Tips for summer and autumn management techniques in tree peony cultivation

Oil tree peony cultivation and management techniques

Today I will introduce a new type of crop to everyone -- the oil tree peony. Planting oil tree peonies not only achieves ornamental value but can also achieve a double harvest of economic benefit.

The oil tree peony is an emerging woody oil crop with outstanding "three highs and one low" characteristics: high yield, high oil content, high quality, and low cost. The oil tree peony is drought-tolerant and tolerant of poor soil, suitable for afforestation on barren hills and understory planting, planted once and harvested for a hundred years.

The oil tree peony is a shrub plant. It is distributed in Heze, Shandong Province, China; Luoyang, Henan Province; the Taibai Mountain area of Shaanxi Province; Bozhou City, Anhui Province; Fenghuang Mountain in Tongling City; Gansu Province; and Xiangxi, Hunan, among other places.

Through analysis of pressed tree peony seed oil, the Chinese Academy of Forestry found that this golden-yellow transparent oily liquid, made from tree peony seed kernels as raw material through pressing, refining and other processes, has an unsaturated fatty acid content of up to more than 92%, of which alpha-linolenic acid accounts for 42%, and it is called "the best edible oil in the world."

When planting oil tree peonies, it is best to consider both economic benefit and the economic benefit of tourism and viewing. This is because after oil tree peonies are planted, there is no income for the first three years, but thereafter continuous income can be achieved for 30-60 years without changing the crop. Before planting, it is best to carry out reasonable planning and layout of the land.

Below I will introduce the key points of planting oil tree peonies:

1. Selection of planting site. For planting oil tree peonies, it is advisable to choose a dry, sunny, acidic plot, with sandy loam being best. The soil is required to be loose and breathable with good drainage.

2. Variety selection. For oil tree peonies, the main choice is the "Fengdan" variety, which has the largest seeds, high oil yield, wide adaptability and strong growth; "Purple Spot Peony" (Ziban Mudan) can also be chosen.

3. Land preparation. Deeply plow the soil 40-50 cm, and apply per mu 150-200 kg of cake fertilizer or 1000-1500 kg of decomposed barnyard manure, 80 kg of phosphate fertilizer, and 40-50 kg of compound fertilizer as base fertilizer. Apply per mu 10-15 kg of phoxim granules and 4N5 kg of carbendazim and the like as soil insecticides and fungicides, and at the same time add a closed-type herbicide.

4. Planting technique. When planting, insert a shovel 40 cm wide into the ground, open a gap 5-10 cm wide and 25-30 cm deep, place the tree peony seedling into the gap so that the root crown is 2-3 cm below ground level, be sure to keep the roots spread out, then tread firmly so that the roots and soil are in close contact.

5. Field management. First, hoeing: during the growing period of oil tree peonies, hoeing must be done frequently, first to eliminate weeds and second to increase temperature and preserve soil moisture. Second, topdressing: in the first year after planting tree peonies, generally no topdressing is applied. Starting from the second year, topdress 2 times each year. Third, pest and disease control: in early to mid-February, spray 500 times carbendazim solution, covering the entire ground when spraying. In early March, scatter per mu 10-15 kg of phoxim granules; in early April, 7-10 days before the flowering period, spray 70% thiophanate-methyl 600-800 times solution; from late May onward, every 15-20 days, spray once a fungicide such as carbendazim or thiophanate-methyl or chlorothalonil at 600-800 times solution. Fourth, watering: tree peonies have fleshy roots and are not tolerant of waterlogging, so drainage should be kept unobstructed and water accumulation avoided; do not water frequently, but in times of particularly severe drought, an appropriate amount of water is still needed. Fifth, clearing fallen leaves: after the leaves dry up in late October, promptly sweep up the fallen leaves and burn them in a concentrated pile or bury them deeply, to reduce the occurrence of pests and diseases in the coming year.

Tree peony seeds are black in color, hard-shelled, bitter in taste, irregularly round, and slightly larger than soybeans. The two tree peony varieties Fengdan and Ziban produce many seeds and grow quickly, and are suitable for medicinal use. In high-yield trials, tree peony seeds have reached a per-mu yield of 1980 jin, and at present ordinary Fengdan can generally reach a per-mu yield of 800 to 1000 jin of flower seeds. The yield of one mu of soybeans is only about 300 jin. At the same oil extraction rate, the output rate of tree peony seeds is three times that of soybeans, and one mu of tree peonies equals three mu of soybeans. This does not even count the fact that while producing seeds, tree peonies can also simultaneously produce tree peony bark (danpi). If the tree peony flower stamens are further utilized to produce tree peony tea and other health foods, the economic benefit of one mu of Fengdan is far higher than that of soybeans and other cash crops, with output value reaching more than 10,000 yuan. The tree peony is a woody plant and perennial, and unlike soybeans does not need to be sown every year. Apart from having no yield in the first three years, the yield remains very stable for the following 30-60 years. Just how great the benefit of planting oil tree peonies is can be well imagined.

Summer and autumn management of tree peonies