How to Grow Vitex Fruit? A Complete Guide to Cultivation Techniques

Vitex fruitis the mature seed of Vitex rotundifolia, a plant in the Verbenaceae family. Also known as shajingzi, baibujing, shijingzi and other names. It has the effects of dispersing wind-heat, clearing the head and eyes, calming the liver and cooling the blood. Its leaves also have the functions of reducing swelling and relieving pain, and cooling the blood and stopping bleeding. It is distributed throughout the country.

I. Site Selection and Land Preparation

Choose sunny spots such as sand dunes in low mountain areas, barren land, beaches, lakesides and riverside sandbars, and plant in loose sandy soil or sandy loam that does not easily accumulate water. Except for nursery land, there is generally no need to make beds; you can directly dig holes and transplant. Nursery land should be deep-plowed 20 cm, with 2000-3000 kg of farmyard manure per mu applied as base fertilizer, raked evenly and leveled, and made into beds 1.3-1.5 m wide.

II. Sowing

It can be propagated by seeds, cuttings, layering and division, but in production, cutting propagation is the main method.

Cutting propagation: Carry out in spring and autumn, but cutting in cloudy and rainy weather in spring is preferable. Select healthy, pest-free 1-2 year old branches, cut them into 20 cm long cuttings with 2-3 nodes, insert them into the seedbed at a spacing of 6×15 cm, with the depth of insertion about 2/3 of the cutting, firm the soil, water thoroughly, and cover with grass. Cuttings made in spring are transplanted in autumn of the same year, while cuttings made in autumn are transplanted in early April of the following spring. Branches can also be cut into 40-50 cm cuttings and inserted directly into the field.

III. Field Management

1. Cultivation and weeding: In the 1-2 years after planting, the plants are still short and have not yet closed the rows, so attention should be paid to cultivation and weeding. Generally carried out before sprouting in spring, in June, and after leaf fall in winter; winter cultivation is combined with earthing up.

2. Topdressing: In the first 2 years after planting, mainly apply human and livestock manure water, generally combined with cultivation and weeding. After 2 years, the plants begin to flower and bear fruit, so phosphate fertilizer should be increased, twice a year, the first time before flowering, the second time after pruning; during the flowering period, a 1% calcium superphosphate aqueous solution can also be sprayed 1-2 times, with a fairly obvious yield-increasing effect.

3. Drainage and irrigation: Water accumulation easily causes severe flower and fruit drop and leads to disease, so accumulated water should be drained promptly during the rainy season.

4. Pruning and topping: After 5-6 years of growth, the branches become dense and clustered, so during the dormant period, old branches, weak branches, dead branches and diseased branches should be cut off to encourage more new branches; when new branches grow to about 1 m, they should be topped to promote flowering and fruiting.

IV. Pest and Disease Control

1. Leaf spot: Occurs from July to September and damages the leaves. Control methods: choose high-lying land for planting; after harvesting the fruit in autumn, clean the field; before disease onset, spray with 1:1:100 Bordeaux mixture; in the early stage of disease, spray with 65% zineb 500 times solution or 75% chlorothalonil 800 times solution before flowering.

2. Cottony cushion scale: Begins in April-May, with severe damage in May-June and August-October; nymphs damage young branches, leaves and young fruit. Control methods: remove dead branches and weeds from the field; in winter, spray 8-10 times rosin mixture or 3-5 degrees Baume lime sulfur mixture to kill overwintering insects; during occurrence, spray with 80% dichlorvos 1000 times solution.

V. Harvesting and Processing

Vitex fruit begins to flower and bear fruit in the third year after planting; it can be picked when the fruit turns from green to grayish brown. However, because the climate varies greatly from place to place, the fruit maturation period differs greatly; it generally matures successively from September to November, so it should be harvested in batches. The harvested fruit should first be piled indoors for 3-4 days, then spread out to dry in the sun and cleaned of impurities.