Elsholtzia Planting and Cultivation Techniques
Planting Methods
Site selection for Elsholtzia: Elsholtzia has no strict requirements for soil and can be cultivated in general soil, but alkaline soil and sandy soil are not suitable for cultivation. It is drought-sensitive and should not be planted in successive cropping; the previous crop is best as grains, legumes, or vegetables.
Land preparation: Plow the soil 20 cm deep, apply farmyard manure before plowing, use ridge planting with a row spacing of 40 cm to 50 cm, or make flat beds. Because the seeds are very small, the ground must be leveled and harrowed fine.
Sowing: There are two methods, direct sowing and seedling transplanting; suitable sowing methods are drilling or broadcasting. The specific sowing time is determined by the time Elsholtzia goes to market. For spring sowing, 6 days to 8 days before the end of the last frost is best; for a balanced market supply, sow one batch every 10 days to 15 days; for winter market supply, the sowing time should be 80 days to 90 days before the first frost. To achieve full emergence in one sowing, the soil must be kept at a certain moisture level, the soil covering should be shallow, and the soil should be compacted.
Field Management
After the seedlings emerge uniformly, thin them in time, with a plant spacing of 2 cm to 5 cm; for ridge planting, cultivate and weed in time; for broadcasting or narrow-row drilling, weed by hand in time, or use chemical herbicides such as prometryn or haloxyfop to control grass weeds; plots with higher fertility may not need topdressing, while plots with poor fertility should be topdressed once with ammonium nitrate when the seedlings are 15 cm tall. Irrigate appropriately during drought.
Seed Harvesting
For seed collection, a seed production field can be set up; alternatively, in the production field, select large and robust mother plants, and when the seeds of the upper inflorescences have matured and the lower ones begin to fall to the ground, cut them gently in the morning and place them on plastic to dry for 3 days to 5 days, after which they can be threshed. The timing of seed collection is very important; cutting too early means the seeds are not mature, and cutting too late means the seeds have all fallen to the ground. Each mu can produce 24 kg of seeds.