Detailed Guide to Gastrodia Planting Time: When Is the Best Time to Plant

Gastrodiais a precious medicinal herb, the dried tuber of the perennial parasitic herb Gastrodia elata. Gastrodia was mainly supplied from wild sources, but now large-scale cultivated production has been established. Sowhen is the gastrodia planting time? Currently the main cultivated varieties include red gastrodia (the original form of Gastrodia elata), black gastrodia (a form), and the black-red hybrid gastrodia (a form).

Gastrodia is best cultivated from late October to April of the following year. Sowing from late October to early December before the soil freezes is winter planting; sowing after the soil thaws in March-April is spring planting; in high-altitude mountainous areas the sowing time can be extended to May. Gastrodia is a typical heterotrophic higher plant; its growth and development must rely on Armillaria mellea. Without Armillaria mellea providing nutrients, the gastrodia tuber slowly shrinks and dies out within 3 years. Therefore, to cultivate gastrodia artificially, you need to cultivate good Armillaria mellea spawn and inoculated wood. Gastrodia planting time mainly depends on temperature, and should be chosen at the stage when the gastrodia seed has entered dormancy but Armillaria mellea can continue to germinate and grow: in the Shangnan area, this means when the daily average temperature has dropped below 10°C, with above 5°C being optimalplanting time. The best planting time for sexual propagation of gastrodia is March—April in low mountain areas below 800 m altitude, and April—May in high-cold mountain areas above 800 m altitude. The best planting time for asexual propagation is generally November in low mountain areas, and March in high-cold mountain areas; after the end of March, areas below 1500 m altitude cannot be planted.

In addition, the growth and development of gastrodia have specific environmental conditions and material foundations, and it has high requirements for climate and terrain conditions.

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