The Latest Fritillaria cirrhosa Planting Techniques and Methods Tutorial

Fritillaria cirrhosa is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Fritillaria in the family Liliaceae. It often grows in temperate high mountains and plateau areas in mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests, coniferous forests, and alpine shrublands, with soils such as mountain brown earth, dark brown earth, and alpine meadow soil. It is a precious Chinese medicinal herb for moistening the lungs and relieving cough, with a long history of use and remarkable efficacy, and it has extremely high cultivation value. Let us take a look at the planting techniques for Fritillaria cirrhosa!

The Planting Environment for Fritillaria cirrhosa

Fritillaria cirrhosa is mainly produced in Tibet (southern to eastern part), Yunnan (northwestern part) and Sichuan (western part), and is also found in Gansu (southern part), Qinghai, Ningxia, Shaanxi (Qinling) and Shanxi (southern part). It prefers cool climate conditions and has the characteristics of cold resistance, moisture preference, fear of high humidity, and shade preference. When the air temperature reaches 30°C or the ground temperature exceeds 25°C, the plant will wither, and it cannot survive in areas with low altitude and high temperature. When planted under completely unshaded conditions, seedlings are easily scorched to death in patches. Excessive sunlight will promote intensified water evaporation and respiration in the plant, easily leading to a low drying rate of the bulbs, and the fritillaria will be slightly yellow, easily becoming “oil seeds”, “yellow seeds” or “soft seeds” after processing.

Site Selection and Land Preparation for Fritillaria cirrhosa

1. Site selection: It is advisable to choose a wind-sheltered shady slope or semi-shady slope, and keep away from wheat crops to prevent rust infection. Loam or oil sandy soil with deep soil layers, loose texture, and rich humus is preferable. For virgin land, one season of hemp can be planted to purify weeds, mature the land, improve soil structure, and increase organic matter.

2. Land preparation: The planting site for Fritillaria cirrhosa needs to be prepared before freezing. Clear the weeds on the ground, plow deep and harrow fine, and make beds 1.3 m wide. Apply 1500 kg of compost (barnyard manure), 50 kg of superphosphate, and 100 kg of oil cake per mu. After composting and decomposing, spread on the bed surface, shallowly turn, and make the bed surface arched.

Sowing Methods for Fritillaria cirrhosa

1. Seed cultivation: When harvesting Fritillaria cirrhosa from June to July, select bulbs with a diameter of more than 1 cm, disease-free and undamaged, as seeds. Plant the bulbs separately according to large, medium, and small sizes, and plant while digging. Use 100 kg of bulbs per mu. From the second year after planting, spray glyphosate before emergence in March each year. After emergence in early April, promptly remove weeds and apply dilute human and livestock manure water. Apply topdressing once more from late April to early May. From July to August, when the fruits are plump and swollen, the fruit shells are yellow-brown or brown, and the seeds have dried and set, cut off the fruits, thresh them fresh or carry out after-ripening treatment with the fruit shells.

2. After-ripening treatment: For shelled seeds of Fritillaria cirrhosa, use sifted fine humus soil with a water content of less than 10%, place one layer of fruit and one layer of soil in a breathable wooden box, and store in a cool, moist place. For threshed seeds, mix and store them in a room or breathable wooden box at a ratio of 1:4 (seeds:humus soil). During storage, keep the soil moist. The fruit skin (seed coat) swells, and after about 40 days, the embryo length exceeds 2/3 of the longitudinal axis of the seed, and the tip of the embryo curves. After completing embryo morphological after-ripening, it can be sown.

3. Timely sowing: Fritillaria cirrhosa is usually sown from September to October before snowfall. Drilling, broadcasting, or point sowing by splitting capsules are all acceptable.

① Drilling: Open horizontal furrows on the bed surface 1.5-2 cm deep, evenly scatter seeds mixed with fine soil or plant ash into the furrows, cover with 3 cm of sifted fine humus soil, and cover the bed surface with mountain grass or leafless branches. Use 2-2.5 kg of seeds per mu.

② Broadcasting: Evenly scatter seeds on the bed surface, preferably 3000-5000 seeds per sq m. Cover as in drilling.

③ Point sowing: Carry out while the fruits are not dry. Divide the undried fruits into 3 valves, open holes on the bed surface at a spacing of 5-6 cm between plants and rows, place 1 valve per hole, and cover with 3 cm of soil. This method is more labor-intensive, but the emergence rate is high.

Field Management of Fritillaria cirrhosa

1. Shade shed construction: Fritillaria cirrhosa needs appropriate shading during the growing period. After sowing, remove the bed surface covering before spring emergence, and build sheds for shading by bed. Low sheds are 15-20 cm high, with shading degree of 50-70% in the first year. It decreases to 50% in the second year and 30% in the third year. No more shading is needed in the harvest year. High sheds are about 1 m high, with a shading degree of 50%. It is best to shade on sunny days and expose the shed on cloudy and rainy days to harden the seedlings.

2. Weeding: The seedlings of Fritillaria cirrhosa are frail, so weeds should be removed frequently without damaging the seedlings. Take out small fritillaria bulbs and immediately plant them into the soil. Before emergence in spring and after seedling dieback in autumn each year, use glyphosate once for weed control.

3. Topdressing: After seedling dieback in autumn, apply a mixture of humus soil, farmyard manure, and 25 kg of superphosphate per mu to cover the bed surface 3 cm thick, then cover the bed surface with branch and bamboo tips from the shed to protect the fritillaria through winter. If conditions permit, apply topdressing 3 times each year.

4. Drainage and irrigation: One- and two-year-old Fritillaria cirrhosa plants are afraid of drought, especially during long sunny periods without rain in spring, so water should be sprinkled in time to keep the soil moist. After long rain or rainstorms, attention should be paid to drainage and waterlogging prevention. In hail-prone areas, hail prevention measures should also be taken to avoid breaking flower stems and fruits.

Pest and Disease Control of Fritillaria cirrhosa

1. Rust

[Damage] Rust is the main disease of Fritillaria cirrhosa. The source of the disease mostly comes from wheat crops, and it mostly occurs from May to June.

[Control] Choose plots far from wheat crops, or plots not easily attacked by upriver wind, for planting. During land preparation, remove diseased and residual tissues to reduce overwintering sources of the disease. Increase phosphorus and potassium fertilizer or reduce field humidity to enhance disease resistance. At the early stage of the disease, spray 0.2 degrees Baume lime sulfur mixture or 97% nabam 300-fold solution. Amobam or thiram can also be used for control.

2. Damping-off

[Damage] Damping-off harms seedlings and occurs in the rainy season of the wheat season.

[Control] Pay attention to drainage, adjust the shading degree, and uncover the shed cover on cloudy and rainy days. Spray 1:1:100 Bordeaux mixture before and after the disease occurs.

3. Root rot

[Damage] Root rot usually occurs from May to June, with roots turning yellow and rotting.

[Control] Pay attention to drainage, reduce soil humidity, and pull out diseased plants. Drench with 5% lime water to prevent spread.

4. White grubs

[Damage] White grubs harm plants from April to June.

[Control] Drench with water boiled from tobacco leaves (2.5 kg of tobacco leaves per mu, boiled into 75 kg of stock solution; when using, add 30 kg of water per kg of stock solution), or use 0.5-1 kg of 50% chlordane emulsifiable concentrate per mu mixed with soil during land preparation, or diluted with 500 kg of water after emergence to irrigate the soil for control.

5. Cutworms

[Damage] Cutworms bite and eat stems and leaves.

[Control] Capture in the morning and evening, or use 90% crystalline trichlorfon mixed with poison bait to trap and kill them.