How to grow Gentiana scabra? The latest planting techniques and methods tutorial

Gentiana scabra is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Gentiana in the family Gentianaceae, also known as Cao Longdan, Ku Longdan Cao, Di Dan Cao, Dan Cao, Shan Longdan, Si Ye Dan, etc. It is a common Chinese medicinal herb, distributed in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shaanxi, Xinjiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang and other places, and has high planting value. Let us take a look at the planting techniques for Gentiana scabra!

Growth habits of Gentiana scabra

Gentiana scabra prefers a humid and cool climate, and grows wild in mountainous areas, slopes, forest edges and shrub thickets. It requires fairly high temperatures throughout the plant's growing season, and has been growing well since being introduced in the Beijing area. Areas with high, dry terrain and direct sunlight, as well as overly sticky or infertile soil, are not suitable for cultivation. It likes fertilizer. When deep plowing the land, about 8000 jin of fully decomposed farmyard manure should be applied per mu. It sprouts in mid-April each year, blooms in August, with the flowering period from August to September, the fruit ripening in September, and a total growing period of about 180 to 210 days throughout the year.

Propagation techniques for Gentiana scabra

1. Division propagation: Division propagation of Gentiana scabra is mostly carried out in early spring in early April before the buds emerge. Dig out all the roots, divide them into small clusters, each cluster should have 1 to 2 small buds, then plant them at a row spacing of 1.3 chi and a plant spacing of 0.7 to 1 chi. Do not let the buds be exposed above the soil surface, so as to prevent them from being dried out by the wind.

2. Seed propagation: Seed propagation of Gentiana scabra can be divided into autumn sowing and spring sowing. Autumn sowing is generally done in November, and the seeds sprout in the following spring. To sow evenly, mix an appropriate amount of fine sand or humus into the seeds and use drill sowing. Before spring sowing of Gentiana scabra, sand storage treatment should be carried out in advance, that is, after the seeds are collected, mix them with fine sand at a ratio of 1:3, maintain a certain humidity, bury them outdoors, and after the low-temperature influence of winter, take them out and sow. Drill sowing row spacing is 1 to 1.3 chi, plant spacing is 0.7 to 1 chi, soil covering is 2 to 3 fen, and the sowing rate is 3 to 4 liang per mu.

Planting management of Gentiana scabra

1. Timely weeding: When planting Gentiana scabra, weeding should not be limited by the number of times. Follow the principle of removing early and removing small, and removing weeds as soon as they are seen. Do not wait until the weeds grow up and form a weed infestation before pulling them, as this is both labor-intensive and harmful to the seedlings.

2. Reasonable loosening of the soil: The purpose of loosening the soil is to prevent the soil surface of the bed from hardening, improve soil aeration, reduce water evaporation, and remove sprouting weeds. Emphasis should be placed on the first year after transplanting; in the second year, loosening the soil once when the plants emerge is sufficient. After transplanting and seedling recovery, the hardened surface layer of the bed caused by watering should be promptly removed by hand or with an iron-tooth rake. Note that transplanted seedlings are planted obliquely, so do not loosen the soil too deeply, so as to avoid injuring the seedlings or pulling them out. Generally, after transplanting, the Gentiana field should be loosened 2 to 3 times in combination with weeding.

3. Timely topdressing: After transplanting and seedling recovery of Gentiana scabra, in order to promote its rapid and smooth development, foliar topdressing is carried out. Foliar topdressing can be done twice, from after leaf expansion to the bud stage and from flowering to fruiting, using foliar fertilizers such as monopotassium phosphate, Yemianbao, Fengchansu, etc., at the concentration given in the instructions, and sprayed on the leaves. For 3- to 4-year-old Gentiana, an appropriate amount of root topdressing can be applied during the growth period, generally 100 to 150 grams of cake fertilizer, 50 grams of ammonium dihydrogen phosphate, and 3 kilograms of farmyard manure per square meter. The method is to open furrows in the spaces between rows, 2 to 3 cm deep, apply the above fertilizers into the furrows, and cover with soil level.

4. Thinning flowers and removing buds: When planting Gentiana scabra, in order to reduce nutrient consumption, promote root material accumulation, and accelerate rhizome growth, all flower buds should be removed after budding in fields not used for seed collection.

Disease control of Gentiana scabra

1. Soil disinfection: High soil fertility, good seedling growth, large growth volume, and strong disease resistance can also increase economic yield. Therefore, generally before transplanting, apply 3000 kg of organic fertilizer and 10 kg of diammonium phosphate per mu, and at the same time irrigate the seedling bed with 400-times carbendazim or 800-times dexon, which can control the disease index below 20%.

2. Seed and seedling disinfection: Both the seeds and seedlings of Gentiana scabra carry pathogens and transmit diseases. Therefore, before sowing and transplanting, soak the seeds and seedlings in 600-times mancozeb solution for 3 to 4 hours. In addition, select disease-free plants for seed collection.

3. Reasonable close planting: In order to reduce the degree of bare ground surface, thereby reducing the contact area between plants and soil, generally 80,000 to 100,000 1-year-old seedlings are transplanted per mu, and tall crops such as corn are planted on both sides of the seedling bed at a plant spacing of 40 cm. The main function of the shade material is to reduce direct sunlight, which causes Gentiana scabra leaves to turn yellow and wither and reduces the plant's disease resistance, while also increasing the economic income per unit area.

4. Chemical control: Gentiana scabra is prone to viral disease when encountering low temperatures in spring, manifested as shrunken and chlorotic leaves. Plants infected with viral disease are first infected by leaf spot disease, so once viral disease is found, immediately spray with 800-times Zhibingling once every 5 to 7 days, for 3 consecutive sprays, to improve the plant's disease resistance and ensure stable and high yield.

5. Destroy residues: The dead diseased leaves of Gentiana scabra contain a large number of pathogenic spores and are the main source of infection. Therefore, in autumn, thoroughly clean the field, do a good job of field sanitation, and gather the dead branches and fallen leaves to burn outside the field.