Licorice Seeds: Latest Prices and Detailed Planting Methods

Licorice is a tonic Chinese herbal medicine, also known as sweet grass root, red licorice, powder licorice, etc. It is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Glycyrrhiza in the Fabaceae family, with strong adaptability and stress resistance, mostly growing in arid and semi-arid desert steppes, desert edges and loess hilly areas, and its roots and rhizomes are used medicinally. Let us take a look at licorice seed prices and planting methods below!

How much is a jin of licorice seeds?

Common licorice seeds cost about 20 to 30 yuan per jin, high-quality licorice seeds about 50 to 60 yuan per jin, and Inner Mongolia red-skinned large-grain licorice seeds sell for about 100 to 120 yuan per jin. Licorice is generally direct-sown by drilling, hill sowing, dibbling and broadcasting; drilling generally requires 6 to 8 jin of seeds per mu, hill sowing or dibbling generally requires 2 to 4 jin of seeds per mu, raising seedlings and transplanting requires about 2 jin of seeds per mu, and the fresh yield per mu is generally about 1200 to 1300 jin, with high-yield land reaching 2000 jin.

Sowing methods for licorice

1. Soil selection: For licorice cultivation, it is better to choose sandy soil with the groundwater level below 1.50 m, good drainage conditions, a soil layer thicker than 2 m, no hardpan layer within, a pH value of around 8, and convenient irrigation; break up clods and level the ground.

2. Seed treatment: Before sowing licorice, mix the seeds with 30 ml of 80% concentrated sulfuric acid per 1 kg of seeds, stir repeatedly with a smooth wooden stick, keep the seeds sealed at 20°C for 7 hours, then rinse several times with clean water and dry for later use.

3. Sowing time: Licorice can be sown in spring, summer and autumn, with sowing in May in summer being the best, when the temperature is higher, seedlings emerge quickly, and there is still a long growth period before winter.

4. Sowing method: Before sowing licorice, apply 4000 kg of high-quality farmyard manure and 35 kg of diammonium phosphate per mu as base fertilizer; drilling or hill sowing can be used, with a row spacing of 30 to 40 cm, a plant spacing of 15 cm, a sowing depth of 2.5 to 3 cm, and 3 to 5 seeds per hole; after sowing, cover with soil and harrow to preserve moisture.

Planting methods for licorice

1. Thinning and final singling: When licorice seedlings grow to 15 cm high, thinning can be carried out. The number of seedlings retained per mu is generally about 12000 to 15000 plants. If the sowing row spacing is 30 cm, then keeping a plant spacing of 18.5 to 20 cm during final singling is sufficient.

2. Reasonable irrigation: Before and after licorice emergence, the soil should often be kept moist to facilitate emergence and seedling growth. Specific irrigation should depend on soil type and salinity. The key to cultivating licorice is preserving seedlings; generally, once the plants are established, no more watering is needed.

3. Cultivation and weeding: Cultivation and weeding for licorice are generally carried out in the same year as emergence, especially during the seedling stage when weeds must be removed in time. From the second year on, licorice roots begin to tiller, and weeds find it hard to compete with them, so cultivation and weeding are no longer needed.

4. Reasonable fertilization: Before sowing licorice, sufficient base fertilizer should be applied, with barnyard manure being preferable. In the sowing year, phosphate fertilizer can be applied as a top dressing in early spring, and before freezing in winter, 2000 to 2500 kg of organic fertilizer can be applied per mu as a top dressing. Because licorice roots fix nitrogen, nitrogen fertilizer is generally not applied.

5. Harvesting and processing: Licorice propagated from seeds can be harvested after 3 to 4 years, and that propagated from rhizomes after 2 to 3 years. It is dug in autumn from late September to early October when the aboveground stems and leaves wither, or in spring before the licorice stems and leaves emerge, but the quality from autumn digging is better.

Pest and disease control for licorice

1. Rust

[Damage] After being invaded by fungi, yellow-brown blister-like spots appear on the underside of the leaves, and after they rupture, brown powder is released; in August and September, dark brown telial piles form.

[Control] Collect diseased plants and burn them; in the early stage, spray 0.3 to 0.4 degrees Baume lime sulfur mixture or 97% triadimefon 400 times solution.

2. Brown spot

[Damage] After fungal infection, round and irregular spots appear on the leaves, gray-brown in the center and brown at the edges, with gray-black mold-like matter on both sides of the spots.

[Control] Collect diseased plants and burn them; in the early stage, spray 1:1:1 to 16 O Bordeaux mixture or 70% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder 1500 to 200O times solution.

3. Powdery mildew

[Damage] After infection by hemibiotrophic fungi, white powder appears on both sides of the leaves.

[Control] Spray 0.2 to 0.5 degrees Baume lime sulfur mixture plus rice washing water or flour paste water.

4. Aphids

[Damage] Adults and nymphs suck the sap of stems and leaves, and in severe cases cause the stems and leaves to turn yellow.

[Control] During occurrence, spray 50% fenitrothion 1000 to 2000 times solution or 40% dimethoate emulsifiable concentrate 1500 to 2000 times solution or 80% dichlorvos emulsifiable concentrate 1500 times solution, once every 7 to 10 days, for several consecutive times.