Where can I buy daylily seedlings, and how should I raise them?

Daylily is also called golden needle vegetable. In many regions of China, daylily is regarded as a local specialty. Daylily is sweet and cool in nature and flavor, and has effects such as stopping bleeding, reducing inflammation, clearing heat, draining dampness, promoting digestion, improving eyesight, and calming the mind.

1. How to select daylily seeds?

1. Mengzihua

Also called Dazhonghua, it is a cultivated daylily variety in Qidong County, Hunan Province. Mid-season, with a whole growth period of 190 days, leaves upright, dark green, 75-95 cm long, 13-17 mm wide. Flower buds yellow, 10.5-13 cm long, 7-8 mm thick, every 50-60 buds make 50 g of dried flowers, drying rate 18%. Flower scapes about 110 cm tall, each scape can produce about 60 flower buds, strong drought tolerance, few pests, fast tillering; 90% of the Qidong daylily planting base grows the Mengzihua variety.

2. Baihua

Baihua is an excellent daylily variety in Qidong County, Hunan Province. Mid-season, with a whole growth period of 196 days, leaves flat and straight, light green, 91-110 cm long, 19-20 mm wide, flower scapes 150 cm tall, each scape bears 60-100 flowers, harvest begins in early June and ends in early September, about 90 days long. Flower buds 10-11 cm long, 6-8 mm thick, dried flowers light yellow, flower tip reddish brown, drying rate 22%. Strong insect resistance, drought tolerant, fast tillering, few bud drop, strong flower bud regeneration, dry vegetable yield per mu can reach 400 kg.

3. Chonglihua

Chonglihua is also called Dayezihua and Heizuizihua, and is one of the main cultivated varieties in Qidong County, Hunan Province. Strong growth vigor, leaves relatively soft, mostly bending and drooping from the middle of the leaf blade, flower scapes about 150 cm tall. Harvest begins in mid-to-late June and finishes in early September, harvest period about 70 days, strong drought resistance, few bud drop. Flower buds large, up to 12 cm long, perianth thick, high drying rate, every 60 fresh flower buds can dry into 50 g of dried flowers, 5.5 kg fresh flower buds dry into 1 kg dried flowers. Flower buds yellow, but the tip is slightly purplish red, after drying they appear dark brown, commonly called Heizuizihua, lower grade, slow tillering, and after planting it takes a long time to enter full flowering, but once planted it can be harvested continuously for many years. High yield, generally 350-400 kg of dried vegetable per mu, and up to 475 kg at high yields.

2. What are the daylily seedling-raising methods?

1. Division propagation

Division propagation is the most commonly used propagation method. One way is to dig out the entire mother plant clump and replant it divided; another is to dig out part of the plants from one side of the mother clump as seedlings and let the rest continue to grow.

When digging and dividing seedlings, injure the roots as little as possible, and plant the seedlings immediately after digging and dividing. After the seedlings are dug out, shake off the soil, separate them one by one, or take 2~3 bud pieces as a clump, breaking them off from the mother plant. Cut off the old roots, decayed roots, and diseased roots growing at the lower part of the rhizome, keep only 1~2 layers of new roots, and cut off excessively long roots, leaving about 10 cm long.

2. Slicing seedling propagation

After daylily harvest is complete, dig out the root clumps, then separate them one by one according to bud pieces, remove the hairy leaves around the shortened stem and the already dead leaves, then leave leaves 3~5 cm long and cut off the upper ends; then use a knife to first cut the rhizome vertically from top to bottom into two slices, and then decide whether each slice needs further division according to the thickness of the rhizome. If the rhizome is thick and strong, it can continue to be cut vertically into several strips. In this way, each plant can generally be cut into 2~6 plants, and at most up to 10 plants. Note that when dividing and cutting, each seedling slice must have a "seedling stem" on top and fibrous roots below. After cutting, soak the seeds in 50% carbendazim 1200-fold solution for disinfection for 1~2 h, take them out, spread them to dry, then mix them with fine soil or plant ash mixed with loess for seedling raising.

3. Cutting propagation

After daylily harvest is complete, select from the middle and upper parts of the flower scape those with fresh green bracts and obvious growth points below the bracts, cut them leaving about 15 cm above and below the growth point, insert them flat into the soil in a slight arc, so that both the upper and lower ends are buried in the soil and the part with the growth point at the bract is exposed above the ground, then cover lightly with fine soil for protection; or insert them obliquely at a 30° angle, with the depth just enough for the soil to cover the buds tightly. It is best to insert cuttings cut on the same day on that same day to prevent water loss from the cuttings and avoid affecting survival. On the day of insertion and the next day, water thoroughly so that the cuttings and soil are in close contact. Afterward, soil moisture should be kept at about 40%. After about 1 week, roots and buds can grow. Pay attention to cold protection in winter. After 1 year of cultivation, the number of tillers per plant can be as many as 12 and at least 5, and they can bloom the next year.

4. Seed propagation

Carry out artificial pollination 10~60 min after the flowers open. The suitable temperature for daylily fertilization is 28~32°C, and the relative humidity is 53%~82%. To prevent natural cross-pollination and "flower mixing", flower buds can be tied with string. But bagging is not suitable, to avoid excessive temperature inside the bag. To improve fruit set rate, from 2 days before flowering, every 7~10 d, spray the leaves with 0.1% borax, or 1:300-fold potassium dihydrogen phosphate, or 2% superphosphate, or 1% urea and potassium chloride aqueous solutions, until 20 days after the last batch of capsules has set fruit. In daylily, the fruit set rate is highest on the branches at the top of the main inflorescence and on the second branch. From the node position, the fruit set rate is highest at the first and second fruit nodes. For this reason, for the first to fourth branches, the flower buds on the 1st to 4th fruit nodes can be retained, and for the branch at the top of the main inflorescence, the flower buds on the first and second fruit nodes can be retained; the remaining flower buds should be removed so that nutrients are concentrated in the fruit and seeds.

In summary, the above is an introduction to daylily seedlings. If you are interested in daylily cultivation, you can come to Nongxun Network to purchase seedlings, and Nongxun Network also has more daylily cultivation techniques waiting for you to learn.

For wonderful pictures and texts and popular comments about daylily seed selection and seedling-raising methods, you may be interested in the content recommended below by Nongxun Network, and you are welcome to read it.

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