How to carry out field management of patchouli? Key points introduction

This article introduces the key points of field management of patchouli, including loosening soil and hilling up soil, irrigation and drainage, fertilization, shading, frost prevention, and topping. Only by doing well in the following 6 aspects can the high yield of patchouli be ensured.

1、Loosening soil and hilling up soil

During the growth process, patchouli should also be frequently loosened and hilled up with soil. This not only loosens the soil and facilitates air circulation, but is also one of the important measures to make the plants taller, expand the area for nutrient absorption, and increase yield. During spring and summer, rainfall is abundant and the soil tends to become compacted, so at this time the soil should be frequently loosened in combination with weeding. At the same time, in order to accelerate the decomposition of organic fertilizer and protect plant growth, the mud in the ditches should also be frequently dug up and banked around the base of the plants, which can promote the plants to branch more. After the Beginning of Autumn, patchouli enters its peak growth period. At this time, strong winds often occur and the plants are prone to lodging. In order to prevent the plants from being blown down by the wind, a major hilling up of soil should be carried out once at this time, so that new roots go deep into the soil and the plants grow strong and firm.

2、Irrigation and drainage 　

The amount of soil moisture directly affects the growth and development of patchouli. When soil moisture is insufficient, patchouli is prone to wilting, resulting in reduced yield in mild cases and death in severe cases; when there is too much water, it causes excessive growth of stems and leaves, and may even lead to pests and diseases; if waterlogging forms, insufficient oxygen causes root asphyxiation, resulting in poisoning and death. Therefore, during the cultivation of patchouli, timely and appropriate irrigation and drainage should be carried out according to the water requirements of the patchouli plant and the soil moisture conditions. Under normal circumstances, water once each in the morning and evening every day, but the specific number of waterings and the amount of water applied must be determined according to the climate of the production area and the water-holding capacity of the soil. During the growth process, if drought occurs and the bed surface turns white, water should be diverted for irrigation, once every 5-8 days, introducing water into the furrow to a depth of 1/2-2/3 of the bed height, allowing the water to slowly seep through until the bed surface is moistened. If there are no conditions for diverted irrigation, then in addition to watering in the morning and evening every day, add one more watering in both the morning and afternoon, and the watering should be thorough. During the rainy season or when heavy rain occurs, attention should be paid to drainage. Therefore, when planting patchouli in paddy fields, building high beds and deep furrows is precisely to prevent excessive rainwater accumulation from affecting the normal growth of patchouli. The experience of planting patchouli in paddy fields in Shipai, Guangzhou, is very good: storing water about 20 cm deep in the furrows not only maintains moisture through soil capillary action, but when the temperature is high, the sun is strong, and evaporation is great, the water can also be sprayed onto the stems and leaves at any time. In addition to allowing the plants to absorb water more quickly to supplement the large consumption of water, this method can also reduce the local atmospheric temperature of the planting site and increase the relative air humidity, which is very beneficial to the growth of patchouli.

3、Fertilization　　

Patchouli is a crop with a short cycle and high yield, and it is also a crop with a relatively large fertilizer requirement. Therefore, usually under the condition of applying sufficient base fertilizer, reasonable topdressing is still needed to obtain high yield. The medicinal part of patchouli is the aboveground part of the whole plant, so throughout the entire growth period, nitrogen fertilizer and compound fertilizer should be the main fertilizers applied. In the whole growth cycle, fertilizer is generally applied 3-5 times and bran water once. The interval between fertilizations depends on the length of the growth period in different production areas. In the suburbs of Guangzhou, fertilizer is applied once about every 60 days. The first fertilization is carried out after cuttings or plantings have taken root and survived. The concentration of this fertilization should be light; human and livestock manure urine water at 1:10-1:20 is sufficient. In dry seasons, more water-based fertilizer should be applied, and pig and cattle pen manure fertilizer can also be applied. Subsequent fertilization can be carried out with 3000 kg of bio-organic fertilizer per mu. However, when fertilizing, it should be considered that the organic matter content in bio-organic fertilizer is relatively high, the available nutrient content is relatively low, and the release of fertilizer efficiency is relatively slow. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary to additionally apply some urea or compound fertilizer with a relatively high nitrogen content (such as Norwegian compound fertilizer, N:P:K=15:15:15), especially during the regreening stage and the seedling-strengthening stage after planting. After planting, nitrogen fertilizer should be applied lightly; 3.5 kg of urea per mu can be applied, diluted 1000 times and sprayed, or 25 kg of decomposed soybean bran per mu can be soaked in 6-7 times its amount of water and then sprayed. After that, apply 10 kg of compound fertilizer per mu every 1 month, for 3-4 consecutive applications. Fertilization should follow the principle of light first and then concentrated, and frequent light applications.

4、Shading　　

During the seedling stage and the early stage after planting, patchouli should have shade netting covering the bed surface. A shade net with 50% shading can be selected to build a shed. The height of the shade shed should be such that it is convenient for manual management.

In order to make full use of soil fertility, space, and light energy, medicinal herb growers can use intercropping with tall-stem crops to achieve the purpose of shading. It is best to intercrop vegetables between the rows of patchouli plants, such as melons, ginger, Chinese cabbage, etc. Through intercropping, on the one hand, more fertilizer can be applied, and on the other hand, weed growth can also be suppressed. In addition, vine plants such as loofah, winter melon, and bitter melon can also be planted first between the rows of patchouli plants, using the melon trellis to shade the young patchouli seedlings, which is very beneficial to the growth of patchouli.

5、Frost prevention　　

Patchouli that needs to overwinter, especially young and small plants planted in summer and autumn, has poor cold resistance. Therefore, in areas with frost, grass should be covered or sheds should be built to prevent frost at the beginning of winter, or plastic film should be added on the side facing the north wind to keep warm and prevent frost damage. It is best to apply pig and cattle pen manure fertilizer at the end of autumn, add burnt soil ash, and bank burned mud around the roots to keep warm.

6、Topping　　

Topping is a yield-increasing measure that uses the correlations in plant growth to regulate and redistribute nutrients within the plant and promote the growth and development of the medicinal part. According to the growth condition of patchouli plants, the terminal buds should be appropriately picked off to promote more branching growth. This can also ensure that the existing branches and leaves grow thicker and stronger, thereby obtaining high-yield and high-quality medicinal materials.

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