How can Gentiana scabra achieve high yields? Detailed explanation of cultivation techniques
Gentiana scabra, also known as Gentiana manshurica, Northeast gentian. It is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Gentianaceae family. Its underground rhizome is used as medicine, and it has the effects of purging excessive fire of the liver and gallbladder, removing damp-heat from the lower jiao, and strengthening bones. It is mainly produced in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and the three northeastern provinces.
Morphological characteristics 1. Gentiana manshurica Perennial herb, 30-50 cm tall, the whole plant smooth and hairless, often purplish red. The rhizome is relatively thick and short, with very short internodes, each node usually bearing 1-3 rope-like roots, yellowish brown, with obvious wrinkles. The stem is upright, single, rarely 2 stems clustered. Unbranched. Leaves opposite, the middle stem leaves linear or linear-lanceolate, leathery, 5-10 cm long, 3-7 cm wide. The apex is gradually pointed, and the margin is recurved. Flowers are solitary at the top of the stem or in the axils of the upper leaves. Bracts 2, linear. The calyx is bell-shaped or tubular-bell-shaped; the corolla is tubular-bell-shaped to bell-shaped, blue-purple, with 5 lobes at the apex, the lobes triangular to ovate-triangular, with pointed apex. The folds between the lobes are ovate-triangular, with a sharp apex. Stamens 5, pistil 2. Ovary superior, style short, stigma 2-lobed, recurved. The capsule is oblong-lanceolate or oblong; the seeds are small, elliptical, reddish brown.
2. Gentiana scabra The whole plant is usually green with a slight purple tinge. The rhizome is short, densely bearing many yellowish-white roots with transverse wrinkles. The stem is upright, thick, single. Leaves opposite, sessile; the middle leaves are larger, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 2.5-7 cm long, 1-3 cm wide. The margins and leaf veins are rough, with 3 obvious main veins. Flowers are clustered at the top of the stem or in the leaf axils, bright blue or dark blue, with 5 lobes at the apex, the lobes ovate, with pointed tips, and the folds between the lobes triangular, gradually pointed; stamens 5, style short, stigma 2-lobed. The capsule is oblong, with a short stalk; seeds numerous.
3. Gentiana triflora This species is similar to Gentiana manshurica, with the main differences being that this species is 40-80 cm tall overall; the leaves are 5-10 cm long and 4-10 mm wide, with blunt apex and margins not recurved; the flowers are borne in clusters of 3-5 at the top of the stem, while axillary flowers are mostly 1-3, surrounded at the base by 3-5 leaf-like bracts that are longer than the flowers, and the corolla lobes have blunt or rounded apex, with the folds between the lobes very short, triangular, and finely toothed at the apex.
1. Growth habits: Gentiana scabra prefers a warm and humid environment and is afraid of exposure to strong sunlight. It is best cultivated in sandy loam soil with deep soil layers, loose and fertile, and rich in organic matter.
2. Land preparation and fertilization: Carry out intensive and meticulous cultivation of the field plot prepared for planting Gentiana scabra. During land preparation, apply sufficient base fertilizer: 3000 kg of farmyard manure per mu, 15 kg of urea, 50 kg of superphosphate, and 20 kg of potassium fertilizer. Then make beds and wait for sowing.
3. Sowing: Gentiana scabra can be propagated by seeds, by root division, and by cuttings. The sowing period is mostly spring sowing.
Seed propagation: Before sowing, first soak the seeds in a 5% potassium nitrate solution for 3 hours, drain the water, and place them indoors for germination treatment. When the seeds sprout, evenly sow them on the prepared seedbed surface. Cover with a layer of straw curtain, water to preserve moisture, so as to facilitate seedling emergence.
Root division propagation: After autumn, dig out the underground part, cut the rhizome into segments with more than three nodes, bury them together with the fibrous roots in the soil, keep the soil moist, and they will grow into new plants the following year.
Cutting propagation: Before flower bud differentiation, cut adult branches, with every three nodes as one cutting, treat the lower end of the branch with ABT rooting powder solution, then insert the cuttings into the prepared seedbed surface, water to preserve moisture, and they will survive.
4. Field management: After Gentiana scabra seedlings emerge uniformly, attention should be paid to intertillage and weeding. Water during dry weather, and drain promptly during rainy weather. At the bud stage, topdress once: apply 10 kg of urea and 10 kg of monopotassium phosphate per mu. After the flower buds form, if seeds are not to be kept, remove the flower buds promptly. Gentiana scabra is afraid of strong light, so some tall-stemmed crops such as corn can be appropriately interplanted for shade.
5. Pest and disease control: The main pests and diseases of Gentiana scabra include brown spot disease, which damages leaves and can cause leaf death in severe cases. It can be controlled with mancozeb in the early stage of the disease. Leaf spot disease occurs from July to August and can be controlled with carbendazim in the early stage of the disease. Flower bud flies can be killed by spraying phoxim during the egg hatching period.
6. Harvesting and processing: Gentiana scabra is harvested three years after planting. The dug-out underground roots should have the stems and leaves removed, be washed clean of soil, and dried in the shade before being sold as medicine. The yield per mu is 50-100 kg.