Detailed Explanation of Key Points for High-Yield Cultivation Techniques of Monk Fruit

Monk fruit, also known as Lajiang fruit, false bitter fruit, white-haired fruit, Changtan fruit, etc. The fruit is used as medicine and has the effects of moistening the lungs and stopping cough, clearing heat and reducing inflammation, and moistening the intestines to relieve constipation. It is mainly used to treat acute and chronic bronchitis, acute and chronic tonsillitis, laryngitis, acute gastritis, constipation, whooping cough, phlegm-fire cough, and other conditions. The main producing areas include Guangxi, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, and other provinces and regions.

Morphological characteristics: It is a perennial herbaceous climbing vine of the Cucurbitaceae family, reaching up to 5 m in length. The underground tuber is enlarged. The stem is dark purple and has several longitudinal ridges. The leaves are alternate, ovate or ovate-cordate, with an acute or acuminate apex, an auriculate-cordate base, and entire margins. It is dioecious, with pale yellow flowers; male flowers form axillary racemes; female flowers are solitary or in few-flowered short racemes. The pepo is round.

I. Growth habits: Monk fruit prefers a warm and humid, cool and foggy, semi-shaded and semi-sunny environment. It has low requirements for soil, but loose, fertile loam rich in organic matter is best. Heavy clay, saline-alkali land, and low-lying land are not suitable for planting.

II. Land preparation and fertilization: Choose a field with high terrain and good drainage, and cultivate it finely. In combination with land preparation, apply sufficient base fertilizer: 3000 kg of farmyard manure, 20 kg of urea, and 50 kg of phosphate and potassium fertilizer per mu. Then make raised beds 1.5 m wide and wait for sowing.

III. Sowing: Monk fruit is mainly propagated by seeds and by layering vines. It can also be propagated by cuttings. The sowing period includes spring sowing and autumn sowing. 1. Seed propagation: Before sowing, mix the seeds with moist sand at a ratio of 1:3 and carry out stratification to promote germination. In spring, sow in spots on the prepared bed surface at a row spacing of 2 x 1.5 m. Water to preserve soil moisture and promote emergence. 2. Vine layering propagation: In autumn, select 1-2-year-old plants with robust growth, long internodes, small leaves, round shoot tips, light greenish-white color, and drooping, non-fruiting excessive vines as layering material. Around the Autumn Equinox, when the temperature is 25-28°C, choose cloudy and rainy days for layering in place. Water to preserve soil moisture, and roots and underground tubers will form. In spring, cut into 3-5 cm segments as propagation material. Plant them on the prepared bed surface at a row spacing of 2 x 1.5 m. 3. Cutting propagation: From June to September, select semi-lignified lateral vines, cut them into 20 cm-long cuttings, dip the lower ends in 500 ppm ABT rooting powder solution, let them dry slightly, and insert them on the prepared bed surface at a row spacing of 20 x 10 cm. Water to preserve soil moisture and promote survival. Strengthen field management, dig up the underground tubers at the Beginning of Spring, and plant them on the prepared bed surface at a row spacing of 2 x 1.5 m.

IV. Field management: After the monk fruit seedlings emerge uniformly, attention should be paid to intertillage and weeding, watering during dry weather, and timely drainage during rainy weather. When the seedlings are 30 cm tall, set up trellises for them to climb, so as to facilitate ventilation and light penetration. Monk fruit blooms from June to September. Because it is dioecious, artificial pollination should be used. Dip a writing brush into male monk fruit pollen and gently smear it onto the stigma of female flowers. In winter, clean up the garden and mound soil to protect the underground tubers for safe overwintering.

V. Pest and disease control: For leaf spot disease, spray the leaves with a 500-fold dilution of 50% carbendazim at the early stage of the disease. Apply once every 7 days for three consecutive sprays. For root-knot nematode disease, apply 5 kg of methyl isothiophos into the soil for control. For yellow squash beetle, use dichlorvos for control.

VI. Harvesting and processing: Monk fruit generally blooms in the second year after planting, and the fruit matures 60-70 days after flowering. When the fruit skin turns dark green, the fruit hairs become hard, and the fruit stalk turns withered yellow, cut off the fruit stalk with scissors and place it in a ventilated and cool place to sweat for 10-15 days, then place it in a drying kang to dry before it can be sold as medicine. The general yield is about 4000 fresh fruits per mu.