Detailed Guide to Chebula Cultivation Techniques: Planting Methods and Management Key Points

Chebula (Terminalia chebula), also known as He Li Le. It has the functions of astringing the lungs and checking diarrhea, reducing fire and soothing the throat. The dried immature young fruit is used as Xi Qing Guo (Terminalia chebula immature fruit) in medicine, mainly treating wind-fire throat pain. Chebula is native to India, Malaysia, Myanmar and other countries, and was introduced to China during the Tang Dynasty. Currently, it is cultivated in Yunnan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Taiwan, China and other places. Domestic chebula can fully meet the needs of the domestic market.

Morphological Characteristics

Woody plant, 18-30 m tall. Bark grayish-black to grayish-white, rough; young branches tomentose, later glabrescent; leaves simple, alternate or nearly opposite, young leaves slightly reddish, leaf blade obovate or long elliptic, entire or slightly wavy, densely covered with fine tubercles; flowers small, yellow, in axillary or terminal spikes, forming panicles; drupe ovoid or elliptic, glabrous on the surface, with 5 ridges after drying. Flowering period May-June, fruiting period January-February of the following year.

I. Growth Habits

It prefers warmth and has relatively strong cold resistance. Suitable climatic conditions for growth: annual average temperature 19.9-21.8°C. It prefers moisture but is drought-tolerant, with annual precipitation of 1000-155 mm. Mature plants prefer sunlight, while young plants prefer shade. It has no strict requirements for soil, but loose, fertile, moist and well-drained loam is best.

II. Site Selection and Land Preparation

Choose sunny sparse forest mountain land, plains, or places beside roads, field edges, in front of and behind houses, with relatively fertile and loose soil, moist but not waterlogged. Before land preparation, clear weeds and shrubs first. Generally, pit-shaped land preparation is adopted, with pit specifications of 50 cm × 50 cm × 40 cm or 70 cm × 70 cm × 60 cm. Apply composted green manure, burned soil or farmyard manure, etc., mix with soil and fill into the pits as base fertilizer.

III. Sowing

Propagated by seeds, grafting and root sprouts.

1. Seed propagation: Generally sow immediately after collection. If the sowing season is in a low-temperature period, sow only when the temperature rises again. After the seeds germinate, move them to nutritional containers and place them on the prepared seedbed. If sowing directly without pregermination, open furrows on the prepared bed at a spacing of 12 cm × 30 cm for dibbling, with a furrow depth of 3 cm; after sowing, cover with soil and then with rice straw. After 1 year of cultivation, when the seedlings are about 1 m tall, they can be planted out.

2. Grafting propagation: mainly bud grafting and branch grafting.

① Bud grafting method: Selection of rootstock and bud sticks: choose 1-year-old seedlings about 1 m tall and about 1 cm in diameter as rootstock. Select branches from the fruiting branches of superior mother plants in full fruiting stage, with plump buds and no new shoots yet, as bud sticks; cut off duck-tongue-shaped bud plates and carefully remove the xylem. The best season for bud grafting is June-August, when the bark is easy to peel. Bud grafting method: cut open a bark flap of similar shape but slightly larger at 10 cm above the ground on the rootstock, lift the bark, quickly attach the bud plate, and tie it tightly with a plastic film strip about 2 cm wide, wrapping ring upon ring from bottom to top, taking care not to press the bud tip. After survival, remove the binding material 20-30 days later; 7 days after that, make a slanting cut 5 cm above the bud grafting site, with the low side facing the back of the bud grafting position, so that rainwater does not flow toward the bud grafting site, and seal the cut with wax. Frequently remove buds on the rootstock so that nutrients are concentrated for the growth of the bud-grafted seedling.

② Branch grafting method: also called wedge grafting. Selection of rootstock and scion: choose 3-4-year-old young trees with a thickness of 10 cm as rootstock, and split vertically with a sharp knife to a depth of 10-15 cm. Select branches of superior varieties as scions, 1.5-3 cm thick and 10 cm long. The branch grafting season is generally March-April. Grafting method: cut the scion into a wedge shape (such as a V shape) and insert it into the split of the rootstock, keeping it tightly fitted; coat the joint with wax, then wrap it with plastic film. It can heal and sprout in about 30-40 days.

3. Root sprout propagation: Root sprouts can develop into small seedlings. Dig up naturally sprouted root sprout seedlings for planting, and they are easy to survive.

IV. Field Management

1. Shading: Immediately after sowing, cover with grass for shade. If there is no natural shade, set up a shade shed for shading, maintaining a canopy density of about 30%.

2. Watering and waterlogging prevention: Pay attention to watering to keep the seedbed moist. In the rainy season, pay attention to drainage.

3. Thinning: When the seedlings grow 4-5 leaves, thin them, leaving 1 seedling every 25 cm. For seedling cultivation in nutritional containers, leave 1 seedling per nutritional container. The thinned seedlings can be transplanted with soil balls for continued cultivation or used for filling gaps.

4. Cultivation, weeding and fertilizing: Combine cultivation and weeding with topdressing. In the first few years after planting out, apply nitrogen fertilizer in spring, and apply green manure, burned soil, etc. in autumn. For fruiting trees, before flowering, mainly apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, such as pond sludge, fully decomposed pig and cattle manure, plant ash, etc.

5. Pruning: To dwarf the plant shape and facilitate fruit picking, promote lateral branch growth through pinching and pruning and shaping, form a good crown, and make the branches bear more fruit; however, branches sprouting from the base should be cut off.

V. Pest and Disease Control

1. Damping-off: This disease can make the stem base of seedlings turn dark brown, shrink, and even cause the death of the whole plant. Control methods: ① The seedbed can be disinfected with 70% quintozene powder; ② Seedlings can be sprayed with 1:1:140 Bordeaux mixture; ③ When diseased plants are found, pull them out and burn them, and scatter lime powder around the pits of the diseased plants.

2. Brown-breasted chafer: also known as the Chinese chafer, it is one of the main pests damaging chebula. Control methods: ① During the adult emergence and activity period, use light traps or take advantage of their death-feigning behavior by shaking trees for manual capture; ② When pest damage occurs, spray with 90% trichlorfon diluted 800-1000 times, once every 4-5 days, for 4-5 consecutive times.

3. Longhorn beetle: mainly damages the trunk. Control methods: ① Capture adults and destroy eggs; ② Use medicinal cotton dipped in 90% trichlorfon and insert it into the holes to poison the larvae.

4. Tussock moth: In summer, larvae gather in groups on the underside of leaves, and in severe cases can eat all the leaf mesophyll. Control method: spray with 90% trichlorfon diluted 1500-2000 times.

VI. Harvesting and Processing

Chebula seedlings begin to flower and bear fruit 5-6 years or 7-8 years after planting out. The harvesting season varies according to different uses and local climates. Chebula: the general fruit collection period is around October, in 2-3 batches, selecting yellow-brown ripe fruits on sunny days. Xi Qing Guo: pick young fruits that are about the thickness of an index finger, whose inner pit is easily broken when chewed with the mouth, and which are not lignified. After harvesting mature fruits, immediately place them in the sun for exposure. Do not let rain wet them. If rainy weather occurs, they can be stacked in layers indoors to facilitate ventilation, and then sun-dried after the rain. Continue until the fruit flesh is sun-dried, shrunken and wrinkled, and makes a sound when shaken. Alternatively, place them in boiling water and blanch for about 5 minutes, then take them out and dry them in the sun; do not turn them during drying, so as to avoid scratching the fruit skin, which would turn black, lose gloss, and affect quality; after drying, they become chebula. Put young fruits blown down by wind or picked young fruits into boiling water and blanch for 2-3 minutes, then take them out and dry them in the sun to become Xi Qing Guo.