Detailed Guide to Platycodon Cultivation Techniques, Chinese Herbal Medicine Planting Guide

Platycodon (Platycodon grandiflorus), also known as baofuhua, kugen, etc., is a medicinal and edible variety. A 2-year-old plant.

Growth habits: It prefers a warm and humid environment, is cold-tolerant but afraid of waterlogging, and can overwinter in the field. It has low soil requirements and can be grown in general soil, but sandy soil rich in humus or black soil is better. Do not plant in wind tunnel areas to prevent lodging.

1. Planting techniques: Propagated by seeds, either direct seeding or seedling transplanting. Here we introduce the direct seeding method: Seed propagation, sown from Qingming to Guyu, using 1.25~1.5 kg of seed per mu. For direct seeding, select the land well before sowing, and be sure to apply 2500 kg of barnyard manure or 20~30 kg of ammonium phosphate as base fertilizer. This is the key to increasing yield. After preparing the land, make beds. Along the beds, at a row spacing of 20~24 cm, draw shallow furrows 2 cm deep, evenly scatter the seeds into the furrows, then cover with soil, rake level and water. Keep the soil moist before emergence. At a suitable temperature, seedlings can emerge in 15 days: if seeds are soaked, emergence can be 2~3 days earlier. The method is to place the seeds in about 50°C warm water, stir immediately until the water cools, then soak for 8 hours. Wrap the seeds in a wet cloth, place them in a 25~30°C location, cover the seeds with a wet hemp cloth piece on top, rinse once daily with warm water. After about 4~5 days, when the seeds begin to sprout, they can be sown.

2. Field management: After emergence, pay attention to weeding. When seedlings are 7 cm tall, thin them to a plant spacing of 6 cm. Platycodon does not like heavy watering. During the seedling stage, do not water unless it is too dry. After final thinning, water frequently but lightly. Before freezing, water with overwintering water. To prevent forked roots in platycodon, there must be one plant per seedling. This is especially true when growth resumes in the second year, when multiple shoots per plant most easily appear. At this time, pay special attention to remove the excess shoots and maintain one plant per seedling. When fertilizing, apply more phosphorus fertilizer and less nitrogen fertilizer to prevent the plant from growing only vines and not roots. Flower buds other than those for seed should be pinched off in time.