Sichuan pepper growing video tutorial, hand-in-hand teaching you how to grow Sichuan pepper

Sichuan pepper is a spice and oil tree species with a long history of cultivation in China and a very wide distribution. It has the characteristics of fast growth, early fruiting, large returns, wide uses, simple cultivation and management, strong adaptability, a well-developed root system, and the ability to conserve soil and water, and is deeply welcomed by the people; Sichuan pepper is an important food seasoning raw material, its peel is rich in aromatic oil, the pepper oil has an astringent taste, and the seeds contain 25—30% oil. The peel and seeds can be used as medicine, and developing Sichuan pepper has broad market prospects.

Sichuan pepper is a deciduous shrub, 3—5 m tall, with the fruit, branches, leaves and trunk all having a fragrance. Sichuan pepper prefers warmth and needs relatively high temperatures during growth and development. Sichuan pepper has strong adaptability to soil and especially prefers deep, fertile, moist sandy loam; it has no strict requirements for soil pH and grows well in neutral or acidic soil, and grows even better on mountain calcareous soil. Sichuan pepper has a strong preference for light; when grown in shade, its fruiting is poorer. It has strong sprouting ability, tolerates heavy pruning, and its dormant buds have a long lifespan.

Sichuan pepper grows fast and fruits early. A one-year-old seedling can reach up to 1 m, and after planting it flowers and sets fruit in 2 years, produces fruit in large quantities in 3 years, remains productive for 15—20 years, and lives 30—40 years; after aging it can be renewed by sprouting.

Planting conditions and requirements

Sichuan pepper woodland should be chosen on the sunny slope or semi-sunny slope of the lower part of a hillside, and the best soil is loose, well-drained sandy loam; it can also be planted sparsely around the four sides. It is not suitable for planting on hilltops, in low-lying places prone to waterlogging, or in heavy clay. Before afforestation, the land must be carefully prepared. On hillsides, contour strip site preparation should be used, with a strip width of 1 m and a spacing between strips of 2 m, and a water-intercepting weir should be built every 5 m to prevent erosion.

For afforestation with Sichuan pepper seedlings, planting in winter or spring is better. Winter planting should be around “Lidong”, and spring planting should be when the buds of the pepper seedlings begin to swell. The planting hole should first be filled with moist soil, and if conditions permit, it should be watered. Sichuan pepper requires that when transplanting, the hole be large and the bottom flat, with deep digging and shallow planting, heavy application of base fertilizer, and filling the hole with fertilized soil; beating must be strictly avoided. For block afforestation of Sichuan pepper, the row spacing is 2 m, the plant spacing is 1.5 m, and the hole depth, length and width are all 0.5 m, with 222 plants per mu. In addition, around nurseries, orchards, offices, schools and parks, Sichuan pepper can be planted to form a living hedge, which can prevent livestock damage, beautify the environment, and also bring income.

In the year of afforestation, weeds should be removed and the soil loosened twice, and in dry weather, irrigation should be done in time. Beans and green manure crops can also be interplanted, and the young forest can be tended together with the interplanted crops. After Sichuan pepper begins to fruit, the soil should be loosened, weeds removed, fertilizer applied, and pests and diseases prevented every year.

Shaping and pruning

Shaping is one of the main techniques for obtaining high yield and high quality in Sichuan pepper. Reasonable shaping and pruning can make the framework firm, the layers distinct, the branches robust, and the coordination reasonable, with sufficient light and good ventilation, which can both increase yield and extend the tree's lifespan. The main characteristics of Sichuan pepper are its love of light, strong branching, and good fruit set on vigorous branches. Because there are many branches, nutrients are overly dispersed, the fruiting branches grow thin and weak, and the fruiting capacity is correspondingly weakened, making the fruit clusters small and light; too many branches make the canopy dense, and poor light in the inner canopy causes small branches to die. Only through pruning can the contradiction between growth and development and nutritional conditions be resolved, achieving the goal of high yield year after year.

1. Pruning time: It can be done from after harvest to before bud break the following spring, and the pepper harvest season is best.

2. Tree shape: Generally, three types are used: natural open-center form, clump form, and round-headed form. Cultivation method for the natural open-center form: after planting, leave one side branch at 30 cm, complete shaping in 4—5 years, and finally remove the central branch to open the center. The cultivation method for the clump form is to cut back the trunk after planting, allow more branches to grow out from the root crown, or plant 2—3 stems per hole, and let them grow naturally after all survive. The round-headed form is a tree shape with an obvious trunk, with many main branches naturally distributed on the trunk and relatively dense small branches.

3. Pruning methods: Sichuan pepper responds well to pruning. According to different growth stages, corresponding pruning methods should be used.

① Young trees: Grasp the principle of giving equal importance to shaping and fruiting. In the first year after planting, cut back at the required height above the ground. In the second year before bud break, remove the branches at 30—50 cm from the base of the trunk, and evenly retain 5—7 main branches for heading back; the remaining branches should not be headed back, and dense branches, competing branches, thin and weak branches, diseased and pest-infested branches should be thinned out, while vigorous branches should be left unpruned.

② Fruiting trees: Thin out surplus large branches. Branches within the canopy should mainly be thinned, removing diseased and pest-infested branches, crossing branches, overlapping branches, densely growing branches, and water sprouts, creating good conditions for ventilation and light penetration in the canopy.

③ Old branches: Mainly thinning and pruning, removing large branches, removing weak branches, retaining large buds, and promptly renewing and rejuvenating fruiting branch groups, removing old ones to keep young ones, thinning weak ones and retaining vigorous ones, and selecting vigorous branches, vigorous buds and vigorous heads to restore tree vigor.

Disease and pest control

1. Aphids: They harm tender shoots, young buds, flowers, etc. Spray and kill with 40% dimethoate emulsifiable concentrate at 1500 times dilution.

2. Sichuan pepper longhorn beetle: It harms branches and trunks. Prune out pest-infested branches and tips, kill larvae with an iron wire hook, or inject insecticide into the insect holes on the trunk.

3. Yellow swallowtail butterfly: The larvae eat tender leaves. Spray and kill with trichlorfon or 50% malathion emulsifiable concentrate at 1000 times dilution.

4. Black chafer: Water the roots with 40% dimethoate emulsifiable concentrate at 200 times dilution.

5. Leaf beetle: Spray and kill adults with trichlorfon at 500—600 times dilution.