Latest Cultivation Techniques and Methods Tutorial for Salvia miltiorrhiza
Salvia miltiorrhiza is a plant of the genus Salvia in the family Lamiaceae. Also known as: purple Salvia miltiorrhiza, red root, blood ginseng, large red robe, etc. The root of Salvia miltiorrhiza is used medicinally and contains tanshinone, cryptotanshinone, salviol, neotanshinone, etc. Bitter in taste, slightly cold in nature. It has the functions of activating blood and regulating menstruation, removing blood stasis and promoting tissue regeneration, calming and soothing the nerves, cooling blood and eliminating abscesses, reducing swelling and relieving pain. It is used to treat irregular menstruation, painful menstruation, postpartum blood stasis and abdominal pain, joint aches, neurasthenia and insomnia, palpitations, abscesses, sores and toxins, and other conditions. Modern medical clinical practice has proven that Salvia miltiorrhiza has the effect of dilating blood vessels and increasing coronary artery blood flow, and is used to treat coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, tachycardia and other conditions, with remarkable efficacy; it is also used to treat chronic hepatitis, early-stage liver cirrhosis and other conditions, also with good results. Salvia miltiorrhiza is an important raw material for the pharmaceutical industry, is in great demand, and is currently cultivated artificially throughout the country. It is mainly produced in Sichuan, Hebei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang and other provinces.
Morphological Characteristics
Salvia miltiorrhiza is a perennial herb. The plant height is 30-70 cm. The root is fleshy, thick, branched, with a soil-red outer skin and a yellow-white interior, about 30 cm long. The stem is square and covered with long soft hairs. The odd-pinnate compound leaves are opposite, with 3-7 leaflets, ovate-round, with blunt serrations on the edges, and both sides covered with long soft hairs. The verticillate raceme is terminal or axillary, with pale purple or white labiate flowers; 4 small nutlets; elliptical, gray-black when mature. The flowering period is May-July, and the fruiting period is June-August.
Growth Habits
Salvia miltiorrhiza prefers a warm, humid environment with abundant sunlight, and grows and develops well under conditions of an annual average temperature of 17.15°C and an average relative humidity of 77%. At a temperature of -5°C, the stems and leaves suffer frost damage; the underground roots are cold-resistant and can overwinter in the open field. During the seedling stage, if it encounters high temperature and drought, growth stagnates or the plant dies. Salvia miltiorrhiza is a deep-rooted plant and grows and develops well in deep, fertile, well-drained sandy loam soil of medium fertility. If the soil is too fertile, the roots do not grow robustly; in waterlogged, poorly drained low-lying land, root rot will occur. A near-neutral soil pH is preferable. Salvia miltiorrhiza grows poorly in overly sandy or overly clayey soil.
After the Salvia miltiorrhiza plant turns green again, the stems and leaves grow relatively quickly in March-April. After the fruit matures, the plant dies, and after the stems fall, new buds and leaves grow again, entering a second growth period. The mother plant generally produces 3-5 tillers, begins branching in early April, and successively puts out flowering stems. There are fewer flowering stems in autumn, only one third of those in spring. The long daylight hours in July-August are favorable for root growth.
Propagation Methods
Root division and root-head propagation are the main methods, and seed sowing and cuttings propagation can also be used.
1. Root division propagation. When harvesting Salvia miltiorrhiza in autumn, select red, non-rotted, fully developed root strips about 0.7-1 cm in diameter as seed roots, and store them in wet sand until planting in the following spring. Alternatively, select and retain robust, pest-free and disease-free plants without digging them up, leaving them as seed plants, and dig and plant them as needed at planting time. For spring planting, in early spring from February to March, on the leveled and finely raked bed surface of the planting site, dig holes at a row spacing of 33-35 cm and a plant spacing of 23-25 cm, with a hole depth of 5-7 cm. Apply an appropriate amount of manure or farmyard manure at the bottom of the hole as base fertilizer, and mix it evenly with the subsoil. Then, cut tender roots with a diameter of 0.7-1.0 cm into small sections 5-7 cm long as seed roots, with the thick end facing up, and plant 1 section upright in each hole. After planting, cover with burnt soil ash, then cover with fine soil about 2 cm thick. It should not be too thick, otherwise it will be difficult for seedlings to emerge; nor should it be planted upside down, otherwise it will not sprout. About 50 kg of seed roots are needed per mu. Because the temperature in the north is low, the method of covering with plastic film to raise seedlings can be used.
2. Root-head propagation. When digging and harvesting Salvia miltiorrhiza roots, select robust, pest-free and disease-free plants, cut off the thick roots for medicinal use, and cut off the thin roots with a diameter of 0.6 cm together with the root heads on the root base as seed planting material. Dig holes at a row and plant spacing of 33×23 cm, in the same way as the root division method, and plant them into the holes. Finally, cover with fine soil 2-3 cm thick and press lightly.
3. Seed propagation. In late March, choose a sunny bed for sowing. The bed width is 1.3 m. Open furrows transversely at a row spacing of 33 cm for drilling, with a furrow depth of 1 cm. Because Salvia miltiorrhiza seeds are very small, mix them with fine sand and sprinkle them evenly into the furrows. The soil cover should not be too thick; just enough that the seeds are not visible. After sowing, cover with plastic film to preserve heat and moisture. When the soil temperature reaches 18-22°C, seedlings can emerge in about half a month. After emergence, make holes in the plastic film to release the seedlings. When the seedlings are 6 cm tall, thin them, and by late May they can be transplanted. In the south, it is suitable to sow after the seeds mature in June, sowing as they are collected, which gives the highest seedling emergence. It can also be sown around the beginning of autumn.
4. Cutting propagation. In the south, in April-May; in the north, in July-August. First irrigate the seedbed surface to moisten it, then cut robust growing stems and branches into lengths of 17-20 cm, and insert the cuttings obliquely into the soil to a depth of 1/2-1/3 of the cutting. Cut and insert immediately; do not leave them for long, otherwise the seedling survival rate will be affected. After insertion, keep the bed soil moist and provide appropriate shading, and roots can form in about half a month. When the roots are 3 cm long, transplant them to the field.
Among the above 4 propagation methods, using root heads as propagation material gives the highest yield. Next is root division propagation.