Detailed Explanation of the Key Cultivation and Planting Techniques for Arisaema
The annual demand for Arisaema is 2000-3000 tons, and the price has been relatively stable with high returns for many years. The growth period of Arisaema is one year, and it can be sown in spring and summer. Currently, small Arisaema sells for 23-26 yuan on the market, and large ones for 10-11.5 yuan, with a per-mu benefit of 5000-7000 yuan. As the usage of Arisaema continues to rise, and because wild resources are becoming increasingly scarce while artificial cultivation has not yet formed scale, market supply is insufficient, and the market price has been climbing all the way. In recent years, due to the upsurge in grain planting, enthusiasm for planting medicinal herbs has declined, and the Arisaema planting area in various regions is not large, with limited output. The contradiction between supply and demand has intensified, and the Arisaema market outlook is promising. In recent years, planting income has been relatively stable.
Arisaema Planting Techniques: Arisaema belongs to the Araceae family and is a perennial herbaceous plant. Aliases: Nanxing, Bai Nanxing, palm-leaf pinellia, tiger-palm Arisaema, heterogeneous-leaf Arisaema, one umbrella, etc. Arisaema uses its spherical tuber for medicinal purposes. It has the functions of dispelling wind and calming convulsions, and resolving phlegm and dispersing nodules. It mainly treats facial nerve paralysis, hemiplegia, infantile convulsions, tetanus, epilepsy, cervical cancer and other conditions. External application can treat sores, swellings, toxic insect bites and other conditions. Raw Arisaema is toxic; when poisoned, it can cause itching and then swelling of the tongue and throat, and in severe cases, suffocation and death. In mild cases, vinegar, strong tea, or egg white can be used as an antidote. In recent years, due to scarce wild resources, high usage, and limited artificial cultivation, it has consistently been one of the sought-after Chinese medicinal materials. Arisaema is mostly wild, mainly distributed in Northeast China, Hebei, Shaanxi, Gansu, Henan, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Anhui, Zhejiang and other places. It can be cultivated in both northern and southern regions of China.
Plant morphology: Arisaema plants are 40-90 cm tall. The tuber is flattened and spherical, with a yellowish-brown outer skin. Leaves emerge from the top of the tuber; the petiole is cylindrical, fleshy, upright like a stem, becoming sheath-like at the lower part, with the base wrapped in a transparent membranous long sheath that is greenish-white or scattered with dirty purple spots; the leaf blade is radiate-parted into 7-23 segments, gathered at the top of the petiole and spreading in all directions like an umbrella. The segments are lanceolate, mostly with awn-like and delicate tips, entire, smooth and hairless. The spadix inflorescence is enclosed within a sheath-like large spathe, with the tip of the peduncle extending out of the spathe in a long tail shape. Dioecious. The berry is ovoid and red. Flowering period is May-June, fruiting period is July-August.
Growth habits: Arisaema prefers moist, loose, fertile soil and environments. Its tubers are not frost-tolerant and cannot overwinter in the cold winter of the north, but the seedlings newly grown from seeds that fall to the ground in the same year are relatively cold-tolerant, and covering the ground with some barnyard manure is sufficient for overwintering. For seedlings germinated from seeds in the same year, the first-year seedling produces only 1 small leaf, and the number of small leaves increases progressively in the 2nd and 3rd years. Artificial cultivation should be intercropped with tall-stalk crops, or choose shaded understory, forest edges, or relatively shady and moist valley environments; soil that is loose, fertile, and well-drained yellow sandy soil is best. Plots that are low-lying and poorly drained are not suitable for planting.
Planting techniques: Arisaema can be propagated by seeds and by tubers.
1. Land preparation and fertilization: Choose moist, loose, fertile yellow sandy soil in valleys or under forests. In autumn, deep-plow the soil 20-25 cm, and together with land preparation, apply 3000-5000 kg of decomposed barnyard manure or compost per mu, plowing it into the soil as base fertilizer. Before planting, shallow-plow once more. Then, break up the soil finely and rake it level to make high beds or flat beds 1.2 m wide, with drainage ditches opened around them, and the bed surface shaped like a turtle back.
2. Tuber propagation: After harvesting Arisaema tubers in September-October, select small tubers that are robust, intact, and free from pests and diseases, dry them, and store them in a cellar as seed tubers. Dig the cellar about 1.5 m deep, with the size depending on the amount of seed tubers, and keep the cellar temperature at about 5-10°C. Below 5°C, they are prone to frost damage; above 10°C, they tend to sprout early. Generally, they are taken out for planting in the following spring. Autumn planting can also be done before the ground freezes. For spring planting, from late March to early April, on the prepared bed surface, dig holes at a row spacing of 20-25 cm and a plant spacing of 14-16 cm, with a hole depth of 4-6 cm. Then, place the buds upward into the holes, 1 tuber per hole. After planting, cover with soil mixed with manure and fine soil, and if drought occurs, water once thoroughly. Seedlings emerge in about half a month. Large tubers used as seed tubers can be cut vertically into two halves or several pieces; as long as each piece has 1 robust bud, it can be used as a seed tuber. However, after cutting, the wounds should promptly be mixed with plant ash to avoid rot. Small tubers and cut tubers should be covered with shallow soil; large tubers should be planted deeper. Each mu requires 80 kg of large seed tubers.
3. Seed propagation: Arisaema seeds mature in early August. After collecting the red berries, place them in clean water and rub off the fruit flesh, take out the seeds, and sow immediately in autumn. On the seedbed, dig shallow furrows at a row spacing of 15-20 cm, sow the seeds evenly into the furrows, and cover with soil level with the bed surface. After sowing, water once thoroughly, then keep the bed soil moist regularly; seedlings emerge in about 10 days. In winter, cover the bed surface with barnyard manure to keep it warm and moist, which helps the seedlings overwinter. In the following spring after the seedlings emerge, press the barnyard manure into the seedbed as fertilizer, and when the seedlings are 6-9 cm tall, thin them to a plant spacing of 12-15 cm. Surplus seedlings can be transplanted elsewhere.
4. Transplanting: In spring from April to early May, when the seedlings reach 6-9 cm tall, choose a cloudy day and transplant robust small seedlings with a little soil ball attached into the field at a row and plant spacing of 20×15 cm. After planting, water once to settle the roots and help survival.
Field management:
1. Loosening soil and weeding, topdressing: When the seedlings are 6-9 cm tall, carry out the first loosening of soil and weeding; it should be shallow rather than deep, just raking the surface soil loose. Immediately after hoeing, apply 1000-1500 kg of barnyard manure per mu; for the second time in mid-to-late June, the soil can be loosened somewhat deeper, and topdressing should be combined once, with the same amount as the previous time; for the third time in late July, which is the period of vigorous growth of Arisaema, combine weeding and loosening the soil, and apply 1500-2000 kg of compost per mu in furrows opened between the rows, then cover with soil to cover the fertilizer; for the fourth time in late August, combine loosening the soil and weeding, and apply 10-20 kg of urea per mu dissolved in water; additionally apply 50 kg of cake fertilizer and an appropriate amount of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer to promote increased yield.
2. Drainage and irrigation: Arisaema prefers moisture; after planting, keep the soil moist regularly and water frequently; in the rainy season, pay attention to drainage to prevent water accumulation in the field. Too much water can easily cause the seedling leaves to turn yellow and affect growth.
3. Removing flower stalks: In May-June, when the spadix inflorescence of Arisaema extends from within the sheath-like spathe, except for seed-production plots, it should be cut off promptly to reduce nutrient consumption and help increase yield.
4. Intercropping: Arisaema grows relatively slowly in the first two years. On the bed ridges, intercrop tall-stalk crops such as corn or beans at a plant spacing of 30 cm, or other medicinal plants. This can both provide shade for Arisaema and increase economic returns.
Pest and disease control: