Planting Techniques and Management Methods for White Peony (Paeonia lactiflora)

We are all quite familiar with white peony. It is a common Chinese herbal medicine, and its flowers are extremely beautiful, making it an ornamental plant as well. It has the effects of nourishing blood and regulating menstruation, and astringing yin and stopping sweating, and is mainly used for irregular menstruation, night sweats, headache and abdominal pain and other symptoms. It has a long history of cultivation in our country, and its planting techniques are relatively mature. Below, the editor brings you the planting techniques for white peony. Let's take a look together.

1. Land selection and preparation

Choose a plot with good drainage, good ventilation and sunny conditions for planting. The soil is required to be loose and fertile with a deep soil layer, and the previous crop is best to be corn, wheat or legumes. The root system of white peony is relatively deep, so during land preparation, deep ploughing and careful cultivation are needed, and basal fertilizer should be applied well. It is required to plough 30-40cm deep, then apply 3000-400 kg of farmyard manure by ploughing, mix it evenly with the soil, then rake it level and make beds about 1.5-2.5 m wide. If it is an area with relatively high rainfall, or the soil drainage is poor, the bed can be about 1 m wide.

2. Propagation

White peony has two propagation methods: root division propagation (bud head propagation) and seed propagation. Root division propagation is chosen for planting in August-October. If the planting time is too late, the bud heads have already sent out new roots and are easily broken during planting. When harvesting the bud heads, cut the bud heads off from the root system, then select bud discs that are thick and large in shape, not hollow, and free from pests and diseases, and naturally cut them into several pieces as seeds. When planting, use the hole planting method, dig holes 3-6cm deep, with a plant and row spacing of 50×30cm, place one or two bud heads in each hole, apply manure when covering with soil, then bury the soil into small mound-shaped piles. Single-petaled peony sets much seed. Harvest the seeds when they mature in August, and sow them immediately after harvesting, also using the hole sowing method. When sowing, mix with fine soil and sow. The propagation period of seeds is too long; generally it takes 2-3 years from sowing to field planting, so it is relatively rarely used.

3. Intertillage and weeding

During planting, intertillage and weeding should be carried out 4-6 times each year to promote plant growth, but note that shallow cultivation should be used during intertillage to avoid damaging the root system and causing seedling death. At the end of October or the beginning of November, when the temperature drops and the ground temperature also drops accordingly, the branches and leaves more than 10cm above the ground need to be cut off, which is beneficial for overwintering.

4. Water and fertilizer management

After applying sufficient basal fertilizer, generally no additional topdressing is needed in that same year. Generally, topdressing begins in the second year after planting, 3 times each year. The first time is in March-April when the temperature rises, when it is enough to apply manure as a liquid fertilizer; the second time is at the end of April, also applying manure and urine fertilizer once, 500 kg per mu; the third time is before the end of October-November, applying 200 kg of barnyard manure per mu. White peony is a plant that likes drought and fears waterlogging, so generally there is no need for watering and irrigation. Only in severe drought should one thorough watering be given, and in rainy seasons drainage and waterlogging prevention should be done in time to avoid excessive water accumulation causing root rot.

5. Harvesting

White peony can be harvested after 3-5 years of planting, with the harvest time in June-September. It should not be too early or too late. Harvesting too early will affect yield and quality, while harvesting too late means the starch has already transformed, and it is too dry and not firm, and easily broken. When harvesting, choose a sunny day, cut off the aboveground stems and leaves separately, dig out the rhizomes, remove the soil, cut off the bud heads for seed, and process the root system for medicine.

The above are the planting techniques for white peony. We hope it can help you. If you want to learn more about medicinal herb cultivation knowledge, please stay tuned to us.