How to select seed tubers for Pinellia ternata cultivation? Selecting good seed tubers is key

Every year from March to April isPinellia ternatathe best season for planting. Selecting goodPinellia ternata seed tubersis the foundation for successful planting and high yield; special attention must be paid to correctly understanding the differences between Pinellia ternata and Arisaema (Jack-in-the-pulpit), and between Pinellia ternata and Pinellia pedatisecta (water pinellia), because the tubers of these three plants are very easily confused in appearance and morphology, and it is difficult for non-professionals to distinguish them. Do not buy the wrong Pinellia ternata seed tubers and plant the wrong medicinal herb, wasting money and effort, losing both funds and energy. Therefore, the Heze Run Kang Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Institute of Heze City, Shandong, reminds herb farmers to pay attention to the following aspects when planting Pinellia ternata or purchasing Pinellia ternata seed tubers.

1. High-quality Pinellia ternata seed tubers used for planting must be selected and bred from cultivated Pinellia ternata (wild ones that have not been domesticated cannot be used as seed); Pinellia ternata seed tubers should be about 1.3 cm in size (using large Pinellia ternata seed tubers for planting means large investment, a small self-expansion coefficient, and susceptibility to rot disease; using small bulbils as seed tubers results in fewer leaves and stems); narrow-leaf Pinellia ternata or willow-leaf Pinellia ternata (strong resistance, high yield, good quality) strains; selected from fields where no rot disease occurred during the previous year's Pinellia ternata cultivation (Pinellia ternata seed tubers selected from fields where disease occurred carry pathogens themselves and cannot be used as seed).

2. After selecting good Pinellia ternata seed tubers, the outer skin must be dried immediately and stored properly. During storage, attention must be paid to controlling the temperature at 2-6°C and humidity at 60% (temperatures above 8°C cause sprouting, below 0°C causes frost damage); before sowing, they must undergo chemical treatment (Pinellia ternata seed tubers grown in fields contain pathogens and larvae).

3. When purchasing Pinellia ternata seed tubers, one must distinguish them from Arisaema (also called palm-leaf pinellia) and Pinellia pedatisecta (water pinellia), because they all belong to the Araceae family, have similar appearances, and are easily confused. The market prices of these three plants differ considerably. Their characteristics are introduced below for reference.

1. Characteristics of Pinellia ternata: Pinellia ternata is round and regular in appearance, especially the bottom is circular, with evenly distributed bud eyes (root scars), and slightly slender buds and stems. After small Pinellia ternata seed tubers and bulbils emerge, they produce 1-3 leaves, and later as the Pinellia ternata seed tuber expands, they gradually form three compound leaves. Medium or large Pinellia ternata seed tubers produce three compound leaves upon emergence. Regardless of size, Pinellia ternata has at most three compound leaves, and each leaf stem forms a bulbil (some strains also have bulbils on the leaves); anything with more than three leaves and no bulbils is not Pinellia ternata. It is distributed throughout the country except in some provinces and regions such as **, Xizang (Tibet), and Heilongjiang.

2. Characteristics of Arisaema: Arisaema is flat in appearance, especially the bottom is relatively flat. Even the small Arisaema that is most easily confused with Pinellia ternata does not have a very round and regular bottom, and its buds and stems are thick and strong, dark green in color, and highly plump. Most tubers produce many small tubers around the sides or on the upper part; after the tubers emerge, depending on tuber size, 1-11 compound leaves appear, and the leaf margins have cracks, large and thin, with the whole plant growing vigorously, but without bulbils. These are the main characteristics of Arisaema. Main production areas are North China, Northeast China, and the Southwest region.

3. Characteristics of Pinellia pedatisecta (water pinellia): The tuber is conical, elliptical, or obovate, with numerous fleshy fibrous roots densely growing on the upper part. The lower part of the leaf has a broad sheath; the leaf blade is hastate-oblong, with the front lobe larger, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, and the lateral lobes smaller, long-triangular; but it has no bulbils. Mainly produced in parts of Guangxi and Jiangxi.

Li Hongjun, Heze Run Kang Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Institute of Heze City, Shandong, Telephone: 0530-3978801 

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