How to Grow Scutellaria baicalensis for High Yield? A Detailed Guide to Cultivation Techniques

Scutellaria baicalensis, also known as Shancha root, Tujincha root, Huangqin tea, etc. Its underground rhizome is used medicinally and has functions such as clearing various types of heat, treating jaundice, and treating intestinal disorders. It is mainly used to treat upper respiratory tract infections, lung-heat cough, damp-heat jaundice, enteritis, dysentery, threatened miscarriage, and other conditions. It is mainly produced in Hebei, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shandong, Heilongjiang, and other provinces and regions.

Morphological characteristics: It is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Lamiaceae family, 30-70 cm tall. The main root is thick and large, slightly conical, with brown outer bark. The stem is square-columnar, clustered and much branched, smooth or covered with short hairs. The leaves are simple and opposite, ovate-lanceolate, lanceolate, or linear-lanceolate, 1.5-4.5 cm long and 0.4-1.2 cm wide, with obtuse or acute tips, rounded bases, entire margins, and ciliate hairs; the surface is smooth or covered with short hairs, and the underside has glandular dots, smooth or with short hairs only on the midvein; petioles short or absent. The raceme is terminal, with flowers one side; wait, avoid Chinese: the flowers one side should be "flowers one side" is invalid. Correct: "flowers one side" must be fully English: "flowers one side" -> "flowers one side" no Chinese allowed. Correct: "flowers tending to one side." The calyx is campanulate, covered with white long soft hairs, with five lobes at the apex; the corolla is blue-purple, 2-lipped, the upper lip longer than the lower lip, tubular, enlarged in the upper part and narrow at the base, 2-2.5 cm long, the surface covered with white short soft hairs; stamens 4, didynamous; pistil 1, ovary deeply 4-lobed, style basal. Nutlets 4, suborbicular, dark brown, enclosed in the persistent calyx.

I. Growth habits. Scutellaria baicalensis has strong adaptability, prefers warmth, tolerates high temperatures, and can withstand 35°C. It is cold-resistant and can withstand low temperatures of -30°C. It is drought-tolerant and afraid of waterlogging. It has low requirements for soil, but sandy loam with deep, loose, and fertile soil is best. Low-lying land is not suitable for cultivation.

II. Land preparation and fertilization. Choose a field with high terrain and good drainage, plough and harrow carefully, and apply sufficient base fertilizer in combination with land preparation: apply 5000 kg of farmyard manure, 20 kg of urea, and 50 kg of phosphorus-potassium fertilizer per mu. Then make beds and wait for sowing.

III. Sowing. Scutellaria baicalensis is propagated by seed, and the sowing period is divided into winter sowing and spring sowing. Winter sowing is around the Beginning of Winter; spring sowing is around Qingming. Before sowing, first use a rake to open shallow furrows on the prepared bed surface, then evenly broadcast the Scutellaria baicalensis seeds into the furrows, and rake level so that the soil covers the seeds. The sowing rate is 1 kg per mu. Scutellaria baicalensis can also be transplanted; set out one-year-old Scutellaria baicalensis seedlings on the prepared bed surface at a row spacing of 30×10 cm. Water to preserve soil moisture to help survival.

IV. Field management. After sowing Scutellaria baicalensis, water to preserve soil moisture to promote emergence. After the seedlings are fully established, pay attention to intertillage and weeding. For large-scale planting, a medicinal-field herbicide should be used for soil treatment before emergence, which can effectively control various weeds. Water promptly in dry weather and pay attention to drainage in rainy weather. Around the Beginning of Autumn, topdress once: apply 10 kg of urea and 10 kg of potassium dihydrogen phosphate per mu. For overwintering Scutellaria baicalensis, spread a layer of farmyard manure on the bed surface in winter. After Scutellaria baicalensis buds, except for plants retained for seed, all flower branches should be cut off to prevent nutrient consumption and promote the growth of underground rhizomes.

V. Pest and disease control. The main disease of Scutellaria baicalensis is leaf blight, which can be prevented with a 1:1:120 Bordeaux mixture before onset; at the early stage of onset, use carbendazim for control. Spray once a week for three consecutive times. For root rot, at the early stage of onset, drench the affected area with a 50% thiophanate-methyl 1000-fold solution. For underground pests, use phoxim mixed with poison bait for trapping and killing.

VI. Harvesting and processing. Scutellaria baicalensis is generally harvested in the autumn of the second year after sowing, after the underground stems and leaves wither. When harvesting, first cut off the aboveground stems and leaves, then dig out the underground rhizomes, remove all soil, and sun-dry before selling as medicine. The yield is 300 kg per mu.