How to grow the Chinese medicinal herb Scutellaria baicalensis? A full breakdown of growing techniques
Scutellaria baicalensis, a type of Chinese medicinal herb. Also known as shancha root and tujincha root, it is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Scutellaria in the mint family Lamiaceae; its fleshy rhizome is thick, and its leaves are firm and papery, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate. Yellow, and its root is used medicinally. Its nature is bitter and cold, and it enters the Lung, Gallbladder, Spleen, Large Intestine, and Small Intestine meridians.
Growing habits of Scutellaria baicalensis
Scutellaria baicalensis has very strong adaptability; it is cold-resistant and can overwinter in the field, likes sunlight, fears waterlogging, and is not demanding about soil. It can be grown in ordinary soil, but grows better in loose, fertile land. It grows on sunny grassy slopes at an altitude of 60-1300 (1700-2000) m. It is produced in Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Henan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Sichuan and other places, and can be grown in most provinces and regions of northern China. Its root is used as medicine; it tastes bitter and is cold in nature, and has effects such as clearing heat and drying dampness, purging fire and detoxifying, stopping bleeding, and calming the fetus. It mainly treats warm-heat diseases, upper respiratory tract infections, cough due to lung heat, damp-heat jaundice, pneumonia, dysentery, coughing blood, red eyes, restless fetus, high blood pressure, carbuncles, swellings, furuncles and sores and other conditions. The clinical antibacterial activity of Scutellaria baicalensis is better than that of Coptis chinensis, and it does not produce drug resistance.
Cultivation and management of Scutellaria baicalensis
Scutellaria baicalensis is propagated by seed, and both pre-winter sowing and spring sowing are possible. Winter sowing emerges earlier than spring sowing. The methods for spring sowing and autumn sowing are the same. For spring sowing, apply sufficient base fertilizer, plow deeply and harrow finely to make beds, water, and after three to five days, when the bed surface no longer sticks to the feet, rake the bed surface level, open shallow furrows 0.7-1 cm deep at a row spacing of 20-27 cm, evenly scatter the seeds into the furrows, cover with soil and water, keep the bed surface moist before emergence, and seedlings emerge in 7-10 days. When the seedlings are 3-5 cm tall, thin to a final stand at a plant spacing of about 1.5-2 cm.
Field management
During the seedling stage, loosen the soil and remove weeds. During the growing period, especially after the End of Heat solar term, apply chemical fertilizer as a top dressing together with watering to promote rhizome expansion.
Main diseases and insect pests: if water accumulates for too long (2-3 days), root rot is likely to occur. Insect pests include cutworms and white grubs, which should be treated according to the symptoms.
Harvesting and processing
Harvest in late autumn after one or two years of growth. Dig out the roots, remove the stems and leaves, shake off the soil, sun-dry them, then tie them into bundles before they can be used as medicine.
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