Eucommia Cultivation Techniques and Overwintering Care Methods

Eucommia ulmoides, the dried bark of the plant Eucommia ulmoides Oliver of the family Eucommiaceae, is a precious tonic medicinal material in China. Eucommia tea made from Eucommia leaves has many benefits, including tonifying the liver and kidneys, strengthening bones and muscles, lowering blood pressure, and preventing miscarriage.

As the cold winter approaches, overwintering care for Eucommia becomes increasingly important. Growers need to carry out scientific care during the overwintering period of Eucommia trees, which is of great significance for building tree vigor, increasing yield, and improving economic benefits.

I. Tillage and Fertilization

Tillage and Fertilization Carrying out winter tillage and fertilization for Eucommia helps promote seedling growth and enhances the tree's cold resistance during overwintering. The method is: deep plow the soil more than 20 cm, so that the deep soil is fully exposed to sunlight, improving the soil's physical properties, increasing soil permeability, helping to form soil aggregate structure, and enhancing the soil's water and fertilizer retention capacity. In combination with winter tillage, organic fertilizer can also be applied, or green manure crops can be deeply buried in the soil to increase fertility.

II. Pruning

Pruning Mature Eucommia trees generally require winter pruning once a year, and pruning should be carried out according to the purpose of cultivation. If the goal is to harvest Eucommia bark, side branches should be properly pruned, removing overly dense side branches and 1-year-old sprouts growing from the ground, to promote robust growth of the trunk and main branches. Pruning can be combined with the renewal of the Eucommia plantation: among the newly grown sprouts, select several new saplings with good orientation, thick stems, and vigorous growth, to promote thickening of the trunks of the retained new saplings, vigorous growth, and early replacement of old trees, establishing a new Eucommia plantation. If the main goal is to harvest Eucommia leaves, there is no need to prune side branches and sprouts; instead, care for the sprout seedlings so that they all grow into main trunks, forming a natural round-topped crown with many trunks, many branches, many leaves, and luxuriant foliage, which can increase the yield of Eucommia leaves. During pruning, attention should be paid to removing diseased and pest-infested branches, dead branches, overly dense young branches, and unevenly growing branches.

III. Cleaning the Field and Controlling Pests

1. In winter, in combination with cleaning the field, sweep up dead branches and fallen leaves, concentrate them for treatment, and cover them tightly with soil to let them ferment and decompose, which both reduces disease contamination and accumulates fertilizer.

2. In combination with clearing the field, eliminate damaged trees and destroy overwintering pests. Based on the overwintering habits of slug moth cocoons, destroy their overwintering sites and manually eliminate overwintering cocoons. The method is: in winter, crush the cocoons on tree trunks, and in combination with tillage, dig out cocoons from the soil around Eucommia trees.

IV. Cold Protection

Cold protection in winter is very important for debarked Eucommia trees and 1- to 3-year-old young plants. The specific methods are: for debarked Eucommia trees, wrap the trunk with straw, which can both maintain temperature and humidity and prevent sunburn caused by direct sunlight on the trunk after leaf fall. For 1- to 3-year-old seedlings, the main method is hilling up soil for cold protection. The specific method is: after Eucommia leaves fall, bend the plant down, first press the branch tips down with moist soil, then hill up soil to bury the entire plant, with the mound about 30 cm high; in early spring of the following year, remove the soil mound and straighten the plant.