How to Grow Monk Fruit? Detailed Explanation of Planting Methods and Key Techniques
Monk fruit is the fruit of a perennial vine. Although it belongs to the fruit category, it has the effect of promoting saliva production and quenching thirst, and is one of the more common traditional Chinese medicinal materials in daily life. With functions such as clearing heat and cooling the blood, and moistening the intestines and expelling toxins, monk fruit is being planted over an increasingly wide area. It has extremely high cultivation value and is one of the main projects for escaping poverty and achieving prosperity today. So how should monk fruit be grown? Let's take a look below!
1. Site Selection and Land Preparation
The growth and development of monk fruit have certain requirements for climate, soil, and so on. It is best to plant on a sunny hillside at an altitude of about 1,000 meters. If the altitude is about 400 meters, the garden should be established on a shady hillside. In the first year of planting, the garden should be plowed and harrowed, and after the wind has passed, it should be plowed again one week before planting. Make the soil soft, and build raised beds about 20 cm high and about 1 m wide, with row spacing controlled at 1.6 m. The spacing between each plant should be at least 1 m, and in each hole, mix farmyard manure thoroughly with the soil and pile it into a mound for later use.
2. Vine Layering Propagation
The production method for monk fruit generally uses vine layering propagation. Starting each summer, when the plant reaches its peak fruiting period, select high-yielding plants and use them as mother plants for layering. The mother plants must not be allowed to climb the trellis and bear fruit. By September, select some thick, strong vines with flowers and begin layering. This practice can avoid flowerless plants. The specific layering method is to dig a hole in the ground near the plant, generally a pit 16 cm wide and 16 cm deep, then press the vine into the pit, fill the hole, and leave it about 9 cm above the ground.
3. Planting Methods
Monk fruit is generally planted in early spring, but when digging up seed tubers, remember to separate male from female. When planting, for every 20 female plants planted, one male plant should be included. In this way, there will be enough pollen later during manual pollination. Also, seed tubers must not come into contact with fertilizer, so when placing the seed tubers, first place fertilizer in the hole, then cover it with soil, and then place the seed tuber on top. Each hole should contain no more than two seed tubers. When placing them, point the sprouts upward and let them emerge from the soil surface to facilitate later management.
4. Timely Harvesting
The ripening time of monk fruit is only about one year. Around August, the fruit begins to slowly deepen from light green, the fruit stalk begins to turn withered yellow, and when gently pinched by hand, it feels fairly hard and somewhat elastic. At this point, harvesting can begin. When harvesting, do not pull by hand; use scissors to cut it off gently. Then place the cut fruit indoors in a cool, ventilated place and wait for the moisture to air-dry. Leave it for 1-2 weeks, and when the moisture lost through air-drying accounts for 15% of the fresh fruit's weight and half of it has turned yellow, processing can begin.
The above is a brief introduction to monk fruit cultivation. As a fruit and traditional Chinese medicinal material with great benefits to the human body, monk fruit is one of the most popular medicinal materials today. Market demand is growing, the planting area is becoming wider, and the economic benefits are accordingly becoming higher. Therefore, if everyone wants to grow monk fruit to gain certain benefits, they must have a correct planting method. I hope this article is helpful to everyone. See you next time.