The Latest Cattail Planting Techniques and Methods Tutorial
Cattail is a perennial aquatic or marshy herb, mostly growing wild in lakes, ponds, ditches and slow-flowing areas, with relatively high economic and medicinal value. Its pollen can be used as medicine, with effects of moistening dryness and cooling blood, and clearing latent fire of the spleen and stomach, mainly treating difficult urination; the young shoots can also be eaten as a vegetable, and the leaves are used for weaving and papermaking. It is one of the important aquatic economic plants. Let us take a look at its planting techniques below.
1. Land preparation and fertilization
It is advisable to choose a swamp or riverside/lakeside beach with a relatively deep silt layer and rich organic matter for planting. If the underwater soil of the planting plot is relatively soft and fertile, there is no need to plow; simply clear the weeds thoroughly and level it slightly. However, if the underwater soil is relatively hard and its fertility is also insufficient, then plowing is required, and 5000 kg of human manure and urine per mu should be applied as base fertilizer.
2. Propagation methods
Cattail grows vigorously and has relatively strong vitality, so its propagation methods are relatively simple. In production, two propagation methods are used: division or sowing. Division propagation is carried out from April to June: dig out the robustly growing underground rhizomes of cattail, cut them into several small sections with young buds, and then plant them. Sowing propagation is carried out in spring: scatter the seeds on the soil, keep the soil moist, and transplant them only when they grow into small seedlings in summer.
3. Planting out
The planting time can be chosen in the period from spring to summer, when the temperature is mostly 15-25 degrees, as the survival rate of planting out is high at this time. When planting out, choose vigorously growing divided plants as seedlings; the seedlings must be dug out with roots and planted as they are dug. When planting out, control the plant and row spacing at 50×50cm. If the leaves of the seedlings are too long, the tips can be cut off to prevent the plants from being too tall and lodging.
4. Field management
Cattail requires a moderate water depth. In the early stage, keeping the water depth at 15-20cm is sufficient. In the later stage, as the plants grow, the water level should be continuously deepened, but the deepest should not exceed 1.2 meters. Water depth control determines the yield and quality of cattail. One month after planting out, generally one topdressing should be applied, with 1000 or 1500 kg of manure or barnyard manure per mu, and 1-2 topdressings should be applied in the later stage depending on plant growth. In summer, when the cattail stems grow out of the water surface, they should be pulled out in time; at the same time, the tender stems or leaves can also be peeled off for market, and the density should be reasonably controlled so that they are evenly distributed.
The above is an introduction to cattail planting techniques. We hope it can help you. If you want to learn more about planting knowledge, please stay tuned to us.