Autumn Harvest and Planting Precautions for Chinese Medicinal Herbs

Autumn is the harvest season for many Chinese medicinal herbs, especially root-type, fruit-type and seed-type medicinal herbs, and it is also the planting season for many Chinese medicinal herbs. How to choose the appropriate harvest period according to the different types of Chinese medicinal herbs and medicinal parts, ensure the yield and quality of Chinese medicinal herbs, and at the same time plant suitable Chinese medicinal herbs without missing the farming season, laying a good foundation for the yield and quality of Chinese medicinal herbs in the next year, is a matter of great concern to the vast number of herb growers.

Harvest period of Chinese medicinal herbs When harvesting Chinese medicinal herbs, it is essential to determine the suitable harvest age and harvest time for a certain Chinese medicinal herb according to the laws of yield and quality formation and in accordance with the requirements of the pharmacopoeia, and never allow the yield and quality of Chinese medicinal herbs to be affected because the growth age is insufficient or the harvest time and harvest techniques are inappropriate. Root type:Platycodon grandiflorus (balloon flower)It is advisable to dig it up from late September to early-to-mid October; too early affects the yield, while too late makes the root bark difficult to scrape off and not easy to dry in the sun; Gastrodia elata is harvested in early winter, when it is firm in texture and heavy in weight, and of high quality; Paeonia lactiflora Pall. (white peony) is harvested in September of the third year after planting; if too late, new roots develop, affecting yield and quality, and it is not easy to dry. When harvesting root-type Chinese medicinal herbs, remove soil and useless parts, such as residual stems, leaves, fibrous roots, etc. Some need to be peeled while fresh, such as Glehnia littoralis, Platycodon grandiflorus, Pinellia ternata, Arisaema erubescens, etc., and some need to be processed while fresh, such as Dioscorea polystachya (Chinese yam), red ginseng, etc. Fruit and seed type: Coix lacryma-jobi is harvested when the leaves turn yellow and 80% of the seeds have matured; if harvested too late, the matured seeds easily fall off, causing a reduction in yield; Trichosanthes kirilowii is harvested when the fruit peel has a white powder and is light yellow; if harvested too early, the peel and flesh are not thick and the seeds are not mature; if harvested too late, the fruit flesh becomes thin and the yield decreases; Foeniculum vulgare is harvested when the fruit peel changes from green to yellow-green; if one waits until the fruit peel turns yellow, the fruits easily fall off; Forsythia suspensa is harvested when the fruits are beginning to ripen and the fruit peel still has a green color; Cornus officinalis is best harvested after frost; Chaenomeles speciosa should be harvested as it ripens. Flower type: Chrysanthemum morifolium is harvested when the petals are straight, 80% of the flower center has opened, and the flower color is pure white, generally from late October to early November; Crocus sativus is harvested at around 10 a.m. on the first to second day of flowering, taking the red parts of the pistil stigma and style inside the flower for medicinal use, generally from late October to early-to-mid November. Whole-plant type and leaf type: Dianthus superbus can be harvested continuously for 5-6 years after planting, and can be harvested 2-3 times each year; Scutellaria barbata can be harvested once in September-October of the planting year, and thereafter can be harvested once each in May, July and September every year; Mentha haplocalyx is generally harvested 1-2 times each year; Asarum sieboldii is harvested after 4-5 years of direct seeding cultivation, and after 3-4 years of seedling transplanting cultivation; mulberry leaves must be harvested after frost. In addition, the bark-type Chinese medicinal herb harvested in autumn in our province is mainly Moutan cortex; medicinal peonies are transplanted for 3-4 years, and the roots are dug up in early October.

Chinese medicinal herbs planted in autumn Many Chinese medicinal herbs can be sown or transplanted in both spring and autumn. Except for those with special requirements that cannot be planted in autumn (Isatis indigotica planted in autumn blooms the next spring, affecting the quality of the medicinal herb), generally autumn planting is better. Platycodon grandiflorus is preferably sown from early October to early November; after the seeds mature, the earlier the sowing, the better; Bupleurum chinense is sown from late autumn to before the soil freezes in winter; Angelica dahurica is sown from late August to early September after the seeds are harvested; Astragalus membranaceus is sown in mid-to-late September; Paeonia lactiflora Pall. is preferably sown in mid-to-late September, and the time for division and planting is generally early October, but early planting is better; Saposhnikovia divaricata can be sown immediately after the seeds are harvested; Codonopsis pilosula is sown before the soil freezes, and seedlings are transplanted in early-to-mid October; Salvia miltiorrhiza is transplanted in October; Gastrodia elata is planted from late October to November; Lilium brownii is sown in September-October, propagated by scale seedlings, and planted with small bulbs; Atractylodes macrocephala is preferably planted from late December to late February of the following year; Belamcanda chinensis is sown in early October, and the rhizomes are separated and planted when harvested in autumn; Mentha haplocalyx is planted from early to late October; Lonicera japonica is propagated by cuttings from early September to mid-October before new buds sprout; Cornus officinalis is sown from late September to early October; Eucommia ulmoides is sown from late October to early November, sowing immediately after collection; Magnolia officinalis is sown from late October to early November; medicinal peonies are propagated by division from late September to early October.

When planting Chinese medicinal herbs in autumn, full consideration should be given to the growth habits of each Chinese medicinal herb and its requirements for the cultivation environment, such as the fact that general root-type Chinese medicinal herbs are afraid of water accumulation, Pinellia ternata needs shade, Paeonia lactiflora Pall. avoids continuous cropping, and Codonopsis pilosula avoids high temperatures, etc., and suitable Chinese medicinal herbs should be selected for planting according to the local actual conditions.