Detailed Explanation of Key Points of Artificial Cultivation Techniques for Cistanche

Cistanche is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb. It is a parasitic plant that parasitizes the roots of the desert tree saxaul and has extremely high medicinal value. Combined with strong demand at home and abroad, large-scale digging has led to a shortage of wild resources. Therefore, some people have turned their attention to artificial cultivation, so how should it be grown? Let's take a look at the detailed introduction.

1. Site selection

Cistanche is a psammophyte, so when planting, choose desert hills with sufficient sunlight, little rain, and a large temperature difference between day and night. When planting, natural saxaul and red willow forests can be selected, or artificial afforestation can be used, but this consumes a large amount of manpower and material resources. Generally, during artificial afforestation, parasitic plants such as saxaul and red willow must be planted for 2-3 years before cistanche can be inoculated.

2. Inoculation

Cistanche inoculation is generally carried out in cool spring and autumn. After inoculation, it emerges, blooms, and sets seed within 2-4 years. If it is artificial afforestation, inoculation can be carried out at this time. Generally, during afforestation, the seeds are wrapped in paper and placed at one end of the planting pit, then covered with soil, while the planted host is at the other end, covered with soil and tamped down, so that as the host grows, its root system continuously extends until it contacts the plant and completes inoculation. If inoculating existing hosts, dig a pit in the area where the wild host roots are concentrated, place the seeds on the roots, and fill halfway with soil to complete inoculation. For hosts that have never been inoculated, dig trenches on both sides of the plant to make beds. After inoculation in the same way, water frequently to keep the seedbed moist, so that the plant's root system slowly extends over and completes inoculation.

3. Field management

After completing inoculation, the management of artificial afforestation areas and wild forest areas is not exactly the same. In artificial afforestation areas, water management should be strengthened. In the early stage, water appropriately to ensure the host can grow normally. In addition, fertilizer supply should be ensured. When fertilizing, chemical fertilizers must not be applied, so as to maintain the medicinal properties of cistanche. In wild forest areas, because the wind is strong in desert areas, the sandy soil around the host roots is often blown away, exposing the roots, so during cultivation, attention should be paid to hilling soil and windproof measures to avoid cultivation failure. In addition, the seedbed should be kept moist, and other weeds should be pulled out in time so as not to affect the growth of cistanche. After flowering, artificial pollination should be carried out to increase the seed-setting rate.

4. Pests and diseases

Cistanche is a parasitic plant, so it has fewer diseases, but its host can be infected by diseases. Common host diseases are powdery mildew and root rot. They affect the growth of the host and, in severe cases, cause root rot and lead to the death of cistanche. Powdery mildew can be controlled by spraying triadimefon, while root rot can be controlled by drenching the roots with carbendazim. In addition, during the growth of cistanche, it can suffer from damage by seed maggots. The larvae of seed maggots damage tender stems and underground rhizomes and can be controlled by spraying or root drenching with trichlorfon or dimethoate emulsifiable concentrate. Also pay attention to gerbils, which gnaw on the host's roots and branches, causing the host to die. They can be controlled by trapping or killing.

The above are artificial cultivation techniques for cistanche. I hope they can help you. If you want to learn more related content, please follow us.