Detailed Explanation of Pest and Disease Control and Processing Techniques for Gastrodia elata

        Gastrodia elata is a herbaceous plant, and its underground tubers are used as medicine. It mainly treats hypertension, dizziness, headache, facial paralysis, limb numbness, infantile convulsions, and hemiplegia, and is also used for brain health care in pilots and for Alzheimer's disease, making it an ideal tonic for brain and nerve health.        1. Pest and disease control        (1) The mole cricket, known locally as lalagu, can dig crisscrossing tunnels beneath the surface soil of the Gastrodia elata pit and gnaw on the tubers. Use 0.5 kg of 50% chlordane, 25 kg of wheat bran (roasted until fragrant), and 7.5 kg of water, mix them together, and scatter the mixture on the surface of the pit in the evening as poisoned bait.        (2) White grubs, known locally as diacan (the larvae of scarab beetles), bore into and feed on Gastrodia elata inside the pit, leaving it hollow. They can be trapped and killed by crushing trichlorfon and mixing it with honey, then placing it on a dish as bait; poisoned sweet potatoes can also be used. To prepare them, cut sweet potatoes into pieces the size of a matchbox, soak them in 0.2% of a 20% dimethoate solution, soak for 12-14 h with one stirring, then soak for another 10 h, remove and sun-dry, then place 3 pieces in each pit. The effective period is 7 days. If they are not all killed in one application, apply several more times. More sweet potatoes can be cut, soaked in the solution, and sun-dried for later use. Remember that during drying and placement, children must be prevented from eating them by mistake.        (3) Ant damage can also be controlled with ant-killing powder. At the same time, pork skin, meat, chicken, or fish bones can be buried near the Gastrodia elata affected by ants. After the second day, pull them up to check; when the ants gather, pour hot water over them to kill them (a temporary stove can be set up to boil hot water and pour it on). During the flowering period, aphids may cause damage, and a 0.05% solution of 40% dimethoate emulsion can be sprayed.        (4) Rat damage can be controlled by poisoning with rat poison.        2. Harvesting and processing of Gastrodia elata        (1) Harvesting: harvest from October to November. First dig up the fungus sticks, then take out the arrow-shaped tubers, white tubers, and Gastrodia elata tubers. Handle, place, and transport them gently to avoid artificial mechanical damage and prevent rotting after harvest.        (2) Grading: grade them as they are harvested. A single tuber weighing more than 150 g is grade 1; 75-150 g is grade 2; those below 74 g and large ones broken during digging are grade 3.        (3) Cleaning: wash the graded Gastrodia elata separately with clean water. Do not rub off the mud; only gently wipe away the muddy liquid by hand. Wash and process on the same day; do not wash those that cannot be processed in time.        (4) Peeling: peeled and processed Gastrodia elata is called snow hemp. Now that artificial cultivation is large in scale, except for exports, the rest is not peeled.        (5) Steaming and boiling: after the water boils, steam and boil Gastrodia elata of different grades separately, adding a small amount of alum. Add 100 g of alum for 5 kg of Gastrodia elata. Those weighing more than 150 g each are boiled for 10-15 min, 100-150 kg are boiled for 7-10 min, those below 100 g are boiled for 5-8 min, and substandard ones are boiled for about 4 min. In short, the standard is that they are cooked through.        (6) Drying: do not use too strong a fire when drying. The temperature on the kang should initially be 50-60 degrees C. When they are 70% dry, press the large ones all over by hand, do not press the small ones, and dry again; at this time, a temperature of 70 degrees C is suitable. Sun-drying is also acceptable. After they are completely dry, take them out, grade and package them, and they are ready for sale.