Key Cultivation Techniques and Field Management Methods for Henbane

HenbaneAliases: Langdangzi, Langdangshi, Yatongzi, Xiaodianqiezi, Miguanzi, Xunyazi. It is the mature seed of the annual to biennial herbaceous small henbane, a plant of the Solanaceae family. It has the effects of relieving spasms and pain, and calming the mind and relieving pain. It is used for gastric spasm pain, asthma and cough, and mania. It is toxic, and licorice, cimicifuga and rhinoceros horn can all counteract it. It is distributed in Northeast China, North China, Northwest China and Shandong, Anhui, Henan, Sichuan, Tibet and other places.

Plant Morphology

Annual or biennial herb, up to 1 m tall. The whole plant is covered with sticky glandular hairs. The root is thick and fleshy. The annual plant has a very short stem, with a rosette leaf cluster at the base of the stem, and the leaves can reach 30 cm long and 10 cm wide. The biennial plant has an elongated, branching stem. Stem leaves are alternate, sessile, and half-clasping at the base; the leaf blade is ovate to triangular-ovate, 4-10 cm long and 2-6 cm wide, with an obtuse or acuminate tip and pinnately lobed or deeply lobed margins; the leaves toward the apex are shallowly wavy, and both surfaces, besides bearing sticky glandular hairs, are also pubescent along the veins. Flowers are axillary, solitary, 2-3 cm in diameter; the calyx is tubular-campanulate, 5-lobed, enlarged into a urn shape after flowering, with 10 longitudinal ribs, covered outside with upright white pubescence; the corolla is campanulate, 5-lobed, yellow with violet netted veins; stamens 5, inserted near the middle of the corolla tube, slightly longer than the corolla; anthers dehisce longitudinally, dark blue-purple; ovary 2-locular, stigma capitate, 2-lobed. The capsule is enclosed in the persistent calyx, oblong-ovoid, and dehiscing by a lid at maturity. Seeds are small, nearly disc-shaped, pale yellow-brown, with numerous netted depressions. Flowering period is May, fruiting period is June.

Growth Characteristics

It prefers a warm and humid climate, with a suitable growth temperature of 20-30°C. It is not tolerant of severe cold, prefers sunlight, and is best cultivated in deep, loose, fertile, well-drained neutral and slightly alkaline sandy loam. Continuous cropping is avoided, and it is not suitable to use tomato and other Solanaceae plants as the previous crop.

Sowing

Direct seeding method: In the north, the sowing time is from March to mid-April; in the Yangtze River basin, autumn sowing or spring sowing can be used, with autumn sowing as the main method. Drilling or hole sowing.

Drilling: Row spacing 30-40 cm, open shallow furrows, sow the seeds evenly, cover with soil, just enough to cover the seeds.

Hole sowing: Hole spacing 30 cm × 30 cm or 40 cm × 40 cm, sow about 10 seeds per hole, and after sowing, press lightly. Frequent shallow watering should be done. At a temperature of 18-23°C with sufficient soil moisture, seedlings emerge about 10 d after sowing. After the seedlings are uniform, thin once, leaving 1 strong seedling per hole. Sowing rate per mu is 2-3 kg.

Field Management

For autumn-sown plants, cultivate and weed 3 times. The 1st time is in November-December of the same year, the 2nd time is in February-March of the following year, and the 3rd time is in April. For spring-sown plants, cultivate once in early to mid-April, once in late May, and once in early June. Cultivation should be shallow. After each cultivation, apply a topdressing once per hole, mainly nitrogen fertilizer, first light then concentrated, first less then more. In early April and early May during the flowering and fruiting period, apply 2% calcium phosphate solution as a foliar topdressing twice more, which can increase seed yield.

Pest and Disease Control

Pests include red spiders, which occur in spring and can be controlled with chemical pesticides. Also note that beans, cotton, eggplant and others should not be chosen as the previous crop.

Harvesting and Processing

For autumn-sown plants, in early June; for spring-sown plants, in mid-July; in some areas, in August-September. When the lower fruit skin turns a uniform color and the upper seeds are plump and pale yellow, cut at the branching point, place in a ventilated place, and after one week thresh and sun-dry.