the characteristics of preferring warmth and moisture, tolerating drought, tolerating cold, tolerating poor soil, fearing waterlogging, and not tolerating standing water. It does not have high requirements for soil, and generally soil that can grow crops can also be used to grow Chinese gall. Next, there must be horned gall aphids, belly gall aphids, summer host plants such as Rhus chinensis and Rhus punjabensis var. sinica, and winter host mosses. That is to say, the planting site must satisfy the growth of these aphids and parasitic plants, so that Chinese gall planting can have the basic conditions for success.
2. Planting techniques
When planting Chinese gall, we can use the method of supplementing gall trees in existing gall forests, as well as the method of artificial afforestation, but artificial afforestation costs too much and also requires a large number of saplings, so it is best to use the method of supplementing gall trees in existing gall forests, or use seed propagation for afforestation. The row spacing and plant spacing for planting are generally about 1.5 m, and at most 220 plants can be planted per mu. Next, select the moss species required by Chinese gall aphids, then cultivate moss in April and May each year. Generally, moss can grow in about three months, and finally cut out moss blocks 50 cm in length and width. Of course, during the planting process, we also need to release autumn migrant aphids. Autumn migrant aphids can be collected manually, or insects can be raised artificially and released at the appropriate time.
3. Cultivation management
After Chinese gall is planted, we should observe the growth of young trees and promptly control tree vigor. Generally, during the growth of young trees, remove the tips and control tree height at about 2 m. At the same time, prune branches reasonably, mainly removing diseased branches, dead branches, dense branches, and excessive vegetative branches. Next, protect vegetation to avoid damage to the growing environment, which would affect the growth of the winter host of Chinese gall. Also, the planting of Chinese gall differs somewhat from other plantings in that it does not require intertillage and weeding, so the yield and quality of Chinese gall will be better. Finally, prevent leaf drop. Ring-barking can be carried out on fruiting Chinese gall trees to achieve the effect of controlling leaf drop.
4. Pest and disease control
Although Chinese gall needs conditions such as gall aphids, summer host trees, and winter host moss to grow, this does not mean that all insect pests have no effect on it. So what we need to do is prepare well for preventing pests and diseases. The main diseases are anthracnose and black spot, which can be controlled with mancozeb. Of course, carbendazim and thiophanate-methyl are also very effective. The main insect pests are pests such as broad-shouldered weevils, longhorn beetles, and leaf-feeding weevils, which can generally be controlled with dimethoate.
The above are the key points of Chinese gall planting techniques that the editor wants to share with everyone today. I hope it can help everyone. In fact, it does not seem difficult to grow, but in actual operation, professional planting techniques are also required. Otherwise, it is very difficult to grow successfully, which is also one of the reasons why Chinese gall is so scarce now.