How to grow Psoralea corylifolia for high yield? Detailed cultivation techniques

Psoralea corylifolia, also known as Po Gu Zhi, Hei Gu Zi, Chuan Gu Zi, Hu Jiu Zi, etc. Its fruit is used as medicine. It has the effects of tonifying the kidney and warming the spleen, replenishing essence and marrow, and strengthening the stomach and dispelling cold. Clinically it is mainly used to treat deficiency-cold of the spleen and kidney, diarrhea with aching pain, cold pain of the waist and knees, nocturnal emission and enuresis, frequent urination in the elderly, and consumptive asthma and cough. External use can treat vitiligo, corns, psoriasis, and baldness. Modern pharmacological research shows that Psoralea corylifolia has the effect of raising the white blood cell count lowered by chemotherapy; psoralen has the effect of dilating coronary arteries and stimulating the heart. The main producing areas include Sichuan, Henan, Guangxi, Shanxi, Anhui and other provinces.

Morphological characteristics: It is an annual herbaceous plant of the Fabaceae family. The plant height is 60-200 cm. The stem is erect, green, much branched, with longitudinal ridges on the branches and white soft hairs. Leaves are simple and alternate; stipules are paired; the petiole is five-ridged and grooved; the leaf blade is broadly ovate or ovate-round, with obvious glandular dots and short hairs on both sides, the apex is round or blunt, the base is truncate, round or heart-shaped, and the margin has coarse and irregular serrations; veins are reticulate. Flowers are densely gathered in axillary racemes, the peduncle is ridged, and the bracts are light green; the calyx has 5 sepals, slightly connate at the base with obvious glandular dots, the lowest one is especially large and persistent. The corolla is papilionaceous, with 5 petals, light purple; stamens are 10, diadelphous; pistil is 1, the ovary is nearly round, superior, one-loculed, with 1 ovule. The pod is kidney-shaped, indehiscent, densely covered with glandular dots, green, black after maturity, and adhered to the seed. Seed is 1, kidney-shaped, 6 mm long and 4 mm wide, the surface is black-brown, rough with fine reticulate wrinkles, slightly concave in the center, the hilum is a small dot located at one end of the concave side, and the texture is relatively hard.

I. Growth habits: Psoralea corylifolia prefers a warm and humid environment with sufficient sunlight. It has low requirements for soil, but loose, fertile sandy soil rich in organic matter is best. Heavy clay soil and saline-alkali land are not suitable for planting.

II. Land preparation and fertilization: Choose a field with high terrain, good drainage, and deep soil layers, and cultivate it carefully. Combined with land preparation, apply sufficient base fertilizer: 3000 kg of farmyard manure, 10 kg of urea, and 50 kg of phosphorus-potassium fertilizer per mu. Then make beds and wait for sowing.

III. Sowing: Psoralea corylifolia is propagated by seed. Seedling raising and transplanting are mostly used, but direct sowing is also possible. The sowing period is spring sowing, around Qingming. Seedling raising: Psoralea corylifolia has a relatively low germination rate, so the seeds must be treated before sowing. Soak the seeds in 10-20 ppm gibberellin solution for 2 hours. After the seeds swell, remove them and dry off the surface moisture before sowing. When sowing, evenly scatter the seeds onto the prepared bed surface and cover with a layer of fine soil so that the seeds are covered. Using a small plastic-film tunnel for seedling raising is better. The sowing rate is 3 kg per mu. Transplanting: Choose cloudy and rainy weather, and set the Psoralea corylifolia seedlings on the prepared bed surface at a row spacing of 40 x 20 cm, water to preserve soil moisture, and promote survival. Direct sowing: Sow the treated Psoralea corylifolia seeds directly on the prepared bed surface at a row spacing of 40 x 20 cm, placing 10 seeds per hole. Water to preserve soil moisture and promote emergence. The sowing rate is 1 kg per mu.

IV. Field management: After Psoralea corylifolia seedlings emerge uniformly, attention should be paid to cultivating and weeding. Water promptly in dry weather, and pay attention to drainage in rainy weather. When the seedlings are about 10 cm tall, thin them once, leaving 2 strong seedlings per hole, removing the weak and keeping the strong. Apply topdressing once at the bud stage: 5 kg of urea and 5 kg of monopotassium phosphate per mu.

V. Pest and disease control: The main disease of Psoralea corylifolia is root rot. Before onset or in the early stage of the disease, irrigate the affected area with a 1000-fold solution of 50% thiophanate-methyl. For underground pests, use phoxim mixed with poisoned bait to kill them.

VI. Harvesting and processing: Psoralea corylifolia fruits generally mature successively from July to October. When 80% of the seeds on the spikelets turn black, they can be harvested in batches. After harvesting, dry the fruits in the sun and thresh them, remove all impurities, then wash the fruits clean with clear water, dry them in the sun, winnow them clean, stir-fry them with 5% salt water until dry and fragrant, take them out, sift out dust and debris, and they can be sold as medicine. The yield is 200 kg per mu.